What building material is this?

[veedee]

Anyone have any idea what material this is? Pic attached

Trying to fit backboxes in this material is a nightmare as it is crumbly, weak and at times, it feels like wheat.

 

[Alastairreid]

Stramit board.

 

[veedee]

Thanks @Alastairreid

I have to admit that i have never heard of this material before. Learning all the time.

However, I am stunned that this was used in the inner leaf of my cavity wall. It's absolute crap and it explains why i had some nasty cracks in my walls

 

[Nige F]

Thanks [

However, I am stunned that this was used in the inner leaf of my cavity wall. It's absolute crap and it explains why i had some nasty cracks in my walls

Have you got an unusual construction house ? I recall steel framed houses with that on most inside walls - the outsides were originally tile hung with concrete mathematical tiles - maybe yours has had a brick skin outside ?

 

[veedee]

Have you got an unusual construction house ? I recall steel framed houses with that on most inside walls - the outsides were originally tile hung with concrete mathematical tiles - maybe yours has had a brick skin outside ?

Outer leaf is constructed with brick

The inner leaf is where things get interesting

The wall is constructed using a mix of breeze block, solid concrete block and stramit board. I assume this was done to keep costs down. All of these materials are very thin. As a result, I have avoided using 32mm back boxes

The wall is also insulated with the use of polystyrene

Would this be considered an unusual construction?

Property built in 1990

 

[Leofric]

Would this be considered an unusual construction?

Yes , Stramit should only have been used for internal partitions not the inner leaf of a cavity construction external wall. The inner leaf should have been blockwork .
How is the wall loadbearing, is there some sort of structural frame

 

[veedee]

Yes , Stramit should only have been used for internal partitions not the inner leaf of a cavity construction external wall. The inner leaf should have been blockwork .
How is the wall loadbearing, is there some sort of structural frame

I cocked up

I went into the loft area and the party walls / internal partitions have the mix of stramit and concrete block

The inner leaf/external walls are not constructed with stramit. It is breeze block and the occassional brick

There is no structural frame such as steel or reinforced concrete etc

So i guess this is a traditional build?

The bricky did a shocking job. There are large gaps in the building material because they never filled the gaps properly with mortar. I will post a pic when i can

 

[Leofric]

I went into the loft area and the party walls / internal partitions have the mix of stramit and concrete block

Are you saying the party walls are Stramit , they shouldn't be Party walls are not the same as internal partition walls and there wouldn't normally be internal partitions in the loft

 

[noseall]

Are you saying the party walls are Stramit , they shouldn't be Party walls are not the same as internal partition walls and there wouldn't normally be internal partitions in the loft

I'm pretty sure there is a modern equivalent (to a masonry wall etc) used now between semis.

 

[veedee]

Are you saying the party walls are Stramit , they shouldn't be Party walls are not the same as internal partition walls and there wouldn't normally be internal partitions in the loft

On the other side of that wall is another property

It's very weird but true.

 

[Leofric]

I'm pretty sure there is a modern equivalent (to a masonry wall etc) used now between semis.

Yes, a party wall can be in timber frame construction or metal stud construction but not Stramit construction.

 

[Leofric]

I'm pretty sure there is a modern equivalent (to a masonry wall etc) used now between semis

Yes, party walls can be in timber frame construction or metal stud construction (various forms of construction are shown in Gyproc handbook ), but not Stramit as far as I am aware..

 

[Leofric]

I went into the loft area and the party walls / internal partitions have the mix of stramit and concrete block

So is it a Stramit facing to a concrete block wall ?