FAQs

Regarding a structural warranty, Durisol is third-party certified by the BBA (British Board of Agrément). Durisol builds have successfully acquired structural warranties from various warranty providers, including LABC Warranty, Premier Guarantee, Global Home Warranties, and Build-Zone. As each provider has different criteria, we can advise you on the most suitable one for your build.

When it comes to insurance, ICF is considered a non-standard form of construction. However, since many homes fall outside the restrictive ‘standard’ classification, non-standard insurance is readily available. Provided you’ve met all the building regulation requirements during your Durisol build, you’ll be able to insure your new home with various insurers.

In the UK, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has formally recognised ICF as a standard form of construction for those manufacturers who are members of the industry trade association, the Insulating Concrete Formwork Association (ICFA. As Durisol is a full member of the ICFA, most mortgage lenders will lend on homes built with Durisol ICF.

The U-values and PSI values achieved through building with Durisol exceed UK building regulation requirements and can surpass types of traditional cavity and timber frame construction values.

As Durisol can deliver very high insulation levels and airtightness in the building fabric, it can contribute to meeting Passivhaus standards.

The Durisol woodcrete is inert. Durisol has a 90-minute certified fire rating in regard to resistance to fire. Other tests have been conducted for up to four hours.

The highest recorded Durisol build is a reinforced concrete frame hotel in Canada, over 20 storeys tall. So, your self-build home can be several storeys high. Concrete has excellent compressive strength, and a Durisol build creates a monolithic continuous concrete frame within the units that provides exceptional stability.

Yes, it is suitable to be exposed to moisture permanently.

Yes, but it would need to be structurally waterproofed as with traditional construction. We can advise on specialists in this area along with warranty providers who support this approach.

Yes, swimming pools have been built with Durisol, and it is ideal as swimming pools now come under building regulations and need to be insulated.

Durisol creates a concrete frame within the formwork that can easily incorporate a range of flooring systems. For timber floors, it’s quick and easy to bolt a wall plate to the wall and introduce joist hangers in the usual way. Alternatively, for solid floors such as “beam and block” or precast plank floors, these can bear directly onto the concrete core.

Durisol provides excellent flexibility in terms of the finishes that you can apply to it. The woodcrete has a rough surface which provides an excellent key for wet finishes such as plasters and renders. Externally, renders can be applied onto the bare Durisol to provide weather tightness and air tightness as well as an aesthetic finish. Externally, Durisol can also be matched with local brickwork or stonework using synthetic or real brick and stone slips. It is also possible to screw battens and a house wrap membrane to the Durisol and then overlay timber cladding of your choice. Internally, again the options are broad. A wet plaster takes very well to the woodcrete. The added benefit from a plasterer’s perspective is that the woodcrete does not support capillary action, and as such, it doesn’t suck moisture out of the plaster during its application. This feature gives the plasterer more working time to get a perfect finish. Alternatively, plasterboard can be “dot and dabbed” directly to the Durisol or fixed to battens which are screwed directly into the woodcrete.

All units are 500mm long, 250mm high, with width dependant on the unit chosen.

The number in the product name refers to the width (in mm). So, for example, the D300 has a width of 300mm.

D365 units have 30 in a pack, D300 units have 40 in a pack, D250 units have 50 in a pack, and D170 units have 60 in a pack.

Durisol D300 and D365 units will arrive on-site with insulation pre-installed. D250 and D170 units are non-insulated.