Sempatap Thermal solid wall insulation

happyhours

In reply to greenlaws, why does the framing have to be steel - will wood battens be OK? We have an old house with solid rubble walls and condensation problems leading to some mould behind wardrobes. If the wall is cold, won't the sheepswool gradually get wet behind the plasterboard as there won't be proper ventilation? Is the 20mm gap enough to allow the wall to breathe? I have tried to work my way through the SPAB report and now am confused as to whether we should or should not, have a vapour barrier. I don't want to cause cold spots for floor timbers going into the wall potentially leading to rot.

Orkatec

Hi happyhours
I used wood batons 50mm celotex on rubble fill solid walls.
Did you install any thing for rising damp , I am getting conflicting advice on this.
James

G_M

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/jeffhowell/6376210/Jeff-Howells-DIY-advice-insulation.html

muskoka

I'm also in an old solid wall house & very interested in the best method of insulating the inside walls. Blooming cold here :j

London_Boss

Hi all,

Being a Civil Engineer myself I was really suspicious about the Sempatap product. But as it was recommended by the EST I almost fell for it. Then some of the good stuff on building insulation what I studied at the university came back to mind and, although I would like to be proven wrong, there is no such thing as a 10 mm thick material that would really do the job.
And given the cost of such product I would recommend to think twice before ordering it.

The thicker the more effective it is and that should not come as a surprise I am afraid. Manufacturers like Kingspan or Celotex fabricate products that are used by the construction industry and that are of ‘proven design’ shall I say.

‘Magic wallpaper’ as it used to be branded is another fairytale and I am not prepared to spend around £170 a roll without the adhesive and all to find out my guts were right. Common sense should dictate it is too good to be true.

Also as pointed out earlier by another poster, solid walls need to breathe. Cloaking it would prove quite disastrous in most circumstances. Even with the renowned Kingspan K18 it is clear you need to put up battens and leave a minimum of 20 mm air gap (breathing again). If you were to apply the Kingspan K18 the same way you would do with K17 on a cavity wall, you could end up creating mould.

If you can afford to loose some floor space these PUR materials are the best on the market with different categories for different applications (dry rooms/wet rooms, basements, etc…).
Now if like us you live in a nice Victorian era house full of period features on the walls and ceiling then forget it…unless you want to ruin it.

That leaves us with the outrageously expensive option of going for an external rendering type of insulation…well not sure how one could claim solid walls would continue to breathe though ? Happy to hear some explanation even if given the cost implication I am not going to choose that option.

One of you mentioned some breathable product to be applied on the external wall. Well that is fine against water penetration but let’s not kid ourselves, it won’t improve significantly the warm feeling inside your house, will it ?

After all what matters in the short term at least is to feel comfortable at home. Last week with the terrible weather the only room that was all right was the kitchen that had completely been refurbished using 50 mm Kingspan K18 or K17 + double glazing C rate and a nice floor heating systems in addition to the conventional radiator – belts and braces indeed. No miracles here I am afraid but again this was the only room without period features. Everywhere else exception of the upstairs section we were reaching 16C degrees with great difficulties. Not a nice place to be, in particular for the kids.

So to summarise, if you like your period features the only things you should really consider are double glazing on all your windows and doors and floor insulation before even thinking about the walls. In Victorian era house if you are lucky you can benefit from a real wood floor throughout. Unfortunately because of their age they aren’t draught proof anymore which on the ground floor rooms is allowing freezing air to circulate between your toes while you are watching TV buried under a blanket as an attempt to survive…
So if you have the time and the budget fit a carpet (personally I won’t because I find it ugly and the kids are allergic anyway) or fit a laminate (cheap) or engineering wood (expensive) parquet instead. This is laid floating on the floor with a wood fibre based thermal sub-layer beneath that should make the place much more confortable.

Once this is done and you verified most obvious draughts are sealed off, if nevertheless it doesn’t get any warmer, then you should seek advice on walls insulation but there is no simple answer when it gets to solid walls I am afraid. You would have to either sacrifice the look of the rooms in question or go external (although I am seeking advice on the breathing issue).

aachh

I looked at Sempatap but the external walls were blown so of with all the plaster and I put Marmox on the walls but only 12mm as space is a premium, I dot & dabbed it on the walls so the brick wall could breath, then skimmed it after and painted it I would have gone for a thicker Marmox but as I say taking 50mm or more from a small room is a lot, so far this winter that room now gets nice and cosy as before it was cold.

consumers_revenge

aachh wrote: »

I looked at Sempatap but the external walls were blown so of with all the plaster and I put Marmox on the walls but only 12mm as space is a premium, I dot & dabbed it on the walls so the brick wall could breath, then skimmed it after and painted it I would have gone for a thicker Marmox but as I say taking 50mm or more from a small room is a lot, so far this winter that room now gets nice and cosy as before it was cold.

Hi. Im going to try marmox boards. Can you recommend them? Were they easy to fit/cut etc? Any other info or opinions please?

Cheers.

unserrer

Hello

I have a 1900-era large semi-detached. Most of the rooms keep the heat relatively well but my children's bedroom is particularly hard to heat. It is has two external walls (back where the double-glazing is and the side wall) with the radiator on an internal wall farthest away from the windows.

The ceiling is flat-roof with no insulation; walls are solid-wall.

I think most of the heat is lost through the ceiling. I am currently considering Sempatap to help out on the heat-loss but wondered if anyone had any other suggestions?

Thanks!

rjocallaghan

unserrer wrote: »

Hello

I have a 1900-era large semi-detached. Most of the rooms keep the heat relatively well but my children's bedroom is particularly hard to heat. It is has two external walls (back where the double-glazing is and the side wall) with the radiator on an internal wall farthest away from the windows.

The ceiling is flat-roof with no insulation; walls are solid-wall.

I think most of the heat is lost through the ceiling. I am currently considering Sempatap to help out on the heat-loss but wondered if anyone had any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Hi unserrer,

There is funding available for External wall insulation if you have solid walls no cavity and even for free if your home is heated by either coal of electric, If you have gas central heating cost depends on how much funding is available after epc

Lucas99999

I am just going throughout a nightmare with this product.
I was very happy in the beginning as the walls are without
any doubts much warmer.
But what happens inside? Well, the foam is wet,full of water
and is the perfect house for the mould.
That's what I just discovered when I tried to removed ,the wall
Is black,full of disgusting mould.
My advise ,be very carefully ,sometimes the cheap(which I personally
did not found it cheap) can result very expensive.
I don't recommend this product at all