Structural shell windows/doors/roof finished, ventilate properly

Hello everyone,

by now our shell including the basement (Schlagmann Poroton T8 filled) including windows, construction door, roof insulation (Pavatex) and roof covering has been standing for 2 weeks. The pull-down stair to the attic is not yet installed, so the opening is still there.
Screed/plaster will be done after the frost period in March/April. We are in no hurry and wanted to give the shell some time to dry over the winter.

How do we do this most effectively? According to our general contractor it is best to always leave the windows tilted open, only close the weather side (west) – of course if no rain is forecast this side will also be tilted open overnight.
Currently it is like this: we open the windows in the morning and close them in the evening, including the roof hatch. With a higher chance of rain they remain tilted open and the west side is completely closed.

Is this okay or are there more effective methods?

Thank you for your opinions.

Hi,
leaving everything completely open and thus ensuring a draft sounds reasonable to me at first.

But by the way: Why are you now putting the construction on hold? The bricks already have a very low moisture content anyway, so there isn’t much to dry. The actually large amounts of water come into the house with the screed and plaster. Compared to that, you can completely forget about the adhesive mortar between the stones. In other words, drying and resting would be much more sensible after plaster and screed.

Best regards,

Andreas

Hello!

Yes, we are aware that the major moisture only comes with the plaster and screed.

This was somehow planned from the beginning, since we only started construction at the beginning of October and there is no heating/electricity etc. yet to heat the screed.

Before Christmas, the rough installation of plumbing as well as drainage on the property will be done, in January the electrician will come, and from March then plaster, screed, etc. We would also like to run the drying program twice then, as there is no hurry. Move-in will be September/October 2017.

wanted to give the shell some time to dry over the winter.

With our winters, I would be more afraid that the rain would soak the bricks. But in Bavaria it will surely get nicely cold . Still, what is supposed to dry there? I wouldn’t worry too much before plaster and screed.