Typical exterior insulation pricing for semi-d?

feckoffcrow

I have a typical 2005 built semi-D with cavity insulation.
Firstly, is it possible to add external insulation to this wall buildup without any negative effects?
Secondly, has anyone either got this work done on a similar house or failing that, got a quote for a similar house? If so, what ballpark figure would this come in at?

Lastly, what happens in a semi-d situation with exterior insulation when it comes to the point where the dwelling meets the neighbouring property. Will this look odd?

feckoffcrow

Have done a little bit of surfing/reading and i'm now finding it even harder to justify.

It seems that external insulation will still leave a problem when it comes to cold bridging (the sections of wall around windows/doors - that wont be covered by it). Is there any possible solution to this problem?
Furthermore, in a semi-d situation, this problem is greater - as the section of wall meeting the neighbouring property will be compromised in terms of cold bridging.

I seem to be running out of options in terms of making this house more heat efficient. Have another thread open on retro-fitting HRV but that doesnt seem to be straightforward either.

Anyone else got any ideas!?

Dan Jaman

I've been looking closely at external insulation options recently, with a view to strictly DIY-ing it. I'm not in a semi, but my building is half-habitable, half-workshop and the cold-bridging problem of the two areas is similar to semi-d construction. I intend to line the inside of the corners in the habitable side for a distance of about 300mm (ballpark figure) with 50mm Kingspan and see how that works.
Regarding the window and door reveals, current practice seems to be to line the reveals with a high-performance PIR foam and render it. I'll try that, but I'm not too bothered if I have to improve on it later - at the very least it will be streets ahead of what I have at the moment - ie, nothing.

feckoffcrow

Dan Jaman wrote: »

Regarding the window and door reveals, current practice seems to be to line the reveals with a high-performance PIR foam and render it. I'll try that, but I'm not too bothered if I have to improve on it later - at the very least it will be streets ahead of what I have at the moment - ie, nothing.

Not too up to speed on this sort of stuff so bare with me! Can others post how effective this workaround is? Are there not issues with regard to leaving enough space for doors/windows to open??

items

feckoffcrow wrote: »

I have a typical 2005 built semi-D with cavity insulation.
Firstly, is it possible to add external insulation to this wall buildup without any negative effects?
Secondly, has anyone either got this work done on a similar house or failing that, got a quote for a similar house? If so, what ballpark figure would this come in at?

Lastly, what happens in a semi-d situation with exterior insulation when it comes to the point where the dwelling meets the neighbouring property. Will this look odd?

Have you looked into having cavity filled with bead insulation?

Up north a lot of houses are built with no insulation in cavity, later after house is sealed, windows in plastered roof on etc, a company will call to house, drill whole's in wall to blow in beads.

This idea is picking up here, I thought it was expensive, in thousands, but last quote I heard came in the hundreds.

Not sure about semi's, might end up insulating next door also, if you know next door well, you could both chip in.

feckoffcrow

items wrote: »

Have you looked into having cavity filled with bead insulation?

Thanks items - this was done as part of the build.

items

feckoffcrow wrote: »

Thanks items - this was done as part of the build.

No bother, why are you looking into external insulation out of interest?

Dan Jaman

feckoffcrow wrote: »

Not too up to speed on this sort of stuff so bare with me! Can others post how effective this workaround is? Are there not issues with regard to leaving enough space for doors/windows to open??

I've had a look at my windows and only two will need some attention that way, being a bit tight on the reveals. Luckily they're small ones and it will be easy enough to move them forward into the insulation zone. All the rest are quite accessible.

feckoffcrow

items wrote: »

No bother, why are you looking into external insulation out of interest?

I don't want to be spending my hard earned cash on ever increasing oil bills. We need to be (and will be soon enough) aiming towards passive house standard.
Looking at all options to be honest - a lot of the new tech solutions are either too expensive or have other hangups - but its worth monitoring them all - as some time soon one or all of them become very worthwhile.

Dan Jaman wrote:

I've had a look at my windows and only two will need some attention that way, being a bit tight on the reveals. Luckily they're small ones and it will be easy enough to move them forward into the insulation zone. All the rest are quite accessible.

Sounds like you have that covered.
BTW, I noticed from your first post that you intend to do the work yourself. Any particular reason? Theres a 4k grant for it if you get an SEI approved contractor (or are they inflating their prices?)

Dan Jaman

feckoffcrow wrote: »

BTW, I noticed from your first post that you intend to do the work yourself. Any particular reason? Theres a 4k grant for it if you get an SEI approved contractor (or are they inflating their prices?)

Goes against the grain to pay someone else to do it - the whole conversion of this building was done by me and there's only about one builder I'd trust to do any of it - I know that because I worked with him on and off and saw the standard of his work. That's by the by, as I don't have 4K (or 8K) to throw away, grant or not, and the cost of DIY is considerably less. I'm doing this building to please me, not some future buyer, so I don't care about certs, etc.

items

feckoffcrow wrote: »

I don't want to be spending my hard earned cash on ever increasing oil bills. We need to be (and will be soon enough) aiming towards passive house standard.
Looking at all options to be honest - a lot of the new tech solutions are either too expensive or have other hangups - but its worth monitoring them all - as some time soon one or all of them become very worthwhile.

Sounds like you have that covered.
BTW, I noticed from your first post that you intend to do the work yourself. Any particular reason? Theres a 4k grant for it if you get an SEI approved contractor (or are they inflating their prices?)

Cheers, I've worked in some highly insulated house, SEI type works. These houses were so well insulated no real heating system was required, just something like a heat pump only it was air source. All heat came from re generation, body heat, bathrooms kitchens even light fittings, all regenerated through heat pump, if needed heat pump kicks in during winter etc only drawing small current for compressor within heat pump.

For this system to work, ventilation had to be real advanced, strict etc, even having front door open for to long was enough to upset heat pump which in turn effected entire system.

Insulation wise houses were highly insulated from floor to ceiling and wall to cavity.