Your Pallets are useful!! I made a simple table to cut Kingspan and Ecotherm it saved loads of time

[@kevinbaird7277]

As a fully qualified watcher of YT videos where people make stuff I can offer you this, your work is second to none, this video is fantastic, in fact I went to the trouble of copying you and use the two pallets I have out the back, I moved all the bricks off the pallets which took me hours, then on the last lot of bricks I have twitched my back, so I am lying on the couch with a duvet around me, hot drink in hand watching your videos whilst listening to the wife out the back putting the hundreds of bricks back onto the pallets as i left them where she hangs the washing out, cheers.

[@ukconstruction]

Blimey mate!!!! really made me chuckle!! but on a serious note hope your back is ok!!!

[@T.E.P.]

always inventive and professional. sooo glad to have learned about you thru SkillBuilder channel way back when

[@Bobbyraver]

The company I’m subcontracting for has just got one of these festool saws and it’s a game changer. It might cost a lot of money but the time saved on the job has paid for itself and some and that’s including buying a Hoover to go with it. Well worth the investment. Nice work robin 👌

[@jacobtimberjockey6863]

How long does it take to get use to and is the rail a hindrance? Just looking at it (and I don’t cut PIR all that often) I’m wondering if the time to savings ratio balances up? No doubt it’s a better job but I’m curious as to how much quicker it would make you

[@snowflakemelter1172]

Bahco make an insulation saw that cuts perfectly without dust, we used it on 40 mm sheets and it was worth its weight in gold.

[@samposton9101]

Nice work Robin. Time invested in that jig more than pays for itself! Love that all the ends are beveled too!

[@timmargereson332]

Hi Robin, brilliant idea - thank you. I'm just taking my old roof off at the moment but will definitely use this when I've cut the new roof back on 👍😉. Hope you have a good one. Regards Tim

[@paulshevlin290]

I remember working with an old joiner who used an old electric carving knife

[@davetaylor4741]

Gapotape sounds very useful. When this type of insulation first appeared on British building sites many years ago we just cut it with hand saws as best we could put it between the rafters and nailed a cleat up each side to hold it. How things improve. Would you believe in Qld I can't even buy this type of insulation. I went to a trade show prior to Covid and some company had a very primitive version of this insulation on display and called me over to look at it. I thought yes at last only to find they had about three thicknesses ranging from like 15mm to 30mm. I asked where are all the other sizes but there were no more. This stuff goes up like a cavity wall board sandwich between frame and brickwork or frame and cladding. The R - Value is negligible. Who knows one day we may have the proper stuff. Until then itchy and scratchy batts are still the norm.

[@brianwood5220]

You come up with some great tips Robin. Really useful thanks.

[@SteveDiamond19]

Great bit of kit and nice table to cut on. Why mess about with a handsaw when its that easy. The problem for most tradesmen is justifying the cost of it if its only used once every couple of months or even less.

[@Oggmiestergeneral]

We have just got one of these festool saws and our first impression isn’t great. Sure it cuts square and nice and straight along the back of a rail BUT takes too much time to get set up on anything but repetitive parallel cuts. Also even with dust extraction we still get covered... We will persevere with it for now as certainly they are/will be the way to go, they just aren’t there yet. Anyway cheers for another great vid Robin 👍

[@katabrontes]

Which vac did you use with it? What size hose? Certainly there wasn't much dust visible in RC's video. I have used an old electric carving knife to cut foam for years. Works well but doesn't cut true like the Festool with a track. If I was a tradesman I wouldn't hesitate over the cost, written off against tax anyway and the time saved by having accurately cut slabs will be huge - always assuming the roof was built to RC's standard of accuracy of course. The roof in our old house has very variable spacing and dimensions of the rafters!

[@tobybeswick36]

a combination of the festool saw and gapotape just makes for a perfect job. There's nothing more frustrating than seeing loose fitting insulation

[@stun9771]

Great on new roof joists...not so old narly, twisted, and oddly spaced existing joists...but the gap tape might help...

[@soa324]

Good to see the numbers going up mate

[@ukconstruction]

Thank you Richard, hope your well mate, still need to get my fireplace done!!!! will be in touch

[@shaunglendinning]

Great job Robin, you always make it look so easy😁 ! Thanks for sharing.

[@ukconstruction]

Thank you! 😊

[@samuelchamberlain2584]

That gapotape looks like a good idea, I presume it will take up the gap when the pir shrinks with age .

