Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Dec 15, 2013 9:21 pm Hi All, Our houseplan is approaching completion. We are going to build a nice simple passive solar house in Southern Tasmania. 150 sqm, concrete slab, most of glass to the north. But we are going around and around on materials with our designer. Could somebody recommend wall construction techniques that will provide: Well insulated wall (R value of about 4 is what we were thinking). Low volatile organic compound (VOC) outgassing. Long life and low maintenance. Conventional building techniques. Economical cost. We have talked about structural insulated panels, but we can't find anybody with sufficient experience building with them. We talked about 140mm studwork, but we kept being steered away from this by nearly everybody we talk with. Current discussion is conventional studs with polystrene panel over the top. I am worried about VOCs in what will be a well sealed house. cheers, tasman Re: Wall Construction 2Dec 16, 2013 8:15 am Weigh up the costs of your 140mm studs + batts and cladding vs 90mm studs + batts + polystyrene sheeting. I'd do some research into the different types of poly available and how much they outgas. I'd be surprised if they are really bad these days with all the emphasis on green building that everyone is promoting. Why are they all steering you away from the 140mm studs ? Cost? Hassle ? There really isn't much difference in building a 140mm stud wall vs a 90mm stud wall. I understand that a lot of frame and truss companies probably wouldn't like to make 140mm frames but for smaller builders who would maybe build them on site.... I just delved into my archives and got out my costings sheet for framing. 90 x 45 mm F5 MSG pine framing Approx $2.30 per lin m 140 x 35 mm F7 MSG pine framing Approx $ 4.50 per lin m You can work out pretty quickly an overall cost difference for your place. Here is a drawing of what we are intending to build... http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc455/stewiesno1/FIRSTFLOORFRAMINGREV2_zpsd547e035.jpg The 30mm air gap we may reduce to 20mm and is where we will run our wiring. Edit : Have you done a search on these forums for similar threads or had a look in the eco living section here ? viewforum.php?f=35 Lots of good advice and links. Stewie Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 6757 Hi, My home construction is complete, and the handover is scheduled next week. However the construction has been delayed and I have raised this to the builder. The… 0 5648 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 9414 |