thermal boards or studded insulation ? ....

I

irishlion

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hi guys ,

moving into our new purchase in a matter of weeks , and with any old cottage/bungalow , it has its fair share of problems! to begin with , im planning to get the rising damp issue addressed first off . beginning with stripping the walls of existing plasterboards , getting the walls treated most likely by getting pumped with a liquid dpc . my qustion is , when the damp proofing has been completed , what is my best route for insulation . ive had many varied opinions on this and needless to say , im very confused !
a friend had mentioned thermalboards and apply them straight onto the walls .
a different guy in a suppliers said that wont do your BER any justice and advised me against! i got other advice that i should leave the walls battoned out , insulate with a high grade insulation and board up with a foil backed thermal board etc .... all these suggestions along with my latest addiction "googling thermal pockets" has me quite confused ! as its a huge job , id rather get it right the 1st time ! any help , opinions and hands on experience would be greatly appreciated ! cheers!
 
I bought a terraced former corporation house with was poured concrete walls (so no wall cavity) and single glazed. I got kingspan insulation put on the inside of the external (front and back) walls, plaster board laid over that and the whole lot skimmed (sorry, can't remember the exact kind of insulation, but altogether it was about 10cm thick).

The effect was amazing, even with the single glazed windows (couldn't afford to replace them) it's the warmest house I've ever lived in. It retains so much heat that we stopped putting on the heating in the morning as the house was still warm from the night before.

If you do go down this route I'd highly recommend it. And as it goes on your internal walls, before you move in is the best time to do it, esp if you're putting in a new bathroom or kitchen.
 
did you put a sheet over the studs to act as a vapour barrier , or use foil backed boards ?
 
Actually my contractor did it so I wasn't that involved, but the insulation panels did have foil on one side.
 
The reson the supplier may have had for suggesting not to use the insulation direct to the wall is there are different types with different efficiency ratings, the Kingspan / Quinn products have very good u values whereas the aeroboard type is not nearly as good.
You can use "mushroom fixings" to fit the insulation and the plasterboard to the external walls, easy to use if you have a good SDS drill worth looking into.
Don't forget ventilation many people think it is the opposite of all the good work insulating the house, good ventilation makes for a comfortable home.
 
thats brilliant peter , thanks kindly , what way would you suggest ventilating thermalboards fixed with mushroom fixings
 
Hi,

I've just completed a job similar to this. Researched it all long and hard but was keen with the thermalboard principal as i didn't want to lose too much space from the room. I eventually went this route. Used kingspan thermal board 65mm total depth(50mm insulation + 12mm plasterboard) with foil back. Fixed it direct to wall with metal mushroom fixings. Used an SDS drill which is very important, ordinary hammer drill makes very hard work of it. Taped joints and skimmed whole wall. Worked out great, would highly reccommend it.

Good Luck,
Maddad
 
thank you very much maddad , did you have to first fix electrics beneath the thermal boards at all ? and how was the cosyness afterwards ?
 
Hi,

I was drylining walls with existing fixings so just cut out where existing ones were located. If you had fixings to do I would put them all in place first and just cut out of the board directly over plugs. I have noticed a difference in room cosyness but the job has only been recently completed so am waiting for the real cold months of Jan/Feb to test it. I am confident though that it'll make a dramatic difference.

Maddad.
 
thats brilliant , ill have a look into these kingspan 65mm boards so and try source best value , what did they come in at roughly ? ....
 
Just checked docket from providers. Boards are actually 62.5mm(50mm+12.5mm) in depth. They were €38 each plus vat. This is the size I went for but I was conscious of space etc. You can get thicker or thinner depending on your requirements. On one wall I was limited because of door opening and went for 27mm board. In general I would go with the principal of the bigger the better. The thinner board was only €12 cheaper per board. I would imagine similar price difference would apply if going for thicker board.

maddad
 
have used thermal board on lots of jobs and will swear by them.currently in job we are plastering at moment and house is nice and cool on hot days and warm on cold days.this is a new build without any heating etc..and not sealed around doorsetc.. yet warmer than any house with just standard insul.easy to fix with mushroom fixings a little harder to cut out eletrics.one thing to watch out for....if your walls are off level and have uneven surfuces your insulated slab will follow suit so may have to be bonded and straightened before skimming can comence
 
thats brilliant maddad , ill have a look at that so , on the external walls , loosing mm on walls aint an issue as its a 16 ft by 22 ft room , all good , just two windows to deal with . prices not too bad either . thanks again maddad

hey noelly , thanks for your advice , any particular type board ?
kingspan seem to be the way forward . yes , am yet to see the wall but one thing ill now be making top priority is making sure walls are level ! thanks for that pointer , is it hard say cutting out where sockets are etc , and how about the trunking , should that be cut into the solid wall or simply ran down the wall and a groove cut accordingly from the thermal board

thanks ,
 
Why not use drywall adhesive to stick the board to the wall (dot and dab system). It will give you a cavity of approx 10mm and this will eliminate any need for chasing either wall or back of thermal board. If fixed correctly, this system also irons out any problems if the existing wall is bowed or out of plumb. Simply vary the depth of the "dab" to compensate.
 
hey toto , cheers for that suggestion . sounds like a plan , im reading that its good to have a continuous dab around all edges of board and say around cutting for sockets etc to prevent thermal loss ?
 
If your base wall is good (i.e. plumb and unbowed), a better option would be to batten out the wall with either timber, or preferably metal furrings if there is a damp issue. Then screw your thermal board to the battens.

My DIY skills are reasonable, but I consider dot and dab slightly awkward and messy as a non professional. If it was my place and I was doing it, I'd go with the battens. You can get timber of varying depths depending on what size cavity you want. The metal furring gives you a cavity of 18mm a far as I can recall. Although I'm sure there are many different depths out there now.

Your cables will still sit in the cavity.
 
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