Insulating solid walls

GMM · 2011-09-14T09:34:45+00:00

Hello folks.I know this topic has been covered before but I can't seem to find thedetails I have been pondering about and I hope someone might know theanswers. I have never done this before because my current place hasinsulated cavity walls but am now moving into a Victorian house withsolid brick.First of all, yes I know it's covered by building regs but I have nointention of bothering a BCO with such matters as the final U-valuesrequired are so impractical in terms of depth of insulation that itwould never happen if I went down that route. Somehow I doubt theinsulation police are going to knock on my door to check it out. Oh,and there's no way I can insulate on the outside, even though thatmight well be better.From a whole range of sources I can see the standard approach(variants on wall - kingspan/celotex - membrane - plasterboard).Clearly, the kingspan sits between tanalised studwork that isprotected from damp from the wall by a strip of dpc and/or spacers.All well and good. (I would look at insulation-backed plasterboard butthis is in a kitchen and the studwork can be arranged to carry wallunits etc).So, the questions that arise are mostly born of a paranoia about dampfrom the wall in the longer term:Should the plaster be removed from the wall? It adds some insulatingproperties but without ventilation could wind up as a big mess behindthe whole thing - crumbling plaster behind the studding coulddestabilise the whole thing. On the other hand, removing the plasterwould be a lengthy and dirty process.How do you space the kingspan from the wall? It clearly shouldn't beagainst the brick, should it? I know it will sit snugly between thetimbers if cut properly, but it could become displaced for a number ofreasons. I was thinking of using 50mm kingspan between 68 mmstudding, so there should be an 18mm (or thereabouts) air gap.Is it bad for the wall in the long term? It seems to me that aconventional wall should dry (after rain etc) partly because of theheat from...

Sep 14, 2011 20 Replies

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dom 15 years ago

If the OP knows where he wants to hang cabinets, it would be possible to apply celotex-backed plasterboard directly to the outer walls, and have 100mm square cut outs to accommodate timber "pads" fixed to the masonry, to provide secure cabinet mountings - with scarcely any impact on overall insulation values.

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