BEWI Construction (JACKOBOARD & ICF THERMOUR)

JACKOBOARD® by BEWI offers many benefits for installers of wetrooms and bathrooms. JACKOBOARD® is a waterproof, weight-loading and thermally insulating construction board for use in all types of tiling jobs.Critically, because it is manufactured from 100% waterproof XPS, there is no need to tank wetrooms constructed using JACKOBOARD®, either with a waterproof membrane or a paint-on solution. This saves the installer both time and money, since a separate tanking system is not required and only the joints where the boards meet need to be taped.The NHBC Standard states that “backing surfaces may require protection from a suitable tanking system”.“This guidance is completely correct,” says Martin Harragan from JACKON by BEWI, “but it should not be interpreted to mean that if you are using an XPS backerboard, such as JACKOBOARD®, you have to tank the entire substrate of your wetroom. The closed structure of an XPS board means that it is totally impossible for water to pass through it, in the way that it would through a fibre cement board for instance.”JACKOBOARD® is keen to communicate this message to the many different trades who get involved in the installation of wetroom systems, from the shower tray upwards. Although there are wetroom specialists, this job is often down to plumbers, M&E contractors, tilers, dryliners and flooring contractors. So, as wetrooms continue to increase in popularity, there are different trades who need to be aware of the benefits of XPS backerboards.While offering the benefits of XPS, JACKOBOARD® can also offer a price advantage in the marketplace, due to the fact that the company manufactures its own foam, giving it complete control over cost, product quality and sustainability of manufacturing processes. These factors have enabled JACKOBOARD® to become the UK market leader in XPS construction boards.

Manufactured with an extruded polystyrene foam core and a special coating on both sides, Jackoboard construction boards from Jackon by Bewi can be used as part of a system approach for tiling.With a range of shower trays and drain kits, Jackon says Jackoboard can help create a perfect wetroom or bathroom environment.Jackoboard construction systems provide the flexibility to meet modern requirements in bathroom design. “What was once considered a mere washroom has now been elevated to a private wellness oasis,” Jackon says. “In recent years, the demands placed on bathroom finishes have changed dramatically to allow refurbished bathrooms to shine like new with flexible and high-quality renovations.”The current British Standard for tiling, BS 5385-1:2018, requires the wider use of more appropriate materials for construction, and for receiving tiles in water sensitive and wet areas. This has reportedly increased the demand for the Jackoboard range in new build applications as well as in renovation works.The products are manufactured sustainably and, being superb insulators, they can be used in the design of energy-efficient homes, the company says. The protection of the environment is key to parent company Jackon by Bewi. The company says that plastics, when used as long-term construction materials can greatly reduce the need for heating energy and can therefore make a positive contribution to tackling the climate crisis. In fact, Jackon has been running a campaign in recent years to supply beehives made from the company’s polystyrene bead to the Bee Centre in Chorley. Like Jackoboard, the company says, these beehives will last a lifetime and provide better insulation than the alternatives, enabling the Bee Centre to continue its outreach work in support of honeybees and beekeeping.The surfaces of the Jackoboard system are said to provide an extremely strong bond for the tile adhesive and can be used on virtually any substrate. The boards are waterproof, thermally insulating, very lightweight and strong.The range can form the basis for a tiled finish, but it can also provide a substrate for wallpaper, paint or plaster. “So the possibilities for personal expression are virtually unlimited, allowing every bathroom to benefit from its own individual style,” Jackon says.Due to their core made of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), Jackoboard construction boards and the wider product range are all lightweight and waterproof – a key benefit for bathroom new build and renovation.Jackoboard also makes installation “simple and easy”. The construction boards, bath panels and angle elements can be trimmed to the desired dimensions with standard tools, while their insulation values reportedly enable them to maximise the benefits of underfloor heating.The range is available in sizes and board thicknesses from 4-80mm to suit all building requirements. A suite of ancillary items are also available, from installation and sealing kits through to washers, fixing dowels and BoardFIX.J-Drain Linear and J-Drain Wall are recent additions to the family of wetroom products from Jackoboard. These products provide what the company calls a high-tech design solution to enable the creation of a totally minimalist walk-in shower.Both products are designed be used in combination with Jackoboard Sloping Boards for the floor and Plano Boards for the walls, to provide everything needed for a “highly fashionable and innovative walk-in shower solution”.“From a design point of view, these products are completely on-trend, given that the minimalist look for walk-in showers is very popular at the moment,” Jackon says. “Achieving this with a highly effective drain solution, which also showcases the tiling to maximum effect, is a key selling point for these new products, used together with Jackoboard backerboards.”

