thermal bridging and current standards

Hi,

Looking for some expert advice on building regulations and the control of thermal bridging at lintels/cills/floors/walls(inner to outer leaf)/windows & doors, i have been directed by the builder that the building methods he uses are per:

"DoELG Technical Guidance Documents Part L Section 1.5.2 and
Section 1.5.3 and also Homebond "Right on the Site" Issue 28 Updated
January 2007 Section 2 & 3."

I don't have access to these documents so don't know what they contain.

Is this sufficient or should i be asking for more.

Cheers

johnnyg said:

"DoELG Technical Guidance Documents Part L Section 1.5.2 and
Section 1.5.3 and also Homebond "Right on the Site" Issue 28 Updated
January 2007 Section 2 & 3."

I don't have access to these documents so don't know what they contain.

Click to expand...

Any use?

http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/ (Building Standards)

Im not sure about your exact query but if its general information on the regulations required for the fuel and energy consumption in dwellings then yes Technical Guidance document part L is Dept of the Environments guidance document. This can be accessed on th web using the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,16557,en.pdf

Homebond release books i think every year keeping up to date with these documents and can be bought from any leading book shop. The book illustrates the correct procedures of building on-site. Sometimes building regulations are updated before the next publication of the book so sometimes there are discrepancies.

Hope this helps.

what i want to know if these recommendations are sufficient or can they be improved?

clubman/phil1147 cheers for the links

If its a standard cavity wall then its sufficient if those details are adhered to. They should be as a matter of best practice any way.

The main points to look out for are:

Jambs
Insulation at jambs behind vertical DPC... at least 25mm should be used. A much better practice is to actually fill the cavity behind the DPC with rigid insulation.. and spray foam any gaps.
Heads
Make sure Insulation is located between any concrete heads, these areas are often 'forgotten' by builders. It is usually necessary to incorporate the insulation afterwards from underneath, again i would incorporate insulation here to fill the cavity, and spray any gaps. If metal heads are used make sure they have insulation incorporated.
Cills
Make sure 25mm slip of insulation is incorporated behind the cills, before pouring the soap bar..(side note, make sure they leave enough DPC to extend up over the top of the cill and dress under window)


Thresholds (not included for some mad reason)
99.9% of time this is done incorrectly. Make sure insulation and DPC is incorporated, like a cill but reversed.

Hi sydthebeat,
How do you suggest doing the Thresholds
I know mine was done incorrectly and i am planning on fixing them correctly before i put in the steps etc
All the builders done at the time was put in the dpc and a board across the outer cavity of the wall and filled up the inside with concrete up under the door,
I was thinking if i knock it out and put the insulation in and then put in a outer leaf of blocks or backfill it up to the insulation with concrete step but what i cant figure out is how to close the top of it under the door frame,
its hard to explain i hope i'm making sence

The door frame itself should close over it.... Just remember that you may need to use a metal flashing under the door frame and over the threshold. It really depends where the concrete slab was stopped. The homebond manual has a detail for a threshold on a duplex... which is fairly indicative of what it should be.

cheers sydthebeat, will pass this on to them and see there reply...

Thanks sydthebeat
from looking at it,the door frame is toward the front of the cavity so hopefully it wont be too hard to close the gap thats left
I will have to look into it more when i remove the conctrete