8 May 13 11:06 AM

I agree solarei. im instantly suspicious when I hear that part of becoming a Passivehaus has to include "The design software Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) is used in the design process&qu......read more

12 Apr 13 11:27 AM

if anyone is interested in having a look at my nirvana house let me know.at present it is closed in ,windows and doors installed,but no ceilings or insulation(apart from the panels) .the outside tepur......read more

28 Feb 13 8:20 PM

another thing. concrete panel houses are very heavy so need a good base to sit on. it would be worth getting an engineer to test the ground before going further as costs will balloon if the ground is ......read more

28 Feb 13 8:14 PM

this is my opinion as a builder.take what you want from it. i have just built a nirvana house for myself ,ive never built a sips house,or spent any time in one either. to me thermal mass is more impor......read more

11 Jan 13 7:58 PM

hi concretador. looks like a good plan. if you are looking at polishing your concrete floors i would strongly consider a post-tensioned concrete slab, as with underfloor heating pipes in the concrete ......read more

15 Nov 12 9:27 PM

do you know where new zealand is john marrison? ...read more

11 Oct 12 11:44 AM

what about this http://www.mittenvinyl.com.au/html/verticlad_normal.htm it is polystyrene with a pvc coating over it.lots of profiles,its sold in nz by thermalspec.seems like a simple solution to me....read more

6 Oct 12 9:04 PM

i have built one large house from icf,and a huge wedding centre also.i have just recently spent a year recladding a plastered icf home in cedar weatherboard as the plaster system had failed and was le......read more

27 Sep 12 7:35 AM

have you thought about radiators ged? that would work better in my opinion....read more

30 Aug 12 6:42 PM

ive got the same situation.the best answer for me ,to save water and energy is an on demand hot water circulating pump. grundfos have nice ones . when you decide you want a shower in the ensuite,you j......read more

13 Aug 12 7:21 AM

very interesting, thankyou for that gaffertape...read more

6 Aug 12 8:20 PM

what youve written sounds right to me dingeling. im no expert,im only going off what ive been studying on the web.few more things to consider are the water feeding the slab will only need to be around......read more

5 Aug 12 7:32 AM

im going through the same thing as you right now.with a 300 litre tank it will boil over then dump half the tank of water.ive got a friend who has recently installed a wetback 20 m away from his hwc,......read more

5 Jul 12 2:41 PM

expanding foam dosnt work in thin joints very well....read more

4 Jul 12 11:02 AM

yes ,i use silicone sealant afterwards....read more

23 Jun 12 10:46 AM

what about river rocks in mesh like a gabian bag....read more

17 May 12 6:12 AM

dejan, i know that moving the window back to the framing,in line with the insulation is best,but " On the outside you'd want to return the cladding against the frame and put a bead of silicone.&q......read more

2 May 12 5:45 PM

dont get put off mark. for a small forum,this place has more trolls than norway. it seems that almost everyone has a hidden agenda,a conspiracy theory or anger issues. if you cut thru it all theres th......read more

2 May 12 7:45 AM

i just submitted my plans recently for consent,and i did my own h1 calculations using this online calculator.http://www.design-navigator.co.nz/CRC.php the guy who has made it needs a medal.on the left......read more

30 Apr 12 6:31 AM

im coming up to the framing stage on the house now. what is your opinion on insulating a skillion roof and vapour barrier on top of the gib ceiling? the gap between ceiling and roofing is 315 mm. ...read more

28 Apr 12 12:35 PM

id just get a chopper. it costs a lot per hour,but can lift a huge amount,and its all done in no time.if you have to pay labour youll use a lot of money,as well as paying for the dumper rent.youll pro......read more

18 Apr 12 7:20 AM

could you run a duct from the ceiling,down thru the back of a cupboard or wardrobe (boxed in)then under the floor to a floor vent in the south room? it would have to be well insulated,but it would get......read more

1 Apr 12 8:45 PM

heres the underfloor ,ready for concrete in the morning !...read more

21 Mar 12 6:51 AM

its a bit hard to see on the photo but there is a rebate all the way round. i will have a flange all around the windows too,and the window lines up with the poly with no concrete to create a cold brid......read more

20 Mar 12 9:10 PM

here is my window detail.the poly will have to have a coating over it or a flashing....read more