The JACKOBOARD range from BEWI is “ideal” for use as a tile backerboard on projects where increasingly popular underfloor heating systems are being installed, the company says.Made from extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), the construction boards are said to be inherently waterproof because the structure of the board does not allow water to penetrate. They are designed to be easy to work with and cut, as well as truly lightweight.They are finished on both sides with a special coating and reinforced fibreglass mesh, ready to be tiled, rendered or plastered. The boards are said to possess excellent thermal insulation properties, which give them enormous advantages over plasterboard or cement board. They are especially suitable for interior construction, the company says, especially in rooms subject to high moisture levels.According to BEWI, JACKOBOARD goes “beyond bathrooms” and can be used in any room of the house and as a backerboard for virtually any tiling project.The boards are suitable for quickly and effectively levelling uneven walls and floors, for partition walls, compensating for cracks in substrates and for creating substrates for laying tiles on non-adhesive surfaces.JACKOBOARD is also said to provide the best waterproof, insulated, tiling substrate for underfloor heating projects. Whether electric mats or hot water systems are being installed, BEWI says, JACKOBOARD – laid underneath the heating elements or pipework – will help to decrease warm-up times of the system by pushing the heat directly up to the tile layer. In this way, the heat generated by the system is used in the most efficient way, not just during the initial heat-up stage, but in general usage with the continued thermostat-controlled use of the heating system.As builders are forced to reduce the carbon footprint of their projects, the materials they choose to build with can provide a key to unlocking the thermal performance of a building. The XPS foam used on JACKOBOARD products reportedly achieves excellent insulation properties. It’s designed to help maximise the energy efficiency of walls and floors, improving the overall thermal performance of any property.www.bewi.com

This amazing swimming pool refurbishment project in Knutsford, Cheshire was undertaken by Abstract Pools Ltd. Tiles from Designworks and more than 100 JACKOBOARD® construction boards were used.Manufactured with an extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam core and a special coating on both sides, JACKOBOARD® construction boards form an ideal base for tiling. The surfaces of the JACKOBOARD® system provide an extremely strong bond and can be used on virtually any substrate. The boards are waterproof, thermally insulating, truly lightweight and very strong. This combination of characteristics makes them ideal for pool hall work. The result of this refurbishment is absolutely stunning and the owners of the property are delighted unsurprisingly.The owner was abroad while the renovation was carried out. The pool was situated in the basement of the house and had been left empty for a few years. The contractor was tasked with refurbishing the pool hall and bringing it back to life. They stripped everything back to the existing substrate, and then rendered and screeded the pool itself, the jacuzzi and the pool surrounds.A new steam room was added, using JACKOBOARD®. All of the pool hall walls were lined with JACKOBOARD®, ready to receive tiles. All tiles on this project were supplied by Designworks Tiles, the specialists in tiles and mosaics for swimming pools and spas. The tiles used on the project were Ezarri Lisa Black Mosaic for the pool tank, District Grey 1200x600x10mm for the pool hall walls, District Dark Grey for the pool coping tiles and District silver 600x600x10mm for the pool floor surround

