Insulation and plasterboard... done.

A few more jobs can now be ticked off the list - things are moving fast. Right now there's a Bobcat scooting around the yards picking up all the leftover dirt from the drainage trenches and preparing the driveway areas, which will be going in next week. Clearing up mess makes it look (and feel!) like things are moving on.

One messy job that I'm always glad to see the back of is installing insulation. To work effectively, insulation batts need to fit properly in the spaces, without compression. This means that if the batt is a bit too wide, it needs to be trimmed down rather than squeezed in. It isn't the actual material of the insulation batts that does the work of keeping the temperature regulated in your home - it's the air it contains. If you squeeze the insulation in, you're compressing the material, which allows it to hold less air, which in turn makes it work far less effectively. 

For these houses we've taken time and care in installing the insulation. We've used Knauf Insulation EarthWool, a product made using recycled glass bottles, for both the walls and roof of each house. We also used this product for our own home at Number 29, and found it to work very well. It's not as itchy as other products, and (from the Knauf website) 'EarthWool is rot-proof, odourless, non-hygroscopic, does not sustain vermin and will not encourage the growth of fungi, mould or bacteria. It is chemically neutral, does not contain impurities and comes with a 50 year warranty.' Thumbs up!

What's 'non-hygroscopic', you might ask? Me too, I had to Google it. It means that the insulation material doesn't attract or hold water. This is an important characteristic for insulation to have, particularly if your kitchen or bathroom are vented into your roof space. All venting for these houses is directly to the outside.

We've chosen to have the plasterboard 'square set', which means that no cornice is required. Although square setting isn't as easy as glueing a cornice over the joins, it's a very modern, clean finish and we prefer it. By nature, timber houses do move a little as they react to changes in climate and moisture levels, so metal or plastic angle (rather than paper only) has been used in all corner joins. This makes for a strong join and reduces the likelihood of cracking.

Now each house is ready to be painted. The tiler has been in and just about completed the bathrooms, which I'll post about later. Lots is happening at once and although it great to be able to report on real progress, it's also hard to keep up!