Ionic Construction in Launceston, Tasmania | Construction company

Ionic Construction

Locality: Launceston, Tasmania

Phone: +61 488 846 642

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Home improvement
• Construction company
• Window installation service
• Home window service

25.01.2022 Building condensation is a big issue. There was a post on "Launceston Chit-Chat" (facebook) today from a concerned homeowner. It is clear that there is still a huge amount of misinformation around the matter throughout the building industry. I am currently working on this matter on behalf of the Master Builders Association in conjunction with Dr Mark Dewsbury from UTAS. A big part of our work is creating a training package to get builders, designers, building surveyors etc up... to speed. Many of the classic mistakes are still being made by some "reputable" companies. If you have concerns, please get in touch- this is not about drumming up business for myself (we're flat out already)- it is about dealing with the problem for building professionals and consumers alike. I won't go into the details any more here, or it would be a thesis on the topic. See more

24.01.2022 Our business card says "We welcome unusual and challenging jobs". Unusual - some folks ask "like what?" ...... Like sorting out a vintage car three storeys up on a roof in town. Vintage cars, sash window repairs, a new disabled bathroom and passive roof ventilation systems are just a few on the list this week. It is never, ever boring.

23.01.2022 One of the ugly side effects of condensation can be mold. Bad for health on so many levels. I am currently working on best practice building methods to minimise condensation in buildings.

21.01.2022 Several vented batten systems are available overseas, but they are very difficult to obtain in Australia. For a while now I have been working with a few suppliers to site-test different products. This re-roof job in Launceston is the first in Australia to use the Vent Systems VB20 system. Vented battens like this have a few major benefits: 1) creating thermal separation between the roof sheet and membrane, minimising the risk of condensation in winter and potential membrane f...ailure due to heat in summer. 2) allowing free air flow above the membrane, allowing moisture to escape to atmosphere (in conjunction with a vapour permeable membrane, as shown here). 3) roofers can use "standard practice" during installation (installing membrane over timber battens). In re-roofs this is probably the simplest and most effective method to create a vented cavity. Some of these products (like VB20) will soon be available through major suppliers in Tasmania and Victoria.

20.01.2022 The professional indemnity insurance crisis has had many casualties Australia wide- and the latest is long-standing Launceston business Protek Building Surveying. The complexity of building legislation, subsidised competition and extraordinary increases in insurance make this a very difficult field of business indeed. The expertise and experience of Phil, Cheryl, Jason and the team will be sorely missed. It is hard to see when the fallout will end. The implications of the building industry insurance crisis across Australia are massive.

20.01.2022 'snow problem to fix your snow leaking roof today. As the snow melts it is a risk for things like: box gutters skylights flat rooves... The melt water travels below the solid layer of snow and gets dammed up behind itself- and our rooves are not designed for it. We have all the gear like industrial rope access equipment, snow shovels (plastic and aluminium), safety gear and a 4WD to get it sorted. Normal hourly rate +10%. PM or call me.

18.01.2022 In recent months I have been working on a few jobs with Peter Spratt, dealing with roof structures which are not capable of dealing with wind loads. Many older buildings show movement and cracking which may have nothing at all to do with footings, but instead reflects the inability of the walls and roof to deal with wind loads. The good news is, with Engineers like Peter Spratt, there is a way to assess and rectify these matters.

18.01.2022 The unvented exhaust from "traditional" clothes dryers can add huge amounts of moisture to your home. One of the most obvious results of this is increased condensation. Ventless (condensing) clothes dryers rely on a very different system to traditional clothes dryers, and don't pump hot humid air in to your home. This is a nice summary of the system. https://www.reviewed.com//everything-you-need-to-know-abou

15.01.2022 Fitting insulation to the roof space is one of the most effective ways to increase the comfort of your home. I regularly do this job and would say that I will "happily" do it for my clients, old and new. Let's just say I will do it. I'm just as happy to let you do it yourself and give some advice on how to make it a professional job. You save a few dollars and I don't get dirty :)... It is a decidedly unpleasant job, especially if it is done correctly. I could explain it all myself, but will leave it to these two videos. I am a big fan of Bradford insulation. Their video is pretty dry. If you want the video with the pretty girl, try the Knauf one A few points to remember: 1) do it safely. The simplest way to make it safe is to turn off all the power in the house at the meter box before you enter the roof space. If you can take off a sheet of roofing iron or a few tiles it makes the job a whole lot easier and more comfortable by allowing fresh air and a bit of light. At least get a P2 respirator, and maybe a pair of breathable disposable coveralls. 2) do it on a mild or cool day (not the heat of summer). 3) don't leave any gaps in the insulation (except for downlight and electrical fiitings - see below). 4) leave sufficient space around halogen downlights and other lighting that generates lots of heat (by the way, halogen downlights are one of the biggest culprits in letting warm air escape from the rooms below, made even worse by the requirement to have gaps in the insulation around each individual unit) 5) the detailing at the edge of the roof is probably the single most critical aspect of installing insulation above the ceiling. Make sure the insulation goes RIGHT UP TO THE EDGE of the wall, but that is DOES NOT TOUCH the underside of the roofing (especially if the roof sheet does not have a silver paper or similar underneath it). 6) using a light stick of timber (say a 600mm length of 19x42 pine) allows the insulation to be pushed right into the corners. You will see why this is not much fun. For most roof spaces with 90 to 100mm ceiling joists an R4 batt is ideal. At the edges of the roof it will be necessary to tear off some of the thickness of an R4 batt so it doesn't touch the roof iron. I see a lot of roof spaces where insulation has been installed and the perimeters have been left out altogether. This is because it is the hardest part to install correctly. As I said above, it is also the most critical area for a range of reasons. In another post I'll explain why the edge detailing is so critical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpXbzOT0C18 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqhISE8MvU

