Home Insulation

donegalsettler

Hello to all of you. This is my first thread.. pardon me if this is not the right place to post this thread. Folks I live in a bunglow with 2 bedroom upstairs ( attic conversion ) which was built in 2005 and had no insulation. I got the walls pumped and attic insulated by <Snip> 2 yrs ago but the house is still very cold !! I have asked them to come back and have a look but they don't come !! Ofcourse they are paid in full !! I also couldn't get them to fill up any forms for the sei scheme ! Now for the last 2 years I have tried getting other local insulation company to come and take a look ... BUT once they hear <snip> did the job initially, no one wants to come !! Needless to say the house remains cold and I know nothing about insulation.. please help

goat2

donegalsettler wrote: »

Hello to all of you. This is my first thread.. pardon me if this is not the right place to post this thread. Folks I live in a bunglow with 2 bedroom upstairs ( attic conversion ) which was built in 2005 and had no insulation. I got the walls pumped and attic insulated by <snip> 2 yrs ago but the house is still very cold !! I have asked them to come back and have a look but they don't come !! Ofcourse they are paid in full !! I also couldn't get them to fill up any forms for the sei scheme ! Now for the last 2 years I have tried getting other local insulation company to come and take a look ... BUT once they hear <Snip> did the job initially, no one wants to come !! Needless to say the house remains cold and I know nothing about insulation.. please help

i have the fellow from an insulation company coming tomorrow to measure my gaffe and give a price on the job,
because all the feedback i have heard is, that it makes a big difference to the house when done, that it retains heat much longer and is easier to heat,
have you looked at the insulation they did in your attic, is it the thickness they said, go have a look at that,
i will be home on day they are doing my gaffe,
did you know the people who owns the business that put in your insulation.
get up in that attic, have a look all round and see what is up there.

maddragon

Get a professional with a thermal imaging camera to do a survey and send the results along with a solicitors letter to the contractor if the insulation job was not done right. As a start point go into the accessible area of the attic and check that they put in 300mm of insulation. If not then you have a problem straight away.

goat2

maddragon,
what should i look out for when they work on my gaffe, i will be having a guy over tomorrow to price it. as i feel it draughty around the windows, and two walls feel cold, even though there was those sheets of insulation put in when it was being built

maddragon

Make sure they drill holes and put insulation under and above the windows. Ensure if you have a porch or conservatory that they insulate the walls between the porch/conservatory and the house. If you have a dormer, watch that they insulate the side walls and the floor in the triangular part 300mm on the flat and at least 250mm on the sides and 300mm on the top of the house. The side walls and roofs of the former windows must also be done. The cavity insulation will go some way towards reducing draughts as it will get into any gaps left by the builder when he put in the slabs originally.

donegalsettler

Thanks very much folks .. I was pricing thermal imaging today ..its around € 375. Thank you very much for showing me a direction.

goat2

yes i have a conservatory, thanks for this, i also have a dormer, and a porch, it will be a big job so, i also have those vulex windows on roof as well two stand out windows upstairs, the cosnservatory was built on two yrs ago, i feel this breeze even though small between the window and the window board or cill, i also feel a breeze where the meter is, as it is now in conservatory,

goat2

donegalsettler wrote: »

Thanks very much folks .. I was pricing thermal imaging today ..its around € 375. Thank you very much for showing me a direction.

please let us know how you get on.

refco

on breeze and draught is it possible to get air tightness done on house after build is complete

goat2

refco wrote: »

on breeze and draught is it possible to get air tightness done on house after build is complete

i just hope this will solve it for me, it will be alot to go through if in the end this fails, better not fail

ltdslipdiff

I too will be watching this thread carefully,I feel I have been short-changed by my builder on a 2005 built house....

goat2

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

I too will be watching this thread carefully,I feel I have been short-changed by my builder on a 2005 built house....

is your house also draughty,

KoolKid

I have editied some of the above posts.Company Name removed. Comments could be potentially libelous.

ltdslipdiff

goat2 wrote: »

is your house also draughty,

Its so bad I had to take put a stove in place of an open fire because there was a gale of wind blowing through the room and up the chimney! Its impossible to keep heat in the house, and I don't just mean in the dark cold winter nights either ! I have double glazed windows but the heat-loss through them is unreal !!! I'd love a proper audit just to see if I've been had !

