Very cold understairs cupboard

[Idiyh]

Hey everyone,
I wonder if anyone can help with their advice and experience.
The understairs cupboard is much colder than the living room. There is a door separating the two.
The wall under the stairs is an exterior one.
The mains electric and gas pipes comes into the house here. I have put sleeves on here and silicone the gap up.
The electric and gas boxes are on the other side, recessed into the wall
Any ideas how I can insulate it better.
This is also the case on the same wall in the kitchen.... Freezing cold inside the units and bare brick under the kitchen skirting at the back.... Its driving me crazy....
Thankyou bkyou

 

[JohnD]

are there bare floorboards? draughty?


how old is the house?

 

[Idiyh]

Hi John,
Its concrete flooring with then skirting boards. I currently have a carpet loosley on it but the walls are cold.
Its 1930s I think... How can I find that out?
Thanks

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Its 1930s I think... How can I find that out?

In my own case - Oldmaps, showed no house or road in 1950, but 1960 showed road and house. I later tracked down an aerial photo, dated 1955, in which I was just about able to see this house in the far distance, with its roof in the middle of construction. Other old photos, showed the progress of building in the village generally.

https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

 

[JohnD]

you can also download the "deeds" from Land Registry Gov UK

(not one of the non-government scam sites ending "org" or "com" or "co uk")

they will quite likely show when it was first sold, and possibly when the land was bought by the developer.

Photos of the brickwork and roof construction, and doors and windows if original, will give us a fair idea, through builders in provincial towns and country areas tend to lag behind big cities in adopting new ideas.

The walls will be cold if they are uninsulated cavity, colder if they are 9" solid, worse if they are damp.

A concrete floor can also be damp, especially if there is a leaking pipe or drain under or near it.

 

[Idiyh]

Hi guys thanks
So after some digging from a report it show the house is 1930s
With this in the wall from the inspection done 2 years ago.... InstaFibre White Wool
As per the report the house is "brick construction with 70mm cavity and brick inner leave finished with internal wet plaster"
Any ideas from this?
Pictures to follow

 

[CBW]

Photo might help.

 

[Idiyh]

Hi Guys,
Please find pictures attached. (sorry my phone doesn't allow me to upload pictures on this site so I have so send them to my computer)
Please see the image with the red circles showing red brick in the top one and in the bottom red circle what appears to be the Instafibre White wool I presume. you can see where the installation of the electric and gas boxes recessed in or maybe more recently where meters have be changed and someone decided to smash things to bits and not fix it...
Could this be the issue and how can it be repaired please?
Please also see pictures of under the kitchen units .
I welcome you thoughts and comments and advice
regards
ian

 

[JohnD]

those holes in the wall are presumably draughty

you can pack mineral wool (loft insulation) into the cavity and build up the hole with S&C mortar (several layers or it will slump). Verify the wall is not damp as loft insulation is not treated to repel damp.

the floor looks to me like it might be chipboard. Are you sure it is solid?

 

[foxhole]

Do you live in the lounge or under the stairs?

 

[JohnD]

his orphaned nephew is going to live under the stairs.

 

[Idiyh]

It's hard to determined where the drafts are coming from as the damage you see is on the exterior brick and inner leaf.... Its also presumably compromised as these pictures show the recessed exterior meter boxes.
You mentioned chipboard? ... The pictures show images of inside the exterior meter boxes and under the kitchen units...
Apart from the obvious by checking if it's wet, how can I source dampness that might be hidden else where?
Thanks.

 

[CBW]

It looks as though there’s not much, if any gap between plasterboard and floor on one picture, which won’t help with damp/moisture.

 

[catlad]

Why do you want it to be warm?

 

[Idiyh]

So it's not freezing cold... Room temperature would be nice.