We must admit, the methane membrane is one of the things that has thrown us the most so far on our self-build journey! It sits above the block and beam floor, not only acting as a gas membrane but also doubling up as our airtightness barrier. Having a gas membrane isn’t a normal requirement for a self-build, however, given there used to be a tip around 800m from our site some 30 years ago, it was part of our planning conditions from Herefordshire Council.
CHARLIE, HELEN, LB AND CRAIG
It all started with the requirement of a full soil and gas technical specification. Finding someone to write the specification proved problematic so Craig decided to take on the specification himself: with a little help from Google, a local geologist and the membrane company. After three or four reiterations and roughly eight months, we could finally submit details, with a view to discharging this planning condition, to the Council. As a result, a subsequent condition was put in place that there had to be a gas membrane fitted and signed off by a third party verifier. This was easier said than done as it’s a pretty rare condition: a more common occurrence would be for a radon barrier to be fitted.