Can I insulate a wall in an old house?

spaceraiders

Hi,

The wall that stands between my living room and outside feels very cold to touch when it is cold outside. I'm concerned I'm losing a lot of heat from the room this way. I've read about cavity wall insulation but I'm not sure how to find out if this applies to my house as it was built in about 1900 and I normally read about this applying to newer homes. How would I find out what I can/cannot do to insulate my wall? For instance, knocking on it produces a dull hollow thud unlike other walls in my house. I'm not sure of any easy way to tell if there is a cavity there to fill there. If there was a cavity to fill, is there any reason not to fill it?

Thanks.

ben500

Cavity walls are at least 30cm thick, a solid wall is only about 23cm in thickness. It’s easiest to check at a door or a window or venting point. It should not cause you any problems by installing cavity wall insulation/filler quite the contrary.

spaceraiders

ben500 wrote: »

Cavity walls are at least 30cm thick, a solid wall is only about 23cm in thickness. It’s easiest to check at a door or a window or venting point.

The wall has a window and a window seat. The distance from the window to edge of the wall, from the inside of the room, is about 45cm. I don't know anything about how buildings are made, but I'd guess it's probably not solid, unlike the other walls. It's on the ground floor. A small gap appeared between the floor boards and the skirting at one time where the wall is and a fair breeze was coming through before I sealed it up. I'm wondering if the wall is pretty much hollow and it's getting cold from the movement of cold air under the floor boards.

It should not cause you any problems by installing cavity wall insulation/filler quite the contrary.

A friend told me that it might need good insulation if the wall had wooden supports. Any truth in this?

ben500

spaceraiders wrote: »

The wall has a window and a window seat. The distance from the window to edge of the wall, from the inside of the room, is about 45cm. I don't know anything about how buildings are made, but I'd guess it's probably not solid, unlike the other walls. It's on the ground floor. A small gap appeared between the floor boards and the skirting at one time where the wall is and a fair breeze was coming through before I sealed it up. I'm wondering if the wall is pretty much hollow and it's getting cold from the movement of cold air under the floor boards.



A friend told me that it might need good insulation if the wall had wooden supports. Any truth in this?

Not really sure what is meant by the statement to be honest with you.

See if this site helps you at all.

Cavity wall info

Suzy_M

Given the age of your house it is probably a solid wall.

If you can see the brickwork on the outside of the wall -

Are all the bricks laid end to end or are there brick ends (half-bricks) visible at regular intervals (or can you post a photo). If the latter it is probably a solid wall.

ThrifTE

you can buy plasterboard with insulation material fixed to it it is about 1" thick or 25 mm you can retro fix this to the inside walls or dry line the wall and put more insulation in the gap the only thing is you must be aware doing this job wrong would lead to condensation or mould problems contact a professional the cost of insulation and fixing could out way the benefits?

ariba10

Cavity walls did not come in until about the 1920s.

ormus

c1900 house is almost certainly a solid wall construction.
you will need to fit insulating panels & PB, to the inner walls.
obviously you will loose some space in the room. so if its a very small cottage you may want a rethink.

ic

My end of terrace house was built 1897 and has cavity walls on all sides - however I could only get the front and side done. The back walls has lines of bricks side on every few feet up the wall (basically look for a row of bricks that are side on). Because of this it can't be filled because of the danger of creating pockets in the insulation which would form cold spots on the inside - causing condensation.

Get an insulation firm in / contact your energy supplier. A surveyor will come round and advise you for free.

illzlee

looking at a mag i've been sent at work, a product called Sempatap Thermal Foam appears to be quite good - goes on like wallpaper rather than traditional internal insulation. Would require redecoration though:rolleyes: