External wall insulation..

shazza71_2

Hiya all,
We have had external wall insulation put on our house, it was like polystyrene blocks that were attached to the walls then skimmed over, does anyone know anything about this kind of insulation plzz

thnx
shaz

Martyn1981

shazza71 wrote: »

Hiya all,
We have had external wall insulation put on our house, it was like polystyrene blocks that were attached to the walls then skimmed over, does anyone know anything about this kind of insulation plzz

thnx
shaz

No expert, can only repeat what I've heard and read elsewhere. This is a very expensive, but effective way of dramatically improving insulation levels.

If a property doesn't have cavity wall insulation, can't have it fitted, or doesn't have a cavity, then adding a very thick (100mm) 'lump' of Kingspan, Celotex etc on the inside or outside will give a very big improvement in insulation both from winter cooling, and summer solar gain.

Internal may be cheaper, but will require redecorating each room, will cause probs with coving and skirting boards, room alignment, lights not be central, possible vapour barriers etc, etc.

External will have issues regarding roof overhangs, window and door frames, water run off etc, plus re-coating such as rendering or even slating (vertically).

I expect you'll be extremely pleased with the results. Did you have to pay for it, I've heard of costs around £10k to £11k?

Solutions such as this are usually aimed at improving the UK's older housing stock, and take a 50 to 100 year approach to reducing energy needs. Hopefully you'll see quite substantial heating savings, maybe into multiple hundreds of pounds pa - and prices are only going to go up!

Best of luck.

Mart.

ecky119

Not as expensive as you think no problems withoverhang or sills all profiles made to measure great benifits.
In simple terms it's like putting your hous in a big waterproof polystyrene box.will be happy to pass on more info.

jamesingram

shazza71 wrote: »

Hiya all,
We have had external wall insulation put on our house, it was like polystyrene blocks that were attached to the walls then skimmed over, does anyone know anything about this kind of insulation plzz

thnx
shaz

Seem strange to ask about it after you've done it ?

anyway take a look here
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/insulated-render.php

price range £65-150m2

shazza71_2

hi,
Jamesingram i`m asking after it has been done because our LHA have done this to the house about 6 months ago and dont know much about it.

i do know that it has caused a lot of problems inside the house.
my bathroom ceiling is now black with mold, the DG windows are steamed up and theres condensation running down the walls

ecky119
we are definately in a polystyrene box which is bad because we can now hear everything my neighbour does i.e. closing doors, talking on the phone etc etc, its the worst thing ever and wished it had`nt been done

jamesingram

Condensation and mold is a nightmare, i've got it in several room this winter on our N facing uninsulated solid walls.

Firstly I'd get on to the LHA if you haven't already and tell them your problem since EWI install.

usually EWI (external wall insulation) removes damp/condensation problems on the walls as it make them warm , moving the dew point to the outside of the polystrene.
You may have moisture trapped it the existing wall behind the EWI, which is causing problems ?
Condensation on windows with EWI is a problem as this now becomes the weak/coldest point and any water vapour in the air will condense here.
As to your ceiling . do you have any loft insulation ? again this may be a weak point. Improving insulation above may help.

The EWI has probably made your house far more airtight , removing all the little holes and cracks that you'st to let out all the warm (moisture laden) air, so now it's got nowhere to go and condenses where it finds a cold point.

Possible solutions:
Remove/reduce moist air at source
Use lids on sauce pan , kitchen extractor
keep the bathroom door closed when showering/bathing
Bathroon extractor fan and open the window straight after showering to get the worst of the steam out.
Ventalition , leave your windows open a little at night , and give the place a good airing midday.
try and keep the house at a similar temperature through out when the heatings is on.
Dehumidifier located in the worst area.

As to the noise problem , not heard of this complaint before RE EWI
has it reduced the external noise thus increasing internal noise relatively ?
cheers Jim

shazza71_2

Thanx Jim,
Some of the neighbours have reported similar problems to LHA and have been told to open the windows..which is ridiculous at this time of the year and seems a bit of a condradiction to the insulayion in the first place.
The mold first appeared on the ceiling above the extractor fan and has now moved to above the window(which is usually open just a smidgen), we have lived in this house for 18 years and have never had problems like this before, so it must be the insulation thats causing this.
As for the noise, it could be because we live in a semi and with both houses being done its like ecky119 says "polystyrene box" everything seems to be echoing within the box and tbh its an absolute nightmare as my neighbour is a night owl so tlks on the phone and bangs his doors til 2 am..

Hopefully the weather will warm up and we can open the windows but North winds r cold up here so it may be a while.

Thanx for the tips and we`ll see what works for us

shaz

jamesingram

Opening the windows just a little front and back will allow crossflow of air , hopefully reducing condensation .
Though it sounds a bit crazy as you suggest , the reduction in heatloss due to the EWI will hopefully outway the heatloss due to additonal venting thats now required.

Have you noticed your heating coming on less or reduced the thermostate temperature setting and still have a simliar level of comfort.
Hopefully you'll notice a bill reduction over time , but this will be irrelavent if you've got to redec. the place due to mold.

shazza71_2

Tbh the house feels colder but with gas prices as they are we cant afford to have the heating on much, so we dont seem to be feeling any benefit.
I have noticed the house is a lot colder through the night than its ever been. All these differnces and problems are why i was wondering whether this type of insulation has caused similar problems to anyone else. We were sent a letter about the work starting but no-one explained anything about it, and i dont really trust the LHA as they just seem to make excuses for everything.
thanx for replying,
shaz

Martyn1981

shazza71 wrote: »

Tbh the house feels colder but with gas prices as they are we cant afford to have the heating on much, so we dont seem to be feeling any benefit.
I have noticed the house is a lot colder through the night than its ever been. All these differnces and problems are why i was wondering whether this type of insulation has caused similar problems to anyone else. We were sent a letter about the work starting but no-one explained anything about it, and i dont really trust the LHA as they just seem to make excuses for everything.
thanx for replying,
shaz

Shaz, total guess about the house being colder (other than you can't afford to put it on too much), possibly the 'air' heats up and feels warmer, but you don't need the heating on enough to fully heat the thermal mass of the house. So by needing / using less heating, the house hasn't 'banked' as much heat by the end of the day. This is a good thing bill wise, but may take a while to get used to it.

I might be talking rubbish, but wifey and I have noticed a similar thing since decorating our living room 18 months ago. I was never happy with the double 900mm radiator, but had some spare tails under the floor for a rad in the conservatory that I decided not to fit. So I put in an extra 600mm double rad in the opposite corner.

Suddenly the room went from taking 2 hours to heat from cold morning, to about 15 mins. Obviously that's impossible, but we finally figured it out, the 2 rads could give us a comfortable air temp quickly, the older rad had to heat the thermal mass of the room up.

Downside like you, room takes about 15mins to cool down instead of 2 hours, but I prefer that. Why have a hot room that I'm not using!

Hope it all gets sorted / beds in.

Mart.

shazza71_2

Thanx Martin,
I`m thankful for any help on this because its a nightmare to live with. I`m just a housewife/mother so havent a clue about insulation etc, the only thing i can say is our upstairs ceilings have slanted bits where the roof goes down(i`m sure theres a name for them) thats where all the condensation and mold is, reading what jim says i`m wondering if theres no roof insulation in them bits of the loft.
i know there is a lot of it up there but dont know if it goes to the slanty bits. Thanx for info.

shaz