12.01.2022 THERMALLY EFFICIENT BLOCK WALLS. Concrete block walls (like you would typically see in a basement or stand-alone garage) have very bad insulation characteristics- their high thermal mass and low insulation mean they suck out any heat inside a building. This can make a building nice and cool in summer, but dreadfully cold in winter.... Island Block and Paving now have a thermally efficient block which uses a foam panel through the centre of a standard concrete block- providing an R value (insulation value) of over R2. This is a real game changer for block construcion- and made just down the road in Breadalbane.

11.01.2022 Keeping your home or business cool can sometimes be a big challenge in summer, even in a "moderate" climate like Launceston. We have done a few "strip-insulate-reclad" jobs in the last few months. This involves stripping existing cladding, installing high performance insulation and breathable membrane, then re-cladding the walls. The benefit of the system is total control over the placement of the insulation (as even very small gaps have a huge effect on insulation's efficien...cy), and the ability to install a continuous breathable membrane to the external walls. This manages moisture and drafts far better than walls without membranes. Compared to silver wall wrap, new generation membranes (like tyvek and proctor) are more like a gore-tex jacket than a plastic bag. The cost is only marginally more too. In older homes (pre 1950s), there is about triple the amount of thermal mass in the lathe and plaster compared to modern gyprock style plasterboard. By using insulation to separate this from the external temperature variations means the thermal mass is more effective in moderating internal warmth.

08.01.2022 In buildings with timber floors, sub-floor moisture can be a large contributor to condensation inside. Sub-floor moisture rarely rates a mention as a source of water vapour in most homes- it is generally perceived to be due to the activity of occupants. This recent job was a real eye-opener. The building was open 8 hours a day, nearly every day, and was otherwise unoccupied for many weeks. The volume of condensation on the windows overnight was huge. Sub-floor ventilation may be more important than many people realise in dealing with internal condensation.

08.01.2022 When it rains it pours, and when it leaks- it's a nuisance. Locating and fixing roof leaks is one of our specialties. Here are just a few of the jobs from the last year or two: -modifying an unusual box gutter which uses a chain instead of a donwpipe... -using water sensitive paint to locate a really "hard to find" leak, -designing and installing a custom made box gutter to deal with major leaf accumulation (and hence leakage) on an under-pitch roof -using the thermal imaging camera to trace a leak in a difficult to access roof -screwing off a roof during strong winds after sheets started to dislodge The photos may not look very exciting, but..... if it keeps your house dry when the next rain comes, we have done our job well.

07.01.2022 In many houses, bathroom fans and rangehoods discharge directly in to sealed roof spaces. Additionally, loads of hot air can naturally vent up through openings like redundant fans, around downlights and so on. This has two major impacts on your home: A) Warm air you want inside the house is lost upwards in to the roof space; B) When warm air contacts cold surfaces like roofing, condensation is highly likely.... The following photos show typical problems: 1)- a bathroom fan discharging into a roof space via flexible ducting 2)- a disused and unsealed fan above a shower area, which also allows air to vent upwards in to the ceiling These are big heat leakers and major contributors to condensation. As they are over the bathroom, the air they carry is full of moisture (steam and water vapour) When moist warm air contacts cold areas, condensation is the result. The moisture meter in the next two photos (3 and 4) (on different houses) shows moisture content well over 20% (this is getting right in to the "structural decay zone"). This is a big problem for health and the structure of your home. Photo 4 is an LVL structural beam. 30% moisture content is really bad news in this case. Although from a different house, these photos show the result of humid air entering a poorly ventilated roof space The solution: 5)- ducting the bathroom fan to atmosphere (via a flue through the roof sheeting) means the warm moist air is directed OUTSIDE the roof space 6)- sealing the disused fan over the shower area to prevent air rising up Both of these are then covered to the perimeter with insulation to minimise conductive heat loss. As many ceiling fans do a woeful job of removing air over LONG distances, it is important to make the fan work as efficiently as possible. By minimising the length of flexible ducting (ie using as much rigid tube as possible, with minimal bends) and increasing diameter, the airflow and efficiency can be improved by over 50%. It is all about decreasing resistance to airflow in the system. Additionally, any appliance that is directly open to atmosphere allows air to be sucked out there (rather than to the roof space). To prevent this, it is critical to install a back flow baffle (photo 7) to the system. They is a "one way" valve, which shuts when the appliance is not in use. If it happens to be a rangehood that is the problem, the flexible ducting must be FIRE RATED. This means any (highly unlikely) cooking fires will not spread through the ducting into the roof space. Want to know more? Give me a call.

