- Location
- Devon
Stick 4wall panels in your preferred search engine.I've not seen this method, although I would like to try. Porch was all timber with sterling board inserted before the insulated plasterboard for fixing purposes. I must admit I'm still a fan of thermal mass hence blockwork. Plus the forgotten part; SILENCE.
Brickwork in Flemish bond as the outside skin. I still have a cavity as I'm in an exposed area. (good enough for big windmills) Modern building regulations require all this to withstand 120mph winds. I had one nervous monemt a couple of years ago before the main roof went on..... but I'd put in two big piers for structural & aesthetic purposes and they did their job.
SS
They've been wind strength tested to allegedly withstand equivalent of 1000mph winds! It's only the roof I'd be concerned about, and we are pretty exposed.
They are something like 100x stronger than timber frame and are able to carry concrete panel flooring.
100% waterproof even before rendering.
We're going for an insulated render system as belt and braces to stop any potential cold bridging.
Only negatives I've found so far are the panels only come in standard sizes so multiples of 1/2 brick in width (Not much of an issue) and 2.4m height (plus sizes to fit under windows obviously).
Also it currently sits on a timber soleplate the same as timber frame. Now obviously this is a tried and tested method with timber frame, but I feel being as the 4wall panels have moved the game on significantly from timber frame, the timber soleplate needs to come up to the same standard. However I say this as a layman with no specific qualification to make this assertion!