Administration and warehouse facilities were located at different sites, complicating coordination between them. And to make matters worse, office space had long since reached its limits. Having experienced continuous growth, WZB Wachsmuth & Ziesche Bauunternehmung GmbH had been looking for a new location for its company headquarters for quite a long time. And the Hamburg-based firm finally found just the right place in Geesthacht – where it erected a new building to state-of-the-art energy standards. A large portion of that new building uses JACKODUR® EVO inverted roof insulation.“This new building will meet our needs perfectly for years to come,” reports managing partner Carlo Ziesche: “The offices offer a spacious, modern work environment. And their direct proximity to the storage hangar and to our building yard now makes everyday coordination so much easier.” As a result, the move from downtown Hamburg out to its proverbial “affluent suburbs” has paid off handsomely. “Finding this 3800-square-meter plot of land on Leibnizstrasse in Geesthacht was a real stroke of luck for us,” continues Carlo Ziesche.Just six months after the opening ceremony, the employees were able to move into the functional new building. Proud of the fast-paced construction and the rapidly growing new premises, WZB had the progress regularly photographed with a drone. With 450 square meters of floorspace spread over two stories, the new building provides modern workplaces for WZB’s construction experts. “Almost immediately after we moved in, an extended heat wave hit with peak temperatures above 35°C (95°F). That was a real acid test for the inverted roof insulation right from day one,” adds Ziesche.The ceiling was made of waterproof concrete according to DAfStb (German Committee for Reinforced Concrete) guidelines and without the use of sealing sheets. The structure exceeded all expectations and proved effective even during the record summer heat as a protective shield for the offices underneath. “We were surprised to find that we hardly ever needed to run the air conditioning system: the offices maintained comfortable conditions at all times,” continued the CEO.The reason for this is up on the roof: a 400-mm-thick layer of insulation with JACKODUR® EVO 300 Standard SF. This newly developed product enables rapid, secure, single-layer installation for the first time in thicknesses of up to 400 mm – with a consistent lambda value of λD = 0.032 W/(m·K). Permanently laminated at the factory, these multilayer boards also provide for particularly reliable and uncomplicated handling along with considerable time savings as compared with installing multiple insulation layers. Made of XPS, they feature good compressive strength, dimensional stability, moisture resistance and rot resistance – and are also extremely durable, of course. JACKODUR® filter layer WA was added to the JACKODUR® EVO inverted roof structure along with at least 5 cm of 16/32 gravel as ballast.With this tailor-made solution, the gravel-covered inverted roof achieves outstanding insulation performance: the U value is just 0.08 W/(m2 x K). The company’s two general managers, Mr. Wachsmuth and Mr. Ziesche, felt very strongly about the new building’s high energy performance standards and wanted to do their part for ecology and climate protection. WZB also uses solar panels on the roof of the storage hangar to produce a large share of the energy it consumes. As a result, the company expects to consume much less energy for winter heating than it did at its previous headquarters.“We’ve already gained extensive positive experience on numerous projects using both waterproof concrete roofs and JACKODUR® insulation,” insists Carlo Ziesche. So that made the decision to use proven inverted roof technology for the company’s own new offices an easy one. “We were impressed with the way JACKON Insulation by BEWI provided exemplary personal consultation on the use of the new product in advance – and similarly impressed with their order processing and their service support during the installation. That’s why we were glad to help develop design solutions for the use of this new JACKODUR® product,” explains the building contractor with more than thirty years of experience in the industry.WZB Wachsmuth & Ziesche Bauunternehmung GmbH has operated successfully in the construction market of Northern Germany for more than ten years now. With extensive experience and solid expertise, the company has specialized in the new construction, modernization and repair of residential and commercial buildings. The company’s two founders and general managers place particular importance on traditional Hanseatic values – like reliability, conscientiousness and continuous commitment to high quality.

