Frequently asked questions

Yes, hup! is so lightweight that you can build your new extension onto an existing conservatory base – saving time and money.

A nationwide network of highly experienced hup! builders are waiting to guide you through your hup! project, find your local hup! builder here.

If your builder doesn’t already know about the hup! system, we can arrange training – either at one of our nationwide hup! training sessions or on-site, or both!

If you are conscious of your neighbours not being affected by your building project then hup! is the perfect choice. There is no cutting on site that could be noisy and a hup! build is so fast that most projects are fully completed (including plastering and all internal works) in just a few weeks, compared to months for a traditional build.

With hup! you will have one small team who will take care of your entire project, so you won’t have any worries about managing multiple teams of tradespeople.

Many of the horror stories associated with building extensions are due to managing multiple trades, weather delays and price increases – with hup! every one of these worries is eliminated. One team manages your build, most builds are completed in around 4-5 days and you will be given a price at the beginning of your build that is guaranteed.

As hup! walls are so slim, you will typically gain 10-15% more floorspace than if you had built on the same footprint with bricks and mortar.

hup! offers so many benefits that some homeowners have questioned if what they read about it can really be true – and have subsequently been reassured that hup! IS every bit as good as it sounds by homeowners who have already had their hup! built!

One of these homeowners is Sarah and you can read her hup! story here.

The sound will depend on the external wall finish chosen and the makeup of the brick wall it is being compared with. If your hup! is finished with render or hup! brick mesh there will be very little difference as the calcium silicate board does the job of breaking the sound up.

The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) conducted two strength tests on hup! walls and compared them to traditional brick and block walls. Vertical loadings are the same strength as a brick wall and lateral strength is 70% stiffer than a brick wall.

Yes, of course! All hup! components are fully compliant with the latest Building Regulations. To find out more, click here.

Yes, hup! is extremely sustainable as there is zero waste during the manufacturing process. It is also highly environmentally friendly thanks to its energy efficiency credentials.

hup! products have been pre-approved for Building Regulations by Stroma, MFA and Assent. This means that the system has been independently assessed by not one but three national Building Inspector networks.

Certification by these networks is superior to LABC (Local Authority Building Control) because it renders a building system exempt from local building control approval and involvement which can be time consuming.

LABC Approval Certification of products was stopped in 2022 and any other product claiming to have an LABC certificate will no longer have a valid certificate. These and other products without certification from a Building Inspector network are never exempt from local building control and still require a certificate from local building control as a sign off which can slow things down.

With hup! you have a choice of three networks (MFA, Stroma or Assent) who sign off your installation without delay, because they know that the system is always compliant with the latest Building Regulations. hup! is proud to have certification from three national Building Inspector Networks who work hard to fast-track your hup! Building Regulation approval and provide you with peace of mind as to the quality of every hup! build.

The technology inside hup! is Ultrapanel technology which has been approved for use as a spandrel wall and house roof structure. There is no BBA certificate the hup! brand but the BBA approval for Ultrapanel provides confidence that the technology has been assessed. Our Building Regulation packs contain all the information supplied to the BBA if you need to send this information to Building Control.

It all depends on the size of your hup! but most ‘typical’ sized builds of around 4m in length and width can be built from damp proof course (DPC) to being watertight in around 4 days.

hup! can be built in any weather including rain and even temperatures lower than 5 degrees which would stop a traditional build.

If your builder doesn’t already know about the hup! system, we can arrange training – either at one of our nationwide hup! training sessions or on-site, or both!

With hup! you will have one small team who will take care of your entire project, so you won’t have any worries about managing multiple teams of tradespeople.

If you want to use a paint on your boundary wall we would suggest the Empreror Exterior Wall Protection paint. It has a lifetime guarantee and costs £52 for 5 litres. We would suggest your hup! builder paints the calcium silicate boards in a warehouse or somewhere under cover individually then leave to dry. Once dry they can be assembled into a wall and hinged into place using the hup! boundary wall solution.

Yes – it is designed for this purpose and does not need any extra preparation vs any other render board.

Most renders are appropriate- we do not recommend specific brands, this is up to you.

Most cladding systems can be used with hup! and we supply a brick mesh. If you are close to a boundary you will need to make sure that ‘protected areas’ have adequate fire protection. The Calcium Silicate board used on hup! has an A1 fire rating and must be combined with a cladding of at least a A2 fire rating to be suitable for a ‘protected areas’ near a boundary.

Yes you can. There are suitable plasterboard fixings for certain situations, but you may prefer to counter batten/plyboard to add extra support.

Yes you can – ensure you use suitable fixings for dry wall anchoring e.g grip-it or Bullfix heavy duty dry wall anchor.

As long as there is no sign of movement and the base is a minimum of 150mm concrete, yes you can. This is because hup! will be lighter and no sufficient extra load to cause an issue.

