Dry lining

[mammybear]

I live in a cavity block constructed house and am interested in improving the insulation of the house. Has anyone any tips or direction that I should watch out for. I know the obvious answer is to dry line the internal wall but is this the only way? If it has to be dry lining what are the most important issues. I would appreciate any suggestions

Michael

 

[Eng33]

Why not simply go for cavity insulation?

 

[mammybear]

It is cavity block not a cavity wall construction.

 

[kitessurfer]

What about dry lining with Kingspan K17 or K18 stuff, this is thick insulation with plasterboard backing. I'm about to use some on my garage conversion, although its already cavity wall the building inspector wants me to increase insulation properties of part of a wall.
serach google for kingspan insulation board etc...

 

[mammybear]

I am looking at that solution but I am worried about the amount of internal modifications I will have to make to accomadate the thickness of insulation that I would need to get any type of good u value
Michael

 

[kitessurfer]

..hi, ok. (I'm only ahumble diy'er myself..
when I was a kid over in Deutschland my Grand parents had their house 'bricked over' I suppose this was a single brick and they had additional bricks laid all round the house creating a cavity.
I;ve also seen blocks of flats which have had insulation added to their sides proabbly to better insulation properties, this was then plastered over. I didn't know these cavity blocks existed, what about injecting cavity wall insulation individually into the blocks. You can get kits for DIY injection (I'm talking the foam ball inuslation stuff), the kits aren't cheap but could be wha tyou want??

 

[PerryOne]

Dry lining is a waste of time and money!
When adding insulation to an outside wall you should think what will give me the best result.
Internal of external.
If you take the internal route, you loose space but, you have a room that will heat up and cool down quickly.
If its on the outside it will keep the existing walls dry, making them warmer, it provides a heat store, meaning that the wall will warm up over say 72 hours but, will then hold its heat taking a long time to cool down,
If you are in and out often go for internal.
If you are retired and someone is there all the time go for external.
A 5 inch thick layer of polystyrene will save most of your heat but, first of all seal all the holes in the upstairs ceilings and outer walls, make sure all windows fit properly ditto doors - these latter will save you money today.

 

[mammybear]

Hi PerrOne,
That is very interesting about adding insulation to the outer wall, have you actually experience of doing this? What finish would you put on the outside? Is there a product for such insulation?
Michael

 

[PerryOne]

No, I haven't done this, in my previous homes it wasn't possible.
However, I do have it scheduled for next year.
I did insulate my last home on the inside, knocking off all the internal plaster and lining the walls and upstairs ceilings with 25mm sheets of polystyrene, with 10-15mm plaster over.
This worked really well, I had the cheapest house to heat in a row of six.
But, at the same time I had fitted base board/skirting board heating in all rooms that is expensive to buy but a lot cheaper to run and I had treble or quadruple glazing on all windows.
Having lived here for three years, I am doing the whole thing all over again except that this time its a bungalow, so I am using 50mm polystyrene internal and will add another 50mm external with 100mm poured foam between the joists in the loft in addition to the 50mm polystyrene under the joists.

 

[eggtastico]

there are external renders designed for thermal insulation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exterior_Insulation_Finishing_System

Have you thought of speaking to warmfront http://www.warmfrontgrants.co.uk/ & see if your entitled for any grants?
Even if not, I would assume they would be more than willing to give you some advice.

As for Internal, I believe there's a special drylining that is foil backed for insulation + Ive also seen somthing thats a lot thinner than plasterboard.

May be worth speaking to Energy Saving Trust as well.

 

[kitessurfer]

I was over in Warsaw PL last week and took more interest than usual at all the new buildings. Large single block walls (bricks with lots of holes/slots), probably simular to what I think I saw in the Med. Then simple polystyrene adhered to the brick, then on top of that render finish. Nearly every house / block of flats you knock on sounds like its hollow (from the outside) and could easily give way under a bit more pressure. (which I could see the damage clearly on a lot of new builds) The amount of houses I've seen just clad in polystyrene was amazging it really seemed a simple process by the speed at which the poly cladding progressed over the few days I observed...

 

[chessspy]

Hi, MB,
There are a number of very thin insulation sheets which claim very good e rates.
For example, take the rolls of EP which are sold in DIY stores very cheaply, if you put your hand onto a piece against a cold outside wall it would feel warm.
This is the heat of your hand being reflected back, as the EP depends on air as an insulator which is almost perfect. OK it's only 1/8" thick but this simple test shows how these membranes work.
I would suggest that on a cost/payback reckoning this is probably your best option.
Put it under blown vinyl wallpaper on all outside walls and you'll be toasty.