Insulate a Cold Wall in Bathroom

[Skavenger]

Hi;

I am about to start my Bathroom project and need some advice on insulating probably only one of the external walls.

One of the walls which is currently where the bath is, is a westerly facing gable end wall that is tiled floor to ceiling, in the winter when the hot taps are run for a bath or if you have a shower the walls and ceiling suffers with condensation especially the gable end tiled wall which is usually the coldest?

See below on the current layout - My plan is to remove all the interall stud walls and make one larger room for the bath / shower and WC. To assist with the condensation I was planning on trying to insulate at least the gable end wall and fit an extractor to remove the moist air when showering / bathing etc. Insulating the other two external walls will be difficult as they all have windows and the room is so small anyway I feel I would lose too much space.

If I batten and plasterboard the gable end wall what is the best way to insulate and what plasterboard do I need. Should I / can I put some kind of foam insulation between the battens? If so what type - found this from another thread http://www.buildingmaterials.co.uk/insulation/insulation-boards/#page=1

Due to the size of the room the plasterboard / insulation needs to be as thin as poss. I may fit the bath against the gable end wall so again it will be tiled but I may cut a recess in the plasterboard to use as a decorartive shelf for candles? (Only if I have a separate shower cubicle)

The house is an end of terrace built 1925/30 with brick cavity walls. The bathroom is built on top of a kitchen extension which was probably done sometime after 1950/60?

The bathroom / WC currently consist of two separate rooms (bath and WC) with a small hallway accessing both. There are stud walls enclosing the separate bathroom and WC.

In the bath there is a west facing gable end wall with no window and a window on the south and two windows on the easterly wall. The north facing wall is the original house.

When I get a chance I'll draw up a plan diagram and post it up.

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

Sounds like a lot or work for just a condensation problem. Have you seen the trickle heat recovery systems? They're a better version of an extractor as the exiting air passes some heat to incoming air. Id try that first. Fixing the wall will just move the problem, and if an extract will sort the condensation why insulate the wall???
But if you do go ahead try the cement boards for the wall, they come in 12mm and are for tiling behind showers. There's a 6mm version, which is supposed to be for the floor!

Maybe someone else will advise on the insulation but Id kingspan it, to the depth you require.

The easiest way is usually the best...heat recovery!

Good luck, beef

 

[TheVictorian]

I'm going to disagree and while heat recovery would work, I'd rather have a warmer room in the first place.

I battened and insulated the external wall of my ensuite with 50mm Celotex and it is great now with minimal condensation (there is of course mechanical extraction).

I would recommend insulating all external walls though, as condensation forms on the coldest spots and you might just shift it all to the other wall.

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

My only point was, taking the bathroom furniture out, striping a wall to insulate and put it all back in like it was, is a lot of work. And wouldn't solve the problem. If you are putting in an extractor (where there hadn't been one before) remember to have an air gap under the bathroom door or low level air brick, people often forget these and it does impact on the effectiveness of the extractor
All the best

 

[JohnD]

you can get an insulating wall board for tiling on which would probably be more suitable.

I have not used it myself.

Insulation will keep it warmer, but a shower room must have an effective extractor to take the steam out, otherwise you are sure to get condensation and damp.

 

[drpepe]

We had a similar very cold victorian bathroom (exposed on 3 sides, no cavity and very small loft space, so couldn't get much insulation in there).

We suffered through winters of cold and mould for 7 years and hummed and haa'd about insulating until We stuck a bigger radiator in there and it solved the problem.

I would try maxing out your btu and see where it gets you - relatively cheap and gave us an instant result!

 

[Skavenger]

I am re-doing the bathroom and renewing all the suite so this is the time to do what we can. All i want is to be able to have a bath or shower in a comfortable setting without freezing my T*ts off because I have to have the window open due to the steam (exhastberated because the room is cold). I am also sick to death of drying myself with a damp towel!!!

Insulating all three walls could be done but needs to be done with minimum space loss (room is so small as it is). It is a flat (sloping roof) and I don't know what it is insulated with?

I could insulate the walls with windows, it would just make the recess bigger and i would need wider window sills.

The windows are double glazed.

Can anyone offer any solutions using either batten / insulated plasterboard or plasterboard with insulation between the battens? Or something to stick straight onto the wall. I have recently completed a basic short plastering course and we did Dot and Dab but I am not a fan??

I will install a mechanical extractor and there is a radiator in the small hall area in the bathroom which will now benefit the WC / Bathroom when I remove the stud walls. I was going to remove this radiator as I want to fit a chrome towel rail and both wont look good together but I don't want to lose the heat??!?!

 

[bernardgreen]

The easiest way is usually the best...heat recovery! , beef

Cold showers ?

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

How about insulating the exterior to save space?

 

[JohnD]

exterior insulation is very expensive, although I have seen it designed into, or applied to, Swiss buildings prior to them being clad or rendered, which is certainly the best time to do it.