Fitted wardrobes and internal insulation

NeverTooLate

I'm planning on fitting a full wall of wardrobes in a (downstairs) bedroom, full width and height of the wall.
The wall is an external wall, the house walls are cavity walls, house built in the 1950's and have retrofitted cavity wall insulation.

Should I internally insulate the wall before fitting the wardrobes in order to minimise condensation in the wardrobes?

Any research that I've done seems to give conflicting advice as to whether the internal insulation is beneficial where there is cavity wall insulation.

diystarter7

Hi

I'm assuming the wardrobes have good backig on the cabinets?

Or are you fitting those open plan slindig door wardrobes? If soo a bit of insulation on the insie IMO won't hurt.

Thnaks

NeverTooLate

diystarter7 said:

Hi

I'm assuming the wardrobes have good backig on the cabinets?

Or are you fitting those open plan slindig door wardrobes? If soo a bit of insulation on the insie IMO won't hurt.

Thnaks

Probably something like Ikea pax for the carcases and home made doors. Not sure what difference the backing of the wardrobes would make though, you could still get condensation between the wardrobe & the wall if the wall is cold.

ThisIsWeird

If the unit's back panels are inset in to the unit leaving a void behind it, there is far less risk of condensation and mould inside the wardrobe as it's kept away from the colder wall. Ideally there should be a 'trickle' of ventilation getting past the front plinths, under and up the back, and out t'top, in order to keep that void dry too.

Since you already have CWI, I'd be more inclined to keep that vent gap, rather than say fill it with insulation.

On an older house, say with solid uninsulated walls, I'd personally fully line the walls with an inch or so of rigid insulation board like Celotex first, D&D'd to the wall using an adhesive, then fit the units. Not sure I'd bother in your case.

diystarter7

NeverTooLate said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi

I'm assuming the wardrobes have good backig on the cabinets?

Or are you fitting those open plan slindig door wardrobes? If soo a bit of insulation on the insie IMO won't hurt.

Thnaks

Probably something like Ikea pax for the carcases and home made doors. Not sure what difference the backing of the wardrobes would make though, you could still get condensation between the wardrobe & the wall if the wall is cold.

Are you getting damp etc if not then no worries,
The ikea units the bigger ones will leave about half inch gap and there no proble re contact of the backing of the wardrobes and wall.

Some cabinets have thicker backing and i tohugh you was worried re your clothes feeling a bit damp

Thnaks

NeverTooLate

ThisIsWeird said:

If the unit's back panels are inset in to the unit leaving a void behind it, there is far less risk of condensation and mould inside the wardrobe as it's kept away from the colder wall. Ideally there should be a 'trickle' of ventilation getting past the front plinths, under and up the back, and out t'top, in order to keep that void dry too.

Since you already have CWI, I'd be more inclined to keep that vent gap, rather than say fill it with insulation.

On an older house, say with solid uninsulated walls, I'd personally fully line the walls with an inch or so of rigid insulation board like Celotex first, D&D'd to the wall using an adhesive, then fit the units. Not sure I'd bother in your case.

Thanks for that.
If there were no backs to the wardrobes would your advice be the same - just to make sure the space is ventilated?

I wanted to keep my OP simple, but it's not exactly going to be all wardrobe, but 2 single wall beds (murphy beds) which fold up into a wardrobe type cupboards with the rest of the wall having wardrobes to match.