Hi All,

We have built a small 2 bed house in SW London and are struggling with the final hurdle being new build warranty (Premier Guarantee) & building control sign off on our timber cladding.

We have clad the house in rough-sawn, untreated larch and originally had a product which could be spray applied to the larch that was going to meet our fire protection requirements.

What Premier Guarantee also require is a 15 year guarantee on the product, but the product we were going to use was only guaranteed for 10 years.

Building control now want us to take off the cladding and fit supalux underneath it to meet the fire protection standards but we are still left with needing to apply something to the timber that has a 15 year guarantee and 45 mins fire protection.

With hindsight we would have done things so very differently but a huge lesson there to be had.

Has anyone had the same challenge or is aware of a product that might give us what we need with the 15 year guarantee please?

Without it we may need to remove the lovely timber cladding we have and are being pushed down the route of having to clad it in some kind of cement fibre board which seems a horrible option to us.

Anny help is much appreciated.

Thank you
Peter

I will have a similar problem and was hoping to use this.

https://www.promain.co.uk/product/zeroflame-treatment-for-timber-id3385

The data sheet indicates:-

Protection Period: Fire retardant properties will remain active for the lifetime of the substrate.

But whether that is a guarantee....

No one mentioned it when my house was clad in sweet chestnut?

Basically, rules brought in after the great fire of London or derivatives thereof.

From previous pictures I think Dickster's house is well away from the boundary so it's not so much a matter of luck as compliance if English rules are like the Scottish ones:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/buildingstandards/2013Domestic/chunks/ch03s07.html

“Where the external wall of a building is more than 6m from the boundary, the amount of unprotected area is unlimited.”

I'm relying on that as the nearest corner of my house will be 7.8 metres from the boundary [¹]. BCO picked up on this as being a problem until I pointed out he'd taken the edge of the decrofted area of the property as the boundary rather than the whole of the land.

[¹] could easily be a lot further if I wanted it to be but shoving it up towards the edge puts it on drier ground and reduces the tiny amount of solar shading in the winter afternoons.

Thanks Ed,

Yep you are right, unfortunately our property is right up against the boundary on either side due to it being a very small urban site.

Thanks PaulJ

Yes any option was looking very expensive, if at all achievable, hence the sad option coming into the picture being we have to give up our timber cladding all together.

Also, as we are trying to sell the property and the number one negative has been the cladding. It seems that the majority do not see it as beautiful as we do!

We need about 50 square metres

Thanks all
Peter

Do not forget sprinkler systems. The regs state (from memory) that any distance can be halved if a sprinkler system is fitted. In a case I had that meant we could reduce the distance from the boundary to a wood clad wall from 12 to 6 metres. Worth a look but the regs need a careful read. Sprinklers are also cheaper than a lot of people believe if built in to a new building; could still be done if you are at first fix.

If you find resistance from buyers, re-clad maybe in natural slate, clay hanging tile, render carrier board or whatever. Budget £150 per metre and well worth it if it helps the sale and building regs.

Now I know what I didn't know, thanks.