no gaps!

Insulating all of the ‘gaps’!

This week we finished insulating all of the 'gaps' or hard to reach points in the external wall construction prior to the external racking board being fitted. This was something of an arduous task - there are many little areas which need to be insulated at this stage as once the external racking board is fitted we will no longer have access to these parts of the construction. 

The flexible wood fibre insulation is over-cut by 10mm so that it is a good snug fit in the timber frame, and to accommodate any future movement the frame may have, so it is important to make sure that all of the little gaps, particularly around the gussets, are filled properly.

First the space at the base of the wall down behind the sole plate gets filled…

Then we filled the 60mm zone behind the cripple studs around all of the openings and at the corners…

Then the various layers can be built up around the corner…

The last photo above shows the 3 layers of varying thicknesses that make up the standard wall construction…

The narrow space left at the corner construction also gets filled before the last stud or racking board goes on… The 60mm layer is set back from the window reveal until the windows and doors are fitted - this will then be filled in over the fixing brackets once the units are installed.

Finally, these two photos show the second last layer of insulation cut neatly around the rainwater outlet from the roof. The next step in the process is to finish the external racking board, which is the Spano Durelis 'Populair' board. This is a high performance, diffusion open, external sheathing board, which combines a high racking strength with excellent vapour permeability. This board is a key component in our breathing wall construction as it allows any moisture or vapour within the wall construction to escape to the outside.