Eco Sheet...

[Cornish Dragon]

I bumped into this while looking for flat
roofing material at Mole valley for the
new Mushroom House......

http://www.useitagain.org.uk/100-recycled-plastic-plywood-from-eco-sheet/
http://www.ecosheet.com/products/farm-and-garden/

Has anyone used it and is it any good ?
Plus at £35 per sheet seems rather expensive.....
Any one know where it can be got cheaper please as
I need 8 sheets ?

CU
CD

[biff]

Hello CD,
      I have never used this material so i am not familiar with it but good quality marine ply would cost a lot more and still rot eventually. If you are looking for flat roof material then think "esso butyl" which is a heavy duty rubber sheet almost like a pond liner but covers roofs instead. I have used this material and have had exellent results with it.
      If its only for a shed then think box profile and the people who sell the leftovers from barn building construction. You can pick up a good bargain from these people especially the double skinned insulated sheets.
                                                                               biff

[Cornish Dragon]

Thanks Biff....
Everything seems expensive to us in Cornwall !
The advantage to this Eco sheet it IS the roof
as well so I suppose it is not too bad and as you say
it won't rot .....
It appears you just silicon the joints as there is
no  "T" shaped joint nor nothing ...
CU
CD

[wookey]

Interesting product but I'm not very impressed with their 'techincal information'. Nothing on expansion, strength, thickness, screw pullout, fire resistance categories etc - i.e all the stuff thout out to be on a datasheet. Is there one somewhere?

It does look like it might be really good for sarking under warm roofs, but I guess it doesn't have stuctural approvals for that yet.

[Tombo]

I have used some from the same source, advertised in MVF.
Its a bit like chipboard in its structure. Two fused faces and particles in between.  It is very strong and heavy. I think due to it's nature as a recycled product aggregated from various feedstocks it's  quality's are likely to be variable.
Did I mention it's heavy.
I think I have seen it on ebay too, but the same vendor. I have never seen it anywhere else.

Plastic sarking sounds like a horrible idea in the event of a fire.

[martin W]

Never used it, but I spoke to company at ecobuild last year (and I think the year before when they were looking for backing to develope the product to get it to market).

Quite impressed with the sales talk and have a small sample. The sheet I saw was the hording board (replacement for shuttering ply). it is supposible availble form travis perkins and should be around 10% more expensive than standard shuttering ply.

When I spoke to the company at ecobuild last year the sizing quiality was supposed to be very good.

If you could find it for a good price say £30 per 8x4' sheet and are unsure of its use I would sugguest giving the company a ring to discuss you questions. 3/4" ply is around £25 sheet here (marine a lot more £40 ish from memory)

[Cornish Dragon]

Some details from Mole valley

Weight 33kg
Density 616kg  per sq metre
Flexural stress  9.5mpa
Breaking failure  650 N

CU
CD

[offthegridandy]

Hi Cornish Dragon,

I've been using this material for about 2 years. I pay £32 ex Vat for 8X4. The material is consistent in thickness and sheet size. I allow 5 mm expansion gap between sheets. I use it for the bed/floor of trailers on which we transport porta loos. In the summer the trailers get loaded and unloaded sometime 5 times a day and so far the trailer beds are showing no sign of wear. The surface is tough but slippery when wet. However the core is somewhat soft .

You can drivc screws straight though but ease off as the countersink head beds in or the screw will go straight through. Use of washers on your fixings will help to avoid this pull though.

I've also used same product to make shower trays; flat sheet 800mm square plus 100 mm upstands screw sides to base and Bob is your relative.  Only drawback is cut edge is unattractive due to granular centre, can be sealed over with mastic/bath sealant.  Compared to ply wood for the use I'm making there is no comparison and its good to use recycled plastic,

One point to note sheets have been made both 8X4 and 2400X1200 check what you get before setting out rafters or you'll find after 2 boards the edge of sheet is off the rafter. I'm told you can paint the boards but have not tried it.

Andy

[Cornish Dragon]

Thanks  Andy and the guys.....
Thats all very interesting stuff especially the expansion
gap as I was going to use it to roof the Mushroom House
and then mount solar panels on top of that..
Please if it isn't rude  please could you tell me where it
can be got for £32 +vat as the best I can get is £35.26+vat
if I buy 10 or more boards.......?
To do under shower trays I have used the grey shower board
strong but a bit like an aero bar..
It is £39+vat on the old flee bay 
CU
CD

[offthegridandy]

Hi CD,

 I purchase the boards from a local trailer manufacturer, he don't sting me but I expect he's putting a few percent for himself.  I also came across the material at the Royal Show this year and I think it was actual manufacturer. I'l see if I've got their details in the show guide and pass them on. They were quoting around the same price on 10 sheets or more/

Andy

[qeipl]

Ecosheet looks like Stokbord, which I have used for trailer beds, etc.

It's very tough, hard-wearing, etc. but expands a lot when the weather gets warm and I have yet to find any type of sealant or glue that will stick to it.
If using multiple sheets on a roof you'd have to find some way of sealing the joins that will take account of expansion/contraction.

[selwyn]

We are thinking of using this material on the roof on our cabin I have just had a price delivered to the far north of Scotland for 15 sheets £720.00 inc vat but after reading that sealer ect does not stick sealing the expansion joints will make this a non starter the manufacturer never mentioned this problem.As anybody ever tried using this as a roofing system.

[Cornish Dragon]

Hi Selwyn....
I started the threat off  because i want to use it roof
the new Mushroom House and a big thankyou to
everyone for your comments....
Went  into my builders merchant and saw the plastic
jointing strip for polycarbon type roofs (like an I beam
in principle ) and thought I could use that to give the
5mm Offthegridandy recommends with either silicon
or decorators chalking which will give a bit  too....
Seems a good solid and permanent solution .....
CU
CD