A while since the last entry... we've now taken delivery of £4,500-worth of Spacetherm, for internally insulating the front wall (see article for a more detailed description). As the delivery was on an 18-tonne truck, we had to decant it into my 3.5-tonne van in order to get as close as possible to the house. The contractors are using their joiner to fit the Spacetherm: a slightly curious choice, but makes sense given that there's some difficult angles around the bay windows, and cutting the stuff neatly will be half the battle.
It's rather ironic given today's events in Balcombe that, as far as the Withington Co-operative Eco-house is concerned, roadblocks are bad news, and burning gas is good (well, less bad, at least).
Today I went to the house because I'd agreed to meet the electrician on-site, to go through a few issues regarding cable routes etc.
Whilst I was there, I noticed that the builders had completed the insulation in the front attic room, ready for beginning the taping on Monday morning (the back rooms still need another layer)...
Today has been all about insulation. The builders have been making good progress with the PIR in the attic - more on that below. I've just ordered another £180 worth of air-tightness tapes and sealants from Green Building Store, which should arrive tomorrow, ready to start taping on Monday. And I've also been costing out the VIPs (that's vacuum insulated panels) for the internal walls in the ground and first floor rooms, at the front. VIP is the only thing that can get us the required U-value in minimum thickness...
Today was an important moment for the Withington Co-operative Eco-house - the first time in the 100-odd year history of the house that a piece of insulation was fitted! And here's Eddie the builder putting it in (sorry about the thing in the foreground):
We've engaged Andrew Gill, a CAT AEES graduate to assist with overseeing the fitting of insulation and air-tightness tapes, as this is beyond my expertise (I'm mainly focused on building services), and Andrew has first-hand experience of superinsulating a house in Manchester