06.01.2022 Feeling hot? Did you know that a 5% gap in insulation will reduce the efficiency of insulation by 50%. Yes, a 50% reduction with 5% gaps. This figure is the benchmark in both the the Australian Standard (Thermal Insulation of Buildings AS 3999-1992) and the National Construction Code. Big question is- how do I know if there are any gaps, or any insulation at all? With a thermal imaging camera, it is easy. It is like x-ray vision for your walls, ceilings and lots more. ... See where the heat is coming in, where the insulation is (or is not), where that pesky leak is coming through the roof- the possibilities are endless.

05.01.2022 Downlights are BAD NEWS for energy efficiency - until now. Although very popular, downlights typically have some huge drawbacks for energy efficiency: 1) Downlights create a hole in the ceiling. As hot air rises, it tries to escape to the cold roof space. Most downlights do a crap job of stopping the airflow- meaning 1 litre or air per second can be sucked out of the room you are trying to heat.... 2) Most downlights need to have an area of insulation removed around them. This creates cold spots all through the ceiling- generating even more heat loss. 5% gaps in insulation decrease its efficiency by 50%. 3) They are BAD NEWS (like, really bad news) for condensation in many roof spaces. This has to do with the amount of air they draw into the cold roof space, and all the moisture that goes with it. The solution (thanks Paul Malerbi my electrician for doing the research)- the PIERLITE litelux LED downlight. The PIERLITE litelux is rated to use with insulation covering the unit- meaning no cold spots in the ceiling. it also has a foam ring around the rim where it seals to the plasterboard- meaning warm air isn't drawn up in to the roof space. A big winner where condensation in the roof space is a problem They are also dimmable, very low wattage and have selectable colour temperature. They sell for less than $15 each. How good is that!

05.01.2022 DON'T REPLACE YOUR SINGLE GLAZED WINDOWS..not just yet. Many people think that replacing existing single glazed windows with double glazed units will solve all of the heating/energy problems in their house. One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is replacing perfectly good timber windows with double glazed aluminium windows.... A single glazed timber window, on average, performs about the same as a double glazed aluminium window. Although the double glazing minimises heat loss through the glass itself, the rate of heat loss through the aluminium frame is usually much higher than a timber frame. It is worth considering that a typical double glazed aluminium window will have an insulation value ("R" value) of around 0.3. Good window furnishings can provide R values well over 0.6. The luxaflex range of blinds are some good examples of high insulation window coverings, but are by no means the only ones available- www.luxaflex.com.au Regarding window insulation values ("R" values), many manufacturers now provide specific information for each model of window/door they supply www.wers.net (NOTE wers.net refers to the U value, which is the inverse of the R value- or 1 divided by the R value. The U value is a measure of CONDUCTIVITY as opposed to INSULATION. So, a window with a U value of 4, has an R value of 1/4, or 0.25). So, before you go and replace all your perfectly good timber windows with double glazed aluminium, get all the information about options and costs (including window furnishings). You may be surprised.

03.01.2022 Casement windows (the ones with hinges on the vertical edge) are pretty common on older houses in Launceston. There are a few major drawbacks with them. -it is nearly impossible to fit flyscreens to casements -they only open partially (about 30 degrees) -if the casement stay comes off they can swing around wildly... -they do not seal very well and can be draughty There is a system I have been fitting to a few houses lately, and it addresses all of these problems in one very neat and stylish system. It means you can open the window completely (at right angles to the frame) for maximum air flow- and the flies are kept outside. When the sash is closed, the "snubber" latches seal the frame so tight it is like a new window. For energy efficiency (maximum cooling breezes in summer and a tight seal against heat loss in winter) they bring timber casement windows to a completely new level.

03.01.2022 A very good summary of the issues around roof ventilation and condensation. James from Vent Systems is a very knowledgeable professional with some great products. https://www.youtube.com/watch

02.01.2022 Building and construction is still considered an "essential" service. In line with recommendations we are substantially modifying the way we do our work on sites (incl your homes) to minimise risks to clients, workers and contractors. If you have any questions or want us to delay jobs or change the way we do something, please let us know. http://www.premier.tas.gov.au//a_safe_building_sector_crit