Dry lining insulation advice

minmax89

Hi all.

I have a NE facing wall that is the front of my terrace house. Our living room houses the front door and the whole wall is currently dry-lined. As there is no insulation there I plan to take all the current dry-lining and rebuild with insulation.

This is how it looks now:






As you may see, there are two elements that are restricting the thickness off insulation I'd like to use. One is the stairs; too thick and the entrance to them is restricted. The other is around the front door; this is where the biggest draught is and I'd like to insulate as best as possible.

I saw a very thin insulation material once on Grand Designs (aparently it's about 30mm thick and does the same job as 200mm!) that was this kind of foil backed thingy. Probably very expensive though.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how best to insulate/dry-line this wall??

Adam

Buford T Justice

Can you get bead foam insulation pumped into the cavities from outside? afaik there is a grant available for this.

jiggerypokery

It looks like your dry lining is on batons and they're fixed to old plaster. If you remove the plaster slabs, batons and hack off the plaster you should have room for insulated slabs fixed directly to the block wall. With the plaster removed fill the gaps around the window and door frames with expanding foam and renew draught rubber strips between the door and frame and the same for the window. Hope this helps.

minmax89

That's exactly what it is; 2x1 battons onto Lime Plaster which is on slate stone wall aprox 500mm thick.

Thank you very much for the advice about the 'detail' ie. windows and door seals, etc.

I've since found a couple of interesting things;

Found this article that mentioned Aspen Aerogels. This is the kind of thing I was thinking of (or at least along these lines). Then found Actis.

I could take the plaster off back to the stone (although reading up on the properties/characteristics of the lime plaster I might now be tempted to leave it on) then apply this stuff.

You read things like, "...It is three to five times thinner than traditional thick insulation (including air spaces) but performs to the same standard..." and it gets you interested.

Anyone used products or anything like them?

bugsntinas

whatever you do make sure you do it properly the previous owner of our place used 1 inch thick polystyrene which is only good for packing parcels.i'll re-do mine eventually and either use rockwool of the insulated plasterboard.,

MicktheMan

minmax89 wrote: »

That's exactly what it is; 2x1 battons onto Lime Plaster which is on slate stone wall aprox 500mm thick.

If I were you I would seek professional advice. Your 500mm stone wall needs to be able to breath (in both directions) in order to stop the buildup of moisture over time. By changing the internal characteristics of the wall you risk the buildup of moisture over time (years) and ultimately the structural integrity of the building! Proceed with caution!

brendankelly

Guetex could be an option. this can be fitted directly onto the lime plaster provided the lime plaster was not skimmed with gypsum plaster. This is a breathable material and comes in different sizes.

minmax89

MicktheMan wrote: »

...Your 500mm stone wall needs to be able to breath (in both directions)...

Why is this? Surely once it breaths through the outside the whole wall can breath, right?

Thanks for all the advice lads. Will look into Guetex now...

heinbloed

Why is this? Surely once it breaths through the outside the whole wall can breath, right?

It will "breath" plenty of moisture inwards as well when the moisture is higher outside than inside. Which is the case in the Irish climate most of the time.
This means the cold wall (once internally insulated) will take up more moisture than it can rid off.
With unpleasant long-term results.

Get a dynamic dew point calculation done,for example with " wufi ".

MicktheMan

minmax89 wrote: »

Why is this? Surely once it breaths through the outside the whole wall can breath, right?

Wrong! ... as I advised, get professional input and preferably a dynamic moisture simulation done on the wall buildup. I have surveyed many older buildings with cronic damp and moisture problems which were a direct result of incorrect renovation works.