Single skin wall query

nelson182

Just received Home buyer survey back. Hope to own converted ground floor flat that used to be a shop Main issue with place was damp, but in particular at the front where a single skin wall is present. Survey recommended ‘upgrading’ this. How easy to do is this? And what processes/costs are required? The property is 100yrs old, so why now suddenly is the single skin wall an issue? Thanks

silvercar

we have a room that was once a garage, this has a single skin wall. Its an issue because single skin walls provide much less insulation than cavity or thicker walls. You can insulate the walls from the inside but you have to allow for moving cabling and heating pipes.

nelson182

Is it illegal or what to leave it as it is?

thesaint

It is not illegal. Some lenders will retain some of the advance until the work is done.

My lender said this because of my kitchen being single skinned. They did not actually follow through and advanced the full amount. I still have not done the work 5 years down the line. It would be beneficial to do it if you can afford it.

nelson182

^ Thanks for that. The Surveyor put a £5000 retention on the value, but The banks Underwriters over ruled this and lent us the whole amount we needed. I would assume they saw it as a minor issue. But even so, I am trying to get the vendor to have this fixed. Any ideas of cost? Wall is approx 20ft long and 8ft high

Doozergirl

To rectify it you have to build a new wall inside the house and insulate the cavity. Then of course you have to replaster and redecorate and you end up with a room a few inches smaller. You also need to make sure before you start that whatever is underneath will carry the weight of the brick.

I could live with a small amount of single skin, but you will feel the cold a lot more if it's significant.

Biggles

nelson182 wrote:

But even so, I am trying to get the vendor to have this fixed. Any ideas of cost? Wall is approx 20ft long and 8ft high

It depends what you call 'fixed'. I doubt it's a real issue, and your lenders appear to agree. Surveyors always feel obliged to report stuff but it doesn't necessarily mean you need to do anything. But if you want more insulation, there are several ways to tackle it.

But you say it was once a shop; is this where the shop window has been filled in? In that case it may not be structural and you might be able to remove it and replace it with double-skin (though I doubt it would be cheap).

TJ27

I assume by single skin you mean that it's half a brick thick (4 inches or so). If you want to build a new wall inside the existing wall I see no reason why it can't simply be a 100mm stud partition. Of course you will need to install the appropriate ties, dpc, insulation and such but it's a piece of cake to do. Loading probably isn't really an issue then either.

nelson182

The wall stands at 150mm thick, and the wording on the survey was that this single skin wall could be prone to damp and condensation. I like your suggestion TJ27 about adding the stud wall with insulation. I guess I would also need to have the walls treated/injected to prevent rising damp?

babe_ruth_3

I have been looking into an alternative for a property that I rent out which is single brick end terrace, approx 100 yrs old too. I found this product called Magic Wall although i havn't tried it yet. It was recommended at a council run meeting for private landlords. They gave me this leaflet with web site https://www.mgcltd.co.uk and said that anyone capable of wallpapering could apply this product.

To me it would seem a cheaper alternative to building and insulating another inside wall, if it works that is.

I'm in the process of asking for a sample so that I can show my decorator.

nelson182

Thanks Babe Ruth I may look at that as a suitable alternative. Just waiting to hear if the vendor is prepared to do something about the single skin wall before I move in! Hopefully he will, or will drop price.