Is there any kind of internal insulation that's worth doing?

Barack Obama

We got insulation injected into the front wall of our house but unfortunatly this cannot be done with the other 3 walls and it would be VERY expensive to get the external cladding added. The house is about 15 years old and has the standard fibreglass insulation behind the plasterboard BUT I don't think it is done very well as the house does not retain heat well.

We are looking at getting some internal work done - removing the wall between our kitchen and dining room so this would be an opportunity to get some insulation done from the inside. Is there anything I can do? I've seen the small cans of insulation where you drill a hole, inject it and it expands. Is this any good? I wouldn't like to go down the route of adding insulated plasterboard as this would be a much bigger job.

Any advice appreciated

Barack Obama

Insulating paint???
http://www.buy4now.ie/woodiesdiy/productdetail.aspx?pid=9869&loc=P&catid=2.2.5

richiek67

Hello Mr.President, ! Well I wouldn't bother with the insulation paint, its not worth a F, and its not really for insulation in terms of what you are looking for. The paint just stops the surface temp from dropping too low in order to stop condensation that some people get in old houses. Its not insulation 'per se'.
If I were you I would go down the road of insulated plasterboard, especially if its an exposed wall, ie not internal. It would be worth it and its not that expensive. If the room is clear it could be knocked up in no time and get a plaster in to skim it. Well worth it.

Cheers

Rich

Barack Obama

Cheers Rich

You're right - it is an exposed wall but the problem is that the skirting will have to come off and there is an architrave around the corner of the ceiling so extra work to get this replaced

Do you know how thick this plasterboard would be??

Ddad

As thick as you want it really. Up to 100mm+. The thicker the better in terms of insulation. If you are taking down walls in the downstairs anyway which can be disruptive you could get the downstairs done at the same time and greatly enhance the comfort level in the house. If you've battens under the existing plasterboard you can strip these off and affix the new boards straight on to the wall or you can reuse the battens but you'll lose the depth of the battens in the room. If you did strip the walls back to bare block you can add replan sockets/ rads etc. It really depends on your budget. In terms of time your only looking at a matter of days for a couple of decent builders and a plasterer to carry out that kind of work assuming your in a standard three bed semi.

BryanF

Barack Obama wrote: »

We got insulation injected into the front wall of our house but unfortunatly this cannot be done with the other 3 walls and it would be VERY expensive to get the external cladding added. The house is about 15 years old and has the standard fibreglass insulation behind the plasterboard BUT I don't think it is done very well as the house does not retain heat well.
We are looking at getting some internal work done - removing the wall between our kitchen and dining room so this would be an opportunity to get some insulation done from the inside. Is there anything I can do? I've seen the small cans of insulation where you drill a hole, inject it and it expands. Is this any good? I wouldn't like to go down the route of adding insulated plasterboard as this would be a much bigger job. Any advice appreciated

what is the wall build up? (as in is it a concrete block/ cavity /block / drylining) OR (conrete block / cavity / timber frame )
where is it you actual want to insulate?

the first option (EWI) the you dismiss due to cost is probably the most inclusive thermal solution
insulated plasterboard might be the second but misses quite a lot at wall/floor ceiling etc junctions

but first what is the wall build-up?

yllw.ldbttr

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have a similar question.

Had all the cavity walls pumped with beads a few years ago, made a big difference.
One bedroom has a bay window, and the guy doing the job said they dont pump here as no telling where the beads would go.
This bedroom is noticeably cooler in winter, has a rad on the wall underneath window, and suffers from excessive condensation.

The plan is to temporarily remove the rad, and take skirting off, dryline the wall, get it plastered and replace the rad.
The only problem I see is that the windowboard only sticks out about half an inch.... so if I go any further than that the window board would be recessed. Any suggestions? I really don't want to go and try to replace the window board, too big and messy a job. I doubt a quarter inch of insutlation is even worth doing?

Has anyone had a similar problem, or thought of a workaround?

BryanF

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have a similar question.

Had all the cavity walls pumped with beads a few years ago, made a big difference.
One bedroom has a bay window, and the guy doing the job said they dont pump here as no telling where the beads would go.

sounds like BS talk to me

This bedroom is noticeably cooler in winter, has a rad on the wall underneath window, and suffers from excessive condensation.

if it has this then drylining may not be the best solution

yllw.ldbttr

BryanF wrote: »

sounds like BS talk to me


if it has this then drylining may not be the best solution

Perhaps BS, but it's a couple of years ago now so nothing I can do about it.

The window suffers from excessive condensation - presumed this was due to lack of insulation in the bay cavity, and warm air from the rad meeting cool air from outside. Why would dry lining not be the best solution, what would you suggest instead?

paddy147

Barack Obama wrote: »

We got insulation injected into the front wall of our house but unfortunatly this cannot be done with the other 3 walls and it would be VERY expensive to get the external cladding added. The house is about 15 years old and has the standard fibreglass insulation behind the plasterboard BUT I don't think it is done very well as the house does not retain heat well.

We are looking at getting some internal work done - removing the wall between our kitchen and dining room so this would be an opportunity to get some insulation done from the inside. Is there anything I can do? I've seen the small cans of insulation where you drill a hole, inject it and it expands. Is this any good? I wouldn't like to go down the route of adding insulated plasterboard as this would be a much bigger job.

Any advice appreciated

Insulated plasterboard through the entire house and also bio-foam sprayed in the attic too.

makes a world of difference.:)

DERPY HOOFS

I think you can get a goverment grant for insulating your home.

paddy147

DERPY HOOFS wrote: »

I think you can get a goverment grant for insulating your home.

You can indeed,its only something like 250 euro and it takes around 8 weeks for the grant to come through.All my renovation work was all tied in together and the renovation/building work was under a strict timescale too,with regards the builder.

I also got an 880 euro SEI grant towards my solar system install though.So Im happy enough with that.:)

BryanF

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

what would you suggest instead?

insulation in the cavity

drylining wont deal with the junctions at internal walls, ceilings and floors where as cavity or external insulation will

paddy147

Would pumping bead insulation into a 100 cavity with 80mm xtratherm board allready in it be of any extra benifit?

Is there any future dampness issues down the line??

yllw.ldbttr

BryanF wrote: »

insulation in the cavity

drylining wont deal with the junctions at internal walls, ceilings and floors where as cavity or external insulation will

Maybe not, it's not the ideal solution, but it will help, and it's much cheaper and easier? I've already said above I've had the cavities pumped. I just want to deal with the bay window now.

BryanF

paddy147 wrote: »

Would pumping bead insulation into a 100 cavity with 80mm xtratherm board allready in it be of any extra benifit?

Is there any future dampness issues down the line??

I'm not aware of any company that will pump a cavity thats less than 40mm (most certs suggest a min of 50mm)

BryanF

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Maybe not, it's not the ideal solution, but it will help, and it's much cheaper and easier? I've already said above I've had the cavities pumped. I just want to deal with the bay window now.

so there is no cavity at the bay window location??

paddy147

Thanks for the info Bryan.Appreciate it.

yllw.ldbttr

BryanF wrote: »

so there is no cavity at the bay window location??

Apparantly not, but I'm not certain.