- This Victorian property was retrofitted with 100mm of EPS solid wall insulation and finished with mineral render and Silicon Silicate Paint.
- The End-terrace property was only insulated on the back and side to keep the brick look on the front of the property
- This solid wall insulation system takes the u-value of the walls from 2.1W/m2k down to just 0.27W/m2k - better than a brand new insulated cavity wall built today to conform with building regulations.
This solid wall insulation job involved insulating a 1895 Victorian property with 100mm of insulation. We see 100’s of these properties every month and they all tend to be the same – cold and draughty!
The issue with these properties is that the solid wall construction does nothing to slow heat loss out of the property. By insulating some or all of the walls, you slow the movement of heat out of the house which means the heating system needs to work less hard to keep the house warm.
In this property in South West London, we wanted to insulate as much of it as possible without changing the appearance at the front of the house. It was for these reason that we decided to only insulate the back and sides of the house, leaving the front completely untouched to keep it in keeping with the rest of the street. Obviously in an ideal world from an energy saving point of view, we would insulate the whole of the property, however for this type of property we appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the brick itself and often it tends to be hard to get the relevant permissions from the local councils because of the change in appearance. In this case it was deemed this was the best solution!
What Solid Wall Insulation system was used?
We opted to insulate the home with 100mm of EPS insulation with a mineral render and finished with a Silicon Silicate paint. This solid wall insulation system takes the u-value of the walls from 2.1W/m2k down to just 0.27W/m2k – now for most of us who don’t take in ‘u-value speak’ that is better than a brand new insulated cavity wall built today to conform with building regulations. The mineral render and Silicon Silicate paint provide a fantastic finish and have a raft of other advantages including the following:
- Breathable system
- Impact resistant
- Durable – the render is 1.5mm thick.
- Great value
The great thing about the solid wall insulation being applied to the outside of the brick is that this becomes a heat store, so will continue to release heat back into the room well after the heating has been turned off.
The job took just two weeks to carry out, with all the pipework extended to ensure a consistent thickness of insulation across all the walls. We ensured that waste pipes were only out of action for a 24 hour period to minimise the inconvenience on the household.
Very nice finish. I like how you finished off the cornering and external pipework, really good attention to detail. Quick question, does you partner Be Constructive also install external solid wall insulation in mineral wool as i can only see platinum eps installs? I wouldn’t mind eps solid wall insulation but my property has existing damp problems and ideally I would like a fully breathable system not just the top coat. It wouldn’t obviously matter if the property was ok as I would always go for the eps. Thanks in advance.