Upgrading Insulation of 1990 3 Bed Semi

little_monty

Hi,

I am currently looking into doing some refurbishment work on my 20yr old 3 bed semi.
This will be mainly focused on downstairs (new kitchen, flooring, fireplace, bathroom & Gas Boiler/heating controls). (windows are already double glazed)

What I'm looking for advice on is whether i should upgrade the insulation.
The walls are 9" cavity block which are internally insulated with 40mm polystyerene/plaster board. I realise this is quite poor.

What I'm thinking of doing is upgrading insulation on the rooms i'm working on (kitchen,sittingroom,bathroom) .. i've a rough quote of about 2500 for this. I realise i wont get a grant.

So the questions i have are :

- Is upgrading only half the house a bad idea ?

- Will upgrading half the house have any impact on its BER ? (ive to get a BER for the Heating upgrade grant)

- Any suggestions on what insulation i should use and where to price it in Dublin ?

- If i do get around to upgrading Bedroom insulation later .. i will still have uninsulated walls between the floors and at internal walls .. how significant are these un insulated parts ?

- IF i upgrade the insulation i will also probably add some additional plug sockets. Do i need to chase the actual wall for this wiring or is it enought to just embed it in the insulations ?

thanks in advance for any advice / tips !

AARRRRGH

little_monty wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently looking into doing some refurbishment work on my 20yr old 3 bed semi.
This will be mainly focused on downstairs (new kitchen, flooring, fireplace, bathroom & Gas Boiler/heating controls). (windows are already double glazed)

What I'm looking for advice on is whether i should upgrade the insulation.
The walls are 9" cavity block which are internally insulated with 40mm polystyerene/plaster board. I realise this is quite poor.

What I'm thinking of doing is upgrading insulation on the rooms i'm working on (kitchen,sittingroom,bathroom) .. i've a rough quote of about 2500 for this. I realise i wont get a grant.

So the questions i have are :

- Is upgrading only half the house a bad idea ?

- Will upgrading half the house have any impact on its BER ? (ive to get a BER for the Heating upgrade grant)

- Any suggestions on what insulation i should use and where to price it in Dublin ?

- If i do get around to upgrading Bedroom insulation later .. i will still have uninsulated walls between the floors and at internal walls .. how significant are these un insulated parts ?

- IF i upgrade the insulation i will also probably add some additional plug sockets. Do i need to chase the actual wall for this wiring or is it enought to just embed it in the insulations ?

thanks in advance for any advice / tips !

That quote seems very high to me.
We did our whole house. Fixed the slabs with mushrooms. Got a plasterer in for 4 days. And painted ourselves.

very good 8ftx4ft 80mm dense Insulation backed slabs are about €30 each. Check your local builders providers.

Mushrooms are very cheap fir fixing. A good plasterer is about €120 a day nowadays, as are electricians for your extra sockets. Then you have to paint. Skirtings are a bit fiddly with cuts but easy to put back on.

You only need to do the outside walls. And you wont have to do some walls, like kitchen and bathroom to get the grant.

I reckon you should be able to do a large house for less than you get in the grant. Get lots of quotes.
The work itself is very quick. Its the re-painting and cleaning thats the worst part.

Grants are seperate for walls, roof insulation, and gas installation. So apply for them all anyway. They should each cost you less than the grant even at expensive prices (except the gas).