Yes – this can be supplied by us or you can source it yourself. The hup! goalpost sits inside the door frames and is not hidden in the wall.

In Scotland, these are needed as standard, in England, these need to be considered depending on location and external cladding. For further information please seek advice from your local building control.

Yes we can – your hup! builder will be able to provide this for you.

Yes – however you must consider what the room is used as. If there is high humidity a vapour control layer may be required. This is not provided by us and must be placed between the plasterboard and the steel clips.

We would advise using some sort of PVC trim or window board to fill the gap.

Any suitable fixing (for the substrate) with at least a 1 kilonewton pull out force. Fixings must be placed in every pre-punched hole which are set at a minimum of 600mm.

0.4 kiloNewtons per meter squared.

Yes. Cable management panels can be specified to incorporate a trunking system allowing the electrician to easily run cables along the hup! wall to the desired locations. If running up the wall, the cable should run in a flexible conduit to separate it from the EPS insulation.

hup! is incredibly flexible and can be easily altered and changed throughout the design stage. If you wanted to change elements / features of your hup! build once installed or a few years’ down the line then it is a relatively easy process that can be quicker and produce less mess dependant on the scale of the change.

For example you can change one or several of the hup! wall panels by adding in different windows/doors, or if you had a window, then this could be changed to a door or a full height window. Records of the size and location of each walling panel are kept for each build, to help make the alteration process easier and these changes can be made by a hup! builder specifying additional components for the conversion.

If a you wanted to change or update the roof on your hup! extension, there are some things within the glazed areas that can be easily amended. Simply changing glass specification or adding opening roof vents to glass is straightforward. If a more significant change is required, then a new roof will need to be ordered, however as the hup! building system is designed to be used with any hup! roof, in most cases the hup! walls require no amendments when changing a roof.

Your hup! builder will be able to advise on any changes, alterations, and any structural supports that may be required.

You have 50mm to play with including the insulation and floor finish. Using a threshold this could be increased to 70mm, but the height of any existing internal doors would need to be considered (there are many floor insulation options on the market.)

For Tiles you can choose Pro-Warm Tile backer which is available in 6mm (U-value 5.5W/m2K), 10mm(U-value 2.62W/m2K) 12.5mm or 20mm(U-value 1.65W/m2K) and 30mm U-value 1.1W/m2K).

For other floors Eco-tec floor foam is only 6mm thick, or if you can use a threshold and want to be Building Regulation compliant you could use two Kingspan products – Kingspan TF70 which has a U-value of 0.55W/m2K (insulation only) and is 40mm thick +18mm chipboard. Any floor finish would need to be less than 12mm, to come in less than 70mm. Kingspan Optim R 20mm which has a u-value of 0.25W/m2K as a floating floor which can be used with a floating floor like laminate or used with a Fermacell 15mm board to adhere other finishes to.

Yes, this is possible. However, if you are extending the base, you will most likely need a Building Regulation Approval (only conservatories below 30m2 are exempt). To comply with building regulations the existing base may need to be insulated. Any extension to the base will need to comply with Building Regulations and some underpinning of the existing base may be required. You will need to consult with your Building Regulations Approver before commencing basework.

According to the planning portal, a habitable room is a room used for dwelling purposes but it not solely a bathroom, utility room or cellar.

In other words a kitchen, lounge, bedroom or dining room. It should be large enough to live in, have plenty of light and ventilation, have an escape route (door) and electric and/or plumbing. A habitable room will most likely add value to your home. The definition of a habitable room is not to be confused with Building Regulation Approval.

If you are building an extension from scratch or extending your conservatory base or building on an existing base, you will receive a Building Regulation Approval Certificate that outlines the scope of works carried out. This document will not mention anything about ‘habitable rooms’ because Building Regulations do not define this, the quality and usage of the room does.

Yes it is. Whether you want to just replace one or two windows with a hup! wall or add hup! to existing walls to create a completely new look, hup! can easily cope. You can choose between having a cill between the dwarf wall and the hup! wall and having a different wall finishes on the hup! or you can choose the full cladding option where the wall finish can run the entire height of the building for a more premium look.

hup! works on both 250mm and 300m walls, if Building Regulations is required your hup! builder will need to bring the entire wall to a 0.18 U-Value and we provide them with guidance on how to do this.

Simply get in touch with your local hup! builder. They will help you to create your hup! design (or designs!) and supply you with a quote or you can get a free online quote here.

All hup! builders have undergone training to ensure they are fully competent to build any style of hup!.

Every hup! is different just like a brick built extension and so you will need to ask your hup! builder to give you a quote for your specific hup! project.

If your builder doesn’t already know about the hup! system, we can arrange training – either at one of our nationwide hup! training sessions or on-site, or both!

At the start of any hup! build, you will be given a written quote by your hup! builder which will not fluctuate.