-Short outline of the project’s concept, location, final use, etcLaing Bespoke Homes develop individual high-end new build houses. This current project was for a single detached residential family home to be sold on the open market when complete. The finished house will be highly energy efficient and make use of renewable technologies, solar PV, MVHR, rainwater harvesting to compliment the well-insulated structure. Highland Park is situated in the woodland village of West Hill just outside of Exeter the site, of approximately 1/3 acre. The site originally formed part of a very large garden of The Old Vicarage. It has a prominent position halfway down the road and is surrounded by similar sized properties and large mature trees.-I used Jackon Thermomur ICF/Jackodur Atlas for this project because…Previously we had always built with timber frame, however, we were becoming more disillusioned with this method. The rapidly rising cost of timber, decreasing quality and tolerances that were getting worse. We began to research alternative methods that suited our processes and aims. Originally having looked at other ICF options we were disappointed by each for various reasons including; no complementing foundation system, lack of closers or decent closers for cavities/openings and use of imperial measurements rather than metric. We then came across Jackon, new to the UK but well established throughout Europe. Their product seemed to deal with all our worries of the other options and the icing on the cake being the newly introduced cavity closer of sufficient density to allow doors and windows to be directly fitted to it and therefore eliminating a cold-bridge. We talked at length with the representatives and were very excited to start a new journey building with Jackon ICF. Another reassuring point was that they offer their own insulated slab system (Atlas) which others did not and meant having two separate systems trying to tie-together. Atlas is also made to measure which leaves with near-zero wastage on site. The combined wall and foundation system helped us achieve a pre-build EPC & SAP rating of A. One major bonus of using ICF was the inbuilt stability, strength, insulation and airtightness all in one go. The product itself is excellent quality. Our contractor noted that the bocks fit tightly together and the webbing was strong and rigid. So much so that we had no blow-outs during pour-days and not even a bulge in the walls! The whole system works so well that it was a matter of weeks to construct the large house including gables and a detached large double garage. Being so impressed with Jackon we have also used their Jackodur rigid insulation for the UFH and screed to go over and Jackoboard board / Aqua Flat shower system for three wet bathrooms. This too was a complimenting system that worked very well together and was simple to install.-The Jackon Systems helped achieved the project’s aims by…The Atlas system was very straight forward to layout according to the drawings provided. The Thermomur provided an external structure, insulation and airtightness which greatly aided with the speed of the build programme and reduced the need for extra onsite labour especially in comparison to timber frame.Jackon’s products are all very high quality but, more importantly, simple to use. With some attention to detail there should be no future problems.The solid feel and strength of ICF gives a reassuring feel even before any covering are added. The long-term durability of ICF / concrete gives the building an extremely long lifespan. Being able to achieve our target foundation and wall U-values straightaway with no other additions required was very pleasing too. We like to provide buildings that are as environmentally friendly and futureproofed as possible and an ICF building provides great thermal mass and zero air permeability on clear wall areas. Highland Park is A-rated on its as-built EPC and with exceptionally low air permeability it is Zero Carbon[1].-The Jackon systems helped overcome the following obstacles during the design/construction process…The embedded webbing and fixing points make future works very simple. Spaced to metric measurements means it works with all building products from the UK Europe without the need to make costly alterations and reducing labour requirements. It also reduced the amount of waste produced. As Thermomur is a finished product once filled we did have any hurdles to cross to give the building any extra thermal mass or products externally to reduce noise pollution, the house is so quiet inside and a reassuring feel to it. -Pre and after sales assistance…Every representative of Jackon we dealt with was knowledgeable, friendly and informed. They all had a great attitude to the numerous questions we had and if not available straight away the teams in Europe were able to pass the information or additional detail drawings on to us quickly. The ordering process was very easy and deliveries were prompt which help avoid delays on site and with our tight build schedule.- Future plans…We have several projects in the pipeline all of which will be designed and constructed using the Thermomur ICF and Atlas foundation systems. [1]Zero Carbon – Carbon Compliant. Based on Zero Carbon Hub definition (below 11kg CO2 per sqm) and Pre-construction SAP2012 DFEE & DER calculations