Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
External Wall Insulation question
Hi, guys!
I am sure some of you have done External Wall Insulation in your properties for your solid walls.
I'll be short here. We are planning to do this job now. Spoke with a few friends, builders, etc...checked Internet forums, so pretty much understand the idea.
Just would like to ask you, how is it in your properties, how was mould behaving after you insulated your house? Did you use breathable material or non-breathable, is it really big difference? So, what were your pluses and minuses?
But the main question, which company did this job for you? I found a few companies who still do domestic insulation and not far from North London.
But if you could point me on that companies which did that job with a great quality, I'll appreciate that. As far as I understand, it's not the price, that matters but it should be properly done to avoid troubles in the future.
Thank you.
Tags for Forum Posts: insulation providers
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Allie on
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Suggest you get in touch with Stewart Mcilroy, TATA Consultancy Services and Muswell Hill Sustainability group. He is highy knowledgeable about insulating homes.
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Permalink Reply by Ms on
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contact Sustainable Haringey for recommendations. It's a very technical job.
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Permalink Reply by Andy Rushton on
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Hi, we had this done a couple of years ago. It was through a Haringey council initiative and I can't remember the company that actually did it. It would be irrelevant anyway because i heard they went bust. We have found that the condensation mould has pretty well disappeared and the rooms with two outside walls are noticeably more comfortable.
The downside was that the cladding was impermeable and we had a guttering leak that got behind the cladding. It was bad design that that was even possible. From there the water had nowhere to go but into and through the wall. The damp patches took ages to dry after the leak was stopped and I still have some repair work on internal decor to do now the wall is dry again over a year after the leak. I think with hindsight that it was unwise to have a system that must be 100% perfectly waterproof to work.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Woods on
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Many years ago in a street of London style villas but not in London a neighbour had the outside of his brick-built house done. A few years later I went to see him and it had all been taken off - it was not breathable (many years ag) and he told me the damp problems were severe. For what it's worth.
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Here's a reply from sarah@eco-refurbishment.co.uk; I know her personally and you could contact her for more info:
External insulation is technically better than internal insulation as it avoids the possibility of condensation/damp building up in the structure the external walls.This can result from poorly installed internal insulation when allows the warmer air in the building, holding more moisture, cools as it goes through the walls and at a critical point, condensation occurs within the wall structure.The two ways to avoid this are either to prevent moisture entering the wall structure by installing a vapour barrier over the internal or to create a wall structure which ensures that the moisture leaves the wall structure. Confusingly this is known as a breathable wall.External insulation does not run this risk. It’s easy on a new build but retrofitting can be technically tricky sorting the detailing round windows, doors and the roof, and also if the drainage pipes are close to the building there is a choice between altering the drainage (expensive) or reducing the thickness of the insulation behind the drainage, with resulting loss of effectiveness. Finally external insulation can run into problems with street frontages, neighbours, planning restrictions etc.And breathable or non breathable? Lots of arguments both sides. I always prefer breathable natural materials for a host of reasons, but lots of very sound experts often prefer to use non breathable.Builders - yes I know and have worked with several.Hope this helps.
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Did you ever do your insulation?
I would only recommend breathable on any structure made of traditional brick and lime mortar or timber frame.
for brick and lime mortar types of wall I particularly like a product called diathonite, it is a cork and lime render, that can be applied internally or externally.
Have used this system at mine and know many other happy users.
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