[@dancingfrogsxb1276]

We used to get 2 or 3 quid a square to put Celotex in and the same for. Insulation backed board, was the most hated job on site as you lost money doing it, there's never been value in insulating houses so it's always been done poorly, I'm interested to see if that changes now the regs have????

[@Rideorhide]

Brilliant!!!

[@zaz7675]

This is fantadtic! Looking to use gappo tape in the next month or so. Should we also tape all the joints + between timbers (internally and external)? Thinking to batten studs, fix 9mm OSB then plasterboard so when i fix anything to the walls i've enough clearance as to not pierce the 'sealed' PIR (PIR will be pushed to external OSB, 75mm PIR in 4" carcass). Is it still important to add a vapour barrier after doing PIR and taping, or is the gappotape with taping joint providing sufficient air tightness and vapour control, thanks again! looking forward to your next videos, learning tonnes!!

[@John-ds7li]

Need to get the festool saw 👍🏻

[@richard21995]

Really smart idea to make up a jig, it looks very clean with no need to wear a mask, what type of dust extraction are you using ?

[@ukconstruction]

Hi Richard, I am using a combination of Festool extractor and my Karcher extractor

[@katabrontes]

@@ukconstruction Hi Robin, was the dust extraction inadequate with just the CT? Certainly not much dust to see in this video. Mike

[@gdfggggg]

If it doesn’t fit quite right, maybe falls out use a slither of board to jam it up the go round all the gaps afterwards with expanding foam. No more air gaps and nice and tight.

[@tomsmith9048]

That's what the tape is for it expands to cover the gaps but not many people will pay for the time or material

[@gdfggggg]

@@tomsmith9048 i didn't watch the whole vid to be honest. Expensive cutting tools ie electric saw, track and the tape stuff. Just wack it up with a few imperfections and use expanding foam. Works great.

[@tomsmith9048]

@@gdfggggg yeah that how it's normally done on an old job but Robin has took the time to set the job out properly

[@gdfggggg]

@@tomsmith9048 true

[@ianthompson9058]

I've done the expanding foam trick myself when really odd sized narly joists but not sure it's double legal!?

[@aaaaalllss]

If I do this then what will I use my bread knife for now

[@markmarlow]

At least you didn’t make garden furniture out of it like everyone else hate that stuff

[@leeberry9666]

What price did you pay for the insulation cutter Robin

[@paulthompson5416]

I love the logo Robin 👌🏼

[@cuebj]

One advantage he has here: he made the roof so joists have perfect spacing for repeating cuts of insulation blocks

[@albaPhenom]

Would def help but I guess with this system it doesn't matter too much, you just put a tape up to each joist, get your dim and slide the insulation board along to the correct width. Measure all the widths of joists beforehand and jot them down, make your cuts and assuming you're using that gapotape system, they should fit snugly. My issue with the gapotape is that it seems pretty expensive, the 80mm is £1.70 per mtr so across a big area that could be a significant cost on the project.

[@lazenbytim]

What this video really demonstrates is prior, planning and preparation to prevent piss poor performance!

[@peterpeterson9903]

Yes - all these points can almost guarantee a good job.

[@andrewmitchell5958]

What about also having the table pitched up so you don’t need to lean over.

[@lazenbytim]

Awesome idea, like they have for cutting ply at the DIY stores?!

[@I-am-not-a-number]

And Roger can have a little nap in the afternoon.

[@regisl99]

Why you not using soft insulation? It will be much cheaper, much quicker, much easier and you will get the same result! Otherwise, the organization looks perfect.

[@albaPhenom]

You would need to use roughly double the thickness of mineral wool to PIR to achieve the same U value and PIR has a more consistent performance in its U value across the face assuming there are no holes being punched through the board as is the case here. Point to note when you are punching a hole thru the face for say brackets and the like, it has a drastic impact on the boards U value.

[@Concernedcitizen89]

Why didnt you just use the table saw? Perfectly straight cuts and accurate

[@jlewis1688]

How's the square coming along Robin.....!

[@ukconstruction]

I get my fist ten prototypes this week!!! watch this space...

[@jlewis1688]

@@ukconstruction Thanks for your reply! I'm watching

[@paulradwell9719]

Hasn't this been on previously?

