A recent trip to North Wales for an air tightness test turned into quite the adventure for our team at Melin!
We were visiting our long-standing partners MBC Timber Frame specialists in bespoke timber frames built to exceptionally low air tightness standards. Melin has proudly worked with MBC for over ten years, testing projects across the British Isles — from busy city developments to remote Scottish islands only reachable by boat. Every project brings its own story, and this North Wales trip was no exception.
The Journey
Setting off early from South Wales, we enjoyed the stunning scenery en route to Nefyn in Gwynedd, with a quick breakfast and EV charge stop in Aberystwyth. All was going smoothly until — disaster struck! A sudden tyre blowout left us stranded in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, with no spare.
Knowing how tight MBC’s schedules can be, we called their site manager, Darren, to explain. Without hesitation, one of the contractors jumped into his jeep, drove out to collect both me and the test kit, and whisked us off to site — now that’s teamwork!
The Site
Arriving at what looked like a quiet car park, I asked where the site was. “Down there,” he said — pointing to the beach! Moments later I was enjoying a scenic tractor ride through the village, down the hill, and across the sand to reach the stunning coastal build.
The MBC team were already hard at work, installing one of their 140mm closed panel system timber frames (with a design of < 3 ACH) though, true to their exceptional standards, the result came in under 1 ACH, nearly achieving Passive House performance, with the first fix result coming in at 0.7 ACH.
As the tide began to turn and MBC finishing on site also, everyone pitched in to load all the kit, tools, and ladders back onto the tractor trailer. With limited space on board, I took the scenic walk up the cliffside back to the car park — a fitting end to a memorable test.
The Return Trip
Back at the van, the breakdown service called to say they’d be delayed another hour. Once again, MBC’s team came to the rescue, offering a lift to a local café so I could wait comfortably with a much-needed coffee. Thanks to the brilliant team at the garage in Pwllheli, a replacement EV tyre was ‘eventually’ sourced, and soon enough we were back on the road to Swansea.
All in a day’s work — and another great collaboration with MBC Timber Frame.