My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?
The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.
Thanks,
Simon.

sm_jamieson wrote:
My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?

I would have said it was against bulding regs to *use* thermalite below DPC.


The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.

Damn right.

Bloc/engineering brick up to DPC, then brick/cavty batts and thermalite
above.


Thanks,
Simon.

On Mar 10, 12:59*am, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
sm_jamieson wrote:
My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?

I would have said it was against bulding regs to *use* thermalite below DPC.

The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.

Damn right.

Bloc/engineering brick up to DPC, then brick/cavty batts and thermalite
above.



Thanks,
Simon.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was looking at a new housing site near me, and they were using what
looked like lightweight 'Celcon' type blocks, about 300 mm wide,
from below ground to DPC level. Then start cavity work, presumably.
I assume, this is within current building regs., but surprises me a
bit. Even without water ponding, cannot be good for these type of
blocks to get damp. Mind you, on hol. in France, Vendee area on the
coast, they were building house walls solely out of these blocks,
250 / 300 mm wide, then render. No cavities!

On 9 Mar, 23:14, sm_jamieson wrote:
My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?
The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.
Thanks,
Simon.

Look at the manufacturer's specs for whatever make of block you are
using. Some type of aerated/lightweight blocks ARE classed as suitable
for below ground.
Phil.

On 10 Mar, 00:59, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
sm_jamieson wrote:
My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?

I would have said it was against bulding regs to *use* thermalite below DPC.

The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.

Damn right.

Bloc/engineering brick up to DPC, then brick/cavty batts and thermalite
above.

Thanks,
Simon.
Good. its nice to see common sense actually makes sense this time !
Cheers,
Simon.

sm_jamieson wrote:
My plans have inner skin of thermalite blocks from foundation (3
courses down). All blocks below the floor level will of course have
insulation against the floor slab.
Is it OK regs wise, to start the inner skin in denser non-insulative
blocks (bricks, concrete blocks etc) ?

You can use concrete blocks, so long as they are solid IE, they don't have
the hollowed out bit.
concrete common bricks are the cheapest if you want to use these, engineers
are a waste of money below ground as they far exceed the couple of newtons
required

The build is a slow process and I don't fancy having thermalite down
where water may pool for any length of time.


Most modern building are built on 300mm wide thermalite trench blocks -
pretty much exactly the same as normal thermalite, but don't forget, they
must stop at or below ground level and then a cavity wall is built up to
DPC.

They are used solely for speed - building what might be 5ft high walls below
ground is no fun at all using bricks.