Category Archives: Site Meeting

Week 14, Day 1

Posted on by
Reply

Week 14, Day 1:

  • Site meeting #3 with the Architects.
  • The start of work finishing off the top of the masonry cavity walls ready to receive the sole plates of the SIP construction that will form the second floor and roof.
Week 14, Day 1

Week 14, Day 1

The design of the solution for closing off the top of the masonry cavity walls has been the subject of much discussion over the past week. The challenge has been to balance the structural and thermal efficiency aspects. The chosen design consists of a “ladder frame” structure with (relatively) little timber spanning the cavity. The frame will be insulated and will then get a layer of plywood on top in order to seal the cavity. The SIPS panels will sit on the plywood.

The frame is deliberately set back 50 mm from the outside edge of the blockwork. There will be a 50mm layer of insulation over the outside of the SIPS panel and the timber frame, helping to reduce the thermal bridge.

Ladder frame structure on top of cavity walls

Ladder frame structure on top of cavity walls

Note the green and white plastic packers used to ensure the frame is level.

Week 10, Day 5

Posted on by
Reply

Week 10, Day 5:

  • Site meeting #2 with the Architects.
  • More progress on the walls. Now some of the first-floor joists are installed the blockwork can be built up over those. The joists are about 5mm less than one block high so it’s fairly easy to build around them.
Week 10, Day 5

Week 10, Day 5

From an airtightness standpoint it’s important to pay attention to how the wooden floor joists are fixed to the exterior walls. They can’t simply be built-in since the timber is bound to shrink slightly, and they’re fiddly to seal using airtightness tape. The approach used here is:

  • Wolf System easi-joist® attached to galvanized steel joist hanger
  • Joist hanger attached to a timber wall plate
  • Wall plate bolted to blockwork wall using resin anchor fixings
  • Mortar parge coat applied to blockwork (to seal it) before installing the wall plate
    • Concrete blocks are not airtight!
Joists installed on galvanized steel joist hangers on wall plate - note parge coat on blockwork

Joists installed on galvanized steel joist hangers on wall plate – note mortar parge coat on blockwork under wall plate