Cold House - What to do?

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Roc

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Hi. We live in a detached house and its always freezing. I know not having houses on either side doesn't help but I find that I have to have the heating on constantly. The rads all work fine and get hot when the heating is on but there seem to be draughts everywhere in the house. (Our attic is insulated and this seems to be OK and we have double glazed windows.)

Has anyone any recommendations on what's the best approach to fix this? Is there a company we should get in to survey the house and advise on where the draughts are etc. Any info at all would be really welcome (company recommendations / prices / what's involved etc etc)

I've heard about a special foam that can be put into the walls to insulate them further but I'm a bit wary of the chemicals in this so would prefer a different alternative if possible.

Many thanks in advance
 
cavity wall insulation can make a very big difference and help reduce heating costs
 
hi - is it block built ? I just re-insulated my mums house ( detached) and what a difference. Even though it was block bulit and the exterior walls were stud & slabbed (inside). I made sure the insulating went right out to the wall plate in the attic -still allowing for air to circulate in attic from eaves .
Before this you coud feel the breeze,which actually came out along the skirting boards. Its always worth looking closer at the current insulating to see if its done right !
 
..one other point - check that outside around double glazed windows doors etc has been sealed correctly !
 
you can use warm slabs. basically a 50 to 70mm plasterborad slab stuck to a foil backed insualted slab.
these are fixed directly to the walls with plastic fixings called "mushrooms".

sheets cost 13 to 17 euro per 8*4 sheet.
this you then plaster over.
cavity wall insulation is pretty good as well, but can allow dampness to travel along the insulation to the intertior of the cavity wall and cause dam patches....this would think a few years to occur and usually happens in the bottom of the wall on whatever side of the room receiveds the most rain against.

slab the ceiling with foil backed slabs and place rookwool and then insulation between rafters. slab upstairs in the attic as well, but ya don't have to plaster it if your watching the notes.

advice on other post about d.glazing etc also important.

best luck with eradicating da chill.
 
There could be a number of factors responsible for the coldness in the house but it sounds to me as if your cavity has been left open at wallplate level.

If you have your attic ventilated then it is drawing in cold air which in turn circulates around your cavity and escaping at every possible location but mainly between floor joists, conduits and even where the radiator pipes emerge from the floor.

Check with some of the local builders or insulation firms
 
hate to say it but there are houses out there built with 9" cavity blocks, you know this in the winter when the house is impossible to keep heated, bear this in mind
 
baby_tooth said:
slab upstairs in the attic as well, but ya don't have to plaster it if your watching the notes.

.
Click to expand...


Where do you place slabs in the attic? I floored a lot of the attic which caused the insulation between the joists to be compressed which affects its insulation quality I believe. I'd like to put down an extra layer of insulation but would have to lift the flooring and somehow raise the height of the joists to accommodate it. I had wondered if instead I could insulate the flooring. Do the slabs provide some sort of alternative?

Thanks
 
pat127 - not sure exactly what you mean were you thinking of actually putting a slab on top of the new installed floor in the attic to help insulation ? .... I dont think it would take much wear and tear !
Did you floor the attic for storage , or have you put in walls / ceiling etc..
If its just a floor for storage - did you compressed say 8inch insulation into 6inch debth joices ?
 
Thanks a mill all for the great info and advice. I'll get someone to have a look at the areas you've mentioned (haven't a clue myself but at least you guys have pointed me in the right direction). Many thanks
 
I think baby_tooth meant to slab the attic at the roof level, not the floor. This would be unneccessary if the attic is properly insulated, IMO.
 
amcs said:
..
If its just a floor for storage - did you compress say 8inch insulation into 6inch depth joists ?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did, over maybe 3/4s of the attic space.

I now understand (Thanks Extopia) that the slabs are for putting under the roof so do I have any easy way of laying enough insulation under the flooring without compressing it? I had in mind building up the joists so that the 8" insulation wouldn't be compressed by the flooring but I think there's a lot of work involved.

Any other solution? Is there such a thing as insulated flooring which would need a lesser depth of insulation under it?
 
if it was me - i would assume that compressing 8" insulating into a 6"joist with flooring on top ...would be ok to leave as is ! hoping the timber floor would compensate for the compression and would help reduce / trap any heat loss from below
 
amcs said:
if it was me - i would assume that compressing 8" insulating into a 6"joist with flooring on top ...would be ok to leave as is ! hoping the timber floor would compensate for the compression and would help reduce / trap any heat loss from below
Click to expand...

Good point. Thanks.
 
Guys,
I'm going to have my external walls plaster boarded, direct bond method with no studs, on my self build ... Is there a type of boarding that has good insulating properties or do I just have to use the regular stuff ?
Thanks in advance ...
 
You can get thermal board, basically plasterboard with a layer of insulation bonded to it. Ask any of the builders providers for details or take a look at this [broken link removed].
Leo
 
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