MicktheMan

Disclaimer: I test houses for heat loss for a living.

It is widely believed that insulation will solve all/most heat loss problems in a house (all SEAI grants are for insulation upgrades and nothing for airtightness). This is in my experience, unfortunately, not true as airtightness has as much, if not more, of an impact. This is especially true when dealing with upgrading existing houses due to contraints of the original build.
For instance, the building regs were recently revised (June 2011) to improve the insulation standards yet again but still the (new) airtightness standard required is dreadful.

For 2005 houses, there were no standard to be met for airtightness. The first requirement was introduced in 2008 which is so wide that my shiplap garden shed passes:(.

So be very aware when the insulation salesman promises the earth.

paddy147

Good auld bio foam 800 open cell.

carlovian 1

could anyone tell me what it costs to get cavity pumped with extra insulation,i've heard its ment to be a great job,i also have a bungalow ,put extra 6 inches fibre glass in attic couple months ago and it has made big difference..

goat2

i had mine done yesterday, they pumped insulation into four walls, and already i feel a difference for the better, i have turned down the thermostat on oil ch, which means i am already saving even in this cold weather, i did not leave them near attic, as i could not be bothered with the trouble right now coming on christmas, anyway the attic had been insulated about sixteen yrs ago, but i intend adding to it, but i will be doing that come the middle of january,

Kristopherus

goat2 wrote: »

i had mine done yesterday, they pumped insulation into four walls, and already i feel a difference for the better, i have turned down the thermostat on oil ch, which means i am already saving even in this cold weather, i did not leave them near attic, as i could not be bothered with the trouble right now coming on christmas, anyway the attic had been insulated about sixteen yrs ago, but i intend adding to it, but i will be doing that come the middle of january,

Goat2, At this time of year Homebase and B&G usually have deals on insulation. I availed of an offer 3yrs ago and got Knauff Space Blanket for my attic. Got the whole lot done for €600.With this, you do not have to handle the stuff as it is enclosed in a membrane. Now have my attic insulated to a depth of 300mm. Did it myself over the post Xmas week. Hell, I can still feel the pains in my knees, just thinking about it . But it was well worth it. House much improved in retaining heat.:)

Hollywood130

MicktheMan wrote: »

Disclaimer: I test houses for heat loss for a living.

It is widely believed that insulation will solve all/most heat loss problems in a house (all SEAI grants are for insulation upgrades and nothing for airtightness). This is in my experience, unfortunately, not true as airtightness has as much, if not more, of an impact. This is especially true when dealing with upgrading existing houses due to contraints of the original build.
For instance, the building regs were recently revised (June 2011) to improve the insulation standards yet again but still the (new) airtightness standard required is dreadful.

For 2005 houses, there were no standard to be met for airtightness. The first requirement was introduced in 2008 which is so wide that my shiplap garden shed passes:(.

So be very aware when the insulation salesman promises the earth.

What needs to be done to gain air-tightness?

kennyb3

Hollywood130 wrote: »

What needs to be done to gain air-tightness?

Bit of an old thread, but also interested in hearing.

Seems difficult to find a company that will not only do a survey but that also has experience retrofitting solutions.

Most people interested in such surveys will be living in older draughty houses - so retrofitting required.

Very little point shelling out €xxx (€350-€500?) if you can't find someone to actually fix the problem at a reasonable price.

Hollywood130

kennyb3 wrote: »

Bit of an old thread, but also interested in hearing.

Seems difficult to find a company that will not only do a survey but that also has experience retrofitting solutions.

Most people interested in such surveys will be living in older draughty houses - so retrofitting required.


Very little point shelling out €xxx (€350-€500?) if you can't find someone to actually fix the problem at a reasonable price.

At the moment I don't really have a problem, the house isn't even plastered so I don't know if or where draughts will arise from