9 Mar 12 8:37 PM

...read more

9 Mar 12 8:35 PM

heres todays effort.a bit of puckering going on with the heaviest panels ...read more

7 Mar 12 8:25 PM

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/casefish/footing.png[/IMG]...read more

7 Mar 12 8:22 PM

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/casefish/footing.png[/IMG] its not too bad ,but not ideal either.i will probably insulate where the 200 measurement is too....read more

7 Mar 12 11:34 AM

i managed to get those details right( i think) but had trouble with the detail where the slab thickening hits the walls.the engineer would not let me put insulation under the thickening. the insulate......read more

6 Mar 12 9:48 PM

hi guess what, their details are only a guide.i changed them so the poly runs right to the window frame.also i changed the corner detail so the poly joins there also. ...read more

6 Mar 12 7:42 PM

im starting to build my own place at the moment. its a nirvana panel house with 280 thick walls,pvc windows and underfloor heated powered by a wood fired boiler. ill put up some photos as it progress......read more

20 Dec 11 9:35 PM

hi jd, ive used a lot of a product called dexx ,by eqquis. its very easy to use ,and foolproof. basically you paint on the layers of rubbery waterbased paint ,with a layer of fiberglass matting betw......read more

15 Dec 11 7:07 AM

i read a blog about someone living offgrid,and trying to reduce his fridge power consumption. he eventually converted a chest freezer to a fridge,as they use very little power.the vertical fridges us......read more

10 Dec 11 7:32 PM

ive often wondered what is best.a white roofs coating will last a lot longer because it dosnt get as hot. but a black roof will dry out much quicker and the condensation that forms most nights will dr......read more

2 Dec 11 10:52 PM

i like the idea of the panels but worry about whats going to happen when your roof needs replacing in 15 or so years. can you fix another layer of roofing material over the top of it?...read more

1 Nov 11 9:18 PM

ah, invoking godwins law. great way to kill a discussion....read more

24 Oct 11 3:49 PM

im not sure on the regs,but seperating them is a good idea.quite a few people have died stapling thru the foil into live wires.they now sell plastic staples for the job....read more

12 Oct 11 9:46 PM

i wont need it all.my house loading will be 21 kw,so a 25 kw heater would be ideal ,anything more is a bonus. it will heat the large buffer tank faster,and hopefully not need to be lit as often....read more

12 Oct 11 7:50 PM

i have been looking at installing the same type of thing. i just found this : http://nepacrossroads.com/about3081.html that might be of interest to you.sounds like when the refractory goes,you need......read more

3 Jul 11 6:15 PM

its better to keep the washing machine out of it as all the soaps can kill the bugs in the tank.not sure if the council will agree though. every product used to be labelled septic tank safe or not.not......read more

3 Jul 11 6:10 PM

*******...read more

22 Jun 11 8:01 AM

hi jd, what are those prices? square metre ? dont use nz cedar.it is a totally different animal to the slow growing imported cedar....read more

13 Jun 11 9:51 PM

excuse my ignorance,but why is pvc bad for water catchment ? do you have any links to information about this,as im building a house soon and was going to use marley guttering on the roof for water cat......read more

3 Jun 11 6:35 PM

what are you going to coat the boards with? whatever you use,you will be better off pre coating the boards with 2 coats before they go up.resene have a nice oil product called machinecoat which penetr......read more

5 Apr 11 8:19 PM

yes i would put it in with the logburner too.it is important to have it away from the source of heat as it helps create a draught to spread the heat around the room before it whisks it away....read more

19 Jan 11 5:45 PM

no worrys,just giving an example if cost was a factor.the linea is definitly a nice clean straight look. another thing about it is the fact they reccomend fixing only thru the top of the weatherboard......read more

18 Jan 11 3:27 PM

it is a nice product but.... it dosnt have a weather groove in the back of it like normal weatherboard and they wont guarantee it for 20 years.i just got a houselot of cedar weatherboard from cedar di......read more

31 Dec 10 11:00 AM

true,but you dont have to use their details.they are only examples....read more

31 Dec 10 10:03 AM

hi steve, you are right about their connectors and fittings being expensive.in my case i am keeping the rest of the costs down by casting the slabs myself so it offsets it.i think overall it would d......read more