[@ukconstruction]

We did a video on Skillbuilder on the Gapotape, this video is about the table that I made that featured in that video

[@shandyooo]

I still don’t understand why PIR isn’t sold in standard rafter width measurements from the factory. It would save so much time if you only had to cut the length.

[@tomsmith9048]

Its because different size roofs require different size timbers at different centres depending on the span pitch structure of the roof hope that helps 🔨

[@klaeLIFE]

@@tomsmith9048 what roof has a 1200 centre? They should just make 400 width and 600 width too.

[@tomsmith9048]

@@klaeLIFE well technically they wouldn't be cut at 400mm or 600mm would they and what happens if you use a smaller section of timber and the architect specs 300mm centres ect ect ect 🙄🔨

[@ianthompson9058]

I was at a retailer in Stoke not so long back and noticed pallets of pir in what looked from a short distance as 400 strips which I found interesting

[@tomsmith9048]

@@ianthompson9058 could they have been 300 350 400 450 maybe pre ordered

[@barryford7135]

I’ve heard that gapotape is really expensive. Also is there any air gap Robin?

[@jacobtimberjockey6863]

Took the dive on it after seeing the other vid (discount code FYI in the description I nearly missed it) and to be honest, once you start pushing it in it’s hard to imagine it the other way, it just feels sealed if that makes sense?!?!One interesting thing the lad on the phone in their office told me, when they tested it it was 5x better in the test roof and when you compare the tape on 100mm kingspan vs 500mm kingspan, the tape would be better and is significantly cheaper, I suppose it’s just about how you value it up. it doesn’t interfere with the gap behind the board as well as it only goes on the sides of that helps.

[@ukconstruction]

Hi Barry, the only airgap is behind the insulation to ventilate the roof space, apart from that the gapotape gets rid of any others!!!! Its great

[@clayton4573]

Love your videos robin but you need to up your camera quality

[@nickhaley4663]

Dont get me wrong, I enjoy Robins vid's and he does some great work but I do feel these posts are geting further and further away from the reality of the average chippy/builders life. When do you ever have the time or the space to work like this and if you have a couple of other guys working alongside you it would be impossible to keep the site as ordered and tidy as that. Its to unrealistic for me i'm afarid.

[@ianthompson9058]

Give the guy a break. He's doing his own job here so can organize it how he sees fit and I'm exactly the same, hate working in mess and first thing I do when I get on site is clear and tidy /sweep my area. He often shows vids from everyday jobs where he's working around other tradesmen too

[@normanboyes4983]

I used to hear this all the time in many occupations - people claiming they did not have the time to save time. The common denominator was they were either a bit thick or a lot lazy. It is clear that spending an hour making a platform/jig for a task that has volume and repetition is clearly worthwhile in terms of productivity and quality (while also reducing waste). Clearly if the task does not have volume then it is a judgement call.

[@nickhaley4663]

@@normanboyes4983 Oh right , now I see where i'm going wrong, I'm just too thick and lazy !

[@normanboyes4983]

@@nickhaley4663 Well ...... only you can answer that definitively.😉 One of the fundamental problems for the self employed is that, if successful, they are ‘busy’ and do not step back and review what’s going on and ask themselves ‘how can I work smarter rather than harder’? Believing you are currently working at best possible effectiveness is both myopic and arrogant. Stepping back and honest analysis is the only way to improve. Just saying ‘we have always done it this way and it works’ is a defensive posture that ignores the potential to improve. Employees have the ‘advantage’ of being challenged and stretched by management. The self employed have to challenge themselves.

[@nickhaley4663]

@@normanboyes4983 What do you mean ? I'm currently thinking about buying some cross head screws and doing away with the Yankee, might even try a cordless drill one day. Seriously though, I have no issues with Robins work and i'm as open to new ideas as the next bloke. My point is that these videos are all getting a little bit sanitised for me. The cuts are always perfect, the jobsite is SOoooo tidy, nothing ever goes wrong etc etc. Thats just not a realistic view of life for the average chippy or builder.

[@JACKATTACKED]

👍

[@lalski08]

C'mon Robin, longer video's eh ?

[@messenger8279]

Noice

[@jharris7407]

Why don’t the insulation companies just make boards to fit 400 centres and save us all the hassle ?

[@garyharrisonuk]

I have wondered the same thing. I believe Rockwool do 400 (and 600?) Bats but not kingspan etc.