Insulated foundations, Christchurch.
Insulation that goes in with the concrete, not after it. Edge details, under-slab systems, and heating coils in the right place before the pump arrives.
Why pour day decides it.
Concrete is a thermal mass: it holds whatever temperature its surroundings feed it. Uninsulated, a slab couples the house to the winter ground and works against every heater in the building, every day, for the life of the house.
The fix is geometry, and geometry is cheapest before the concrete exists. Rigid insulation goes in at the slab edge, where most of the heat walks out, and under the slab where the ground asks for it. Once the pour is done, that opportunity is gone; everything after is patching.
A ribraft helps here before insulation is even added: the pods themselves put a layer of polystyrene between the ground and most of the slab's underside. The insulated detail finishes the job the system starts.
The layer that never gets a second chance
What we build in.
Every insulated option is priced with the quote so you compare real numbers, not guesses. And where there is underfloor heating, the installer is one of the trades we book, so the coils and the insulation never argue about who was supposed to be where.
Christchurch first, and Canterbury and the surrounding areas.
- Slab-edge insulation, detailed into the boxing.
- Under-slab insulation where the design calls for it.
- Underfloor heating, where there is any, coordinated into the layout before the pour.
- The Sustainable Plastic Raft option: recycled pods, TC1 from $135.00/m².
The warm layer, on real sites.
The insulated edge
Rigid insulation under the concrete
Finished and level
Ready for frames
New build, established street
Pods down, pour next
Residential slab
Handed back
The warm-slab numbers.
At the pour. There is no retrofit.
Recycled pods, priced and real.
Coordinated before the concrete arrives.
With the engineering documentation at handover.
Warm-slab questions.
Is an insulated slab worth it on a new build?
On a house you are keeping, almost always: it is a one-off cost at the cheapest possible moment against a heating bill that never stops. Ask for it priced alongside the standard slab and judge with the real numbers in front of you.
Can I add underfloor heating later instead?
In-slab heating cannot be retrofitted into an existing slab: the coils live inside the concrete. If there is any chance you will want it, the time to say so is before the pour. We coordinate the installer into the layout as standard.
Does a ribraft still need insulating?
The pods already put a polystyrene layer under most of the slab, which is a real head start. The edge is where a ribraft still leaks heat, so the edge detail is where the insulated version earns its money. The ribraft page covers the system itself.
Does insulation change the foundation engineering?
It is part of the design, not a bolt-on. Edge details and under-slab layers are specified with the system and the TC class. That is why it is priced with the foundation rather than by a separate trade later.
Price the warm version.
Email your plans and ask for both numbers. The difference is usually smaller than people expect, and it only exists before the pour.
Details, then the drawings.
PDFs or photos of the drawings are both fine. Everything sent here lands with Mark himself.