Insulating Old Solid Stone Walls

It is not always the case that insulation is essential to all elements of the building envelope but in the above case with a nine inch solid brick wall it is difficult to get away from the idea that insulating it will be a good thing.

Insulating old solid stone walls.

Those walls have a u value of 2 30w m current building regulations demand 0 3w m. Solid walls can be insulated internally from the inside and. How old the wall is. Insulating your solid walls could cut your heating costs considerably and make your home more comfortable.

Solid walls if they are dry don t lose a lot of heat. It seems at first glance very sensible. It is important that we understand insulating walls will depend on many variables. Let s go through this process in more detail.

However adding insulation to solid walls can lead to a significant reduction in heat loss but thought and care is needed to make sure the works are appropriate effective and do not cause long term problems. Older heritage and traditional buildings are usually constructed from vapour open materials such as brick stone timber frame wattle and daub or cob with lime or earth mortar in the joints and plaster render or paint made from lime on the walls. The structure of the wall cavity or solid in uk houses built before 1920s are likely to have solid walls. Solid walls have no gap so they can t be filled with cavity wall insulation.

Where to insulate first is worth some serious thought. Cavity walls are made of two layers with a small gap or cavity between them. Oftentimes stone foundation walls must be repointed or even rebuilt if the old mortar joints have deteriorated. We ve had many enquiries about insulation to old houses especially to the inside of the external walls.

The main factors to take under consideration will be. How to insulate stone foundation walls that present you with an irregular surface. Traditional solid wall construction is often the most difficult and in many cases the least cost effective part of a building to insulate. Insulate the inside of the house make it nice and warm cozy no heat loss.

Rigid insulation boards are around 2 to 4 inches thick and made of plasterboard backed with insulation material usually foamed plastic. Well cared for buildings are far more energy efficient. Solid walls can be insulated internally by fitting rigid boards to the wall or building a separate stud wall and filling the gap with insulating material for example mineral wool fibre. If your home was built before the 1920s its external walls are probably solid walls rather than cavity walls.

The thicker they are the less they lose. Material from which the wall was built for example stone brick or timber. If it s an old foundation first make sure that the foundation is in good condition. Insulating the walls should be last on your list as other measures are often cheaper and easier yet also effective in improving a.

So it s best to make sure you re maintaining your property well before thinking about adding insulation or making other improvements. The only trouble is things just don t work that way.