Grand Designs Episode Information Devon: The Round House

Comments

1. Excellent looking building but I cant help thinking that this lovely lady was taken advantage of with the costs that spiraled largely due to the errors of the builders. The windows should never have leaked, they looked conventional, surely any builder worth his salt could put them in properly and spot any fundamental flaws that would permit them not to be water tight. We have been installing windows in openings for decades and all the pitfalls are well known. It just seems such a fundamental error and not very faith strengthening for the rest of the work. Whilst the building looks solid I cant help but think it is just a thin layer attached to weak polystyrene which in turn has no mechanical attachment to the concrete structure within and that sooner or later it will fall off in great sheets. The walls were poured within the polystyrene honeycombe, normally this would be vibrated to compact it and to make sure all voids were filled, I did not see this take place or imagine it could have been done without the blocks distorting. Can anyone be certain the structure is complete or is it just an act of faith. As for the staples that were added to the mix that were deemed necessary to strengthen the structure who can say whether they are evenly distributed and if not then what happens. The whole build seemed to me rather more experimental than scientific and a bit chancey. How did the screw the kitchen units to the wall, through the plaster, through the polystyrene, then into the concrete, they must have used very long screws and did this not crack the plaster when they tightened the screws. The whole thing must be so fragile I think. I would be interested to hear my sceptisim rejected with sound reasoning. I do hope I am wrong and that the building is there for many generations to come. It certainly would be if the walls were made of mud and horse hair in the old fashioned way. All the best Martin

   Posted by martin burridge on 07/11/2009 21:08:47

   Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment
2. Instead of polystyrene concrete sandwich they could have used lightweight porous blocks [e.g. blocks traded under "PORIT" or "YTONG"] of same thickness with similar or better U-value. Such blocks can easily be cut with an ordinary saw and are stuck together [no need for mortar]. They would have avoided all the delays and cost escalation. PS: I am not commercially associated with these products in any way. Regards.

   Posted by Alex. on 29/05/2009 11:57:45

   Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment
3. Hi, During this episode mention were made of steel staples which were added to the concrete mix and eliminated the need for reinforcing bars. I have been trying to obtain more info regarding this addative but my searches has revealed nothing to date. Can you possibly supply me with more info? Regards Christo

   Posted by Christo Swart on 01/01/2009 19:57:50

   Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment