Chilly Hallway

[hllns]

I've recently bought a late 50s terraced new town house, the front door opens straight on to a single storey extension to the hallway at the front, it's built of 100mm masonry with UPVC cladding on the outside and plaster on the inside. Internally it has Polystyrene ceiling tiles and possibly some insulation above that. All the houses in the row have them with minor tweaks so I think they date from around the time when the houses were in council ownership (1983 in my case) or possible even earlier.

When we bought I was a little concerned it might be losing more heat than I'd like and in the last week it's been like a fridge as the walls are very cold and we've had some condensation in one corner which has meant turning the hall radiator up and running the heating more.

I've taken some measurements with my IR thermometer when it was around 0.4 degrees outside and the measurements are on the internal pic. There's cracks in the plaster round the double glazing on both sides which we can fill but we don't seem to be seeing draughts from but the temperature isn't uniform across the single-skin wall either, we're considering filling all the cracks and going around with some sealant to see if this would make any immediate improvement.

I'm considering the best way to improve it when it finally warms up again, I'm aware savings wise insulating might not make a whole lot of sense but comfort-wise it would be nice as this adjoins the lounge/stairs and would hopefully reduce the condensation risk a bit as well.
The front door (and back door) is quite old so we were already considering replacing them as well as some of the other older generation double glazing.

Putting a door in to isolate it from the main house would be very tricky due to the proximity to the stairs and the entrance to the lounge.

I don't believe there's any room for insulation behind the current UPVC cladding, on the drainpipe side there might be a little bit of space to come out but it's almost flush with the front window on the non-door side.

At the moment I'm pondering removing the plaster on both sides back to the the main house wall/cavity wall then battening with infill PIR then insulated plasterboard on top, removing the polystyrene tiles and putting up as much insulation will fit in the roof then boarding it.
The problem with this is that currently the plaster is flush with the main house on the door side so I'm not sure there's space to do it, the non-door side isn't much of a problem as some space can just be lost on that side without issue. Perhaps it's even worth considering an exotic aerogel sheet material as the problem area is so small?

I'm open to other sensible suggestions and comments as to whether I'm on the right track.

David.

 

[Mr Chibs]

Tricky situation I think, as your options are limited.

Was thinking outside insulation, but it's faff either cladding off insulate and re-clad, but might have to alter drain pipe etc.

Perhaps you could box in the central heating pipes say 50mm deep, to the right of this box, then use 40mm kingspan tight to the wall and finish in 9mm plasterboard & skim, make a feature of the step?!? (which would be to the left of the pipes.)

I'm not familiar with Aerogel, but can't see 10mm offering a lot of thermal performance.

Has the roof section got any insulation in?

If you are looking at alternative insulation, what about cork?


Could you not put another door and stud wall just past the radiator?

 

[JohnD]

I'd start with draughtproofing and ceiling insulation

A door, or even a curtain, to block off the house will keep the cold out.

 

[hllns]

Perhaps you could box in the central heating pipes say 50mm deep, to the right of this box, then use 40mm kingspan tight to the wall and finish in 9mm plasterboard & skim, make a feature of the step?!? (which would be to the left of the pipes.)

I was considering boxing in the radiator pipe to finish off the corner but 50mm would be a lot given the space

Has the roof section got any insulation in?

I think it must have at least some, the polystyrene tiles are helping a little too I think

If you are looking at alternative insulation, what about cork?


Could you not put another door and stud wall just past the radiator?

Not really, it's a 1 door width square space at the bottom of the stairs. The attached image from the listing should demonstrate (ignore the relative wall thicknesses, they're balls).

David.

 

[hllns]

I'd start with draughtproofing and ceiling insulation

A door, or even a curtain, to block off the house will keep the cold out.

We put in a curtain, that's when we got the damp spot on the wall as the temperature has dropped way too much, the ceiling is the one bit that isn't cold and I'm loath to do anything with it as it'd mean taking off the ceiling tiles which are probably helping right now.

David.

 

[Mr Chibs]

Is there room for a sliding door, one of those lightweight ply flat type?

Looks like the brick wall could take one, on the porch side, if you could make this fit as good as possible, perhaps you wouldn't need to do much in the porch.

As already mentioned, sort out any drafts, gaps etc.

 

[JohnD]

. The attached image from the listing should demonstrate

I can't understand the pic

But presumably the house had a front door before the porch was added.

 

[Mr Chibs]

Yes, we could do with better photos, take some from outside looking in please.

 

[hllns]

Been away and the last few days weren't great for taking a picture.

I wouldn't necessarily presume the doorway in the cavity wall has had a door in over 30 years and possibly has never had one, every house of this age and design nearby has an extension of exactly the same dimensions and design and looks like it dates from pre right to buy (bought 1983 in my case) at least.

Putting in a door is possibly an option but doesn't give you a great deal of room to stand in whilst opening it, it's very tight.

 

[davelx]

Sliding door + brush draught seals?