Home DIY

That would be a case of operator error rather than an inherent flaw in the method.

Wall sander and makita router FS in N5:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/369824/

Seems like a good deal on the router tbh.

have got them off, but predictably the adhesive (sort of gummy and sticky) has refused to leave. Any recommendations for how to remove?

I've found petrol to be good at removing adhesive residue, such as duct tape goo. Better even than acetone and MEKK in many cases.

Thanks, got the ceiling joists exposed, and I'll be taking up some floor boards to fix straight to floor joists.

Just got to persuade my partner that now! Although I have got her lime pointing ha.

Has anyone had experience with breathable Internal Wall Insulation (IWI)?

I'm trying to achieve 0.3W/m2K in a Victorian property with solid brick walls. The acoustic properties of wood fibre are appealing, but no air gap between external wall and internal boards feels odd/worrying?

When I looked at it, sheep wool and wood wool boards came out as the way to go. You would need to be sure that the wall is still breathable though (lime plaster inside, lime render outside).

Condensation will always be a concern between the colder exterior wall and the warm interior boarding.

In the end, I went with a 2x2 stud wall, with a 2 inch layoff from the exterior wall, to allow for airflow from the airbricks under the floor level to the airbricks in the ceiling void.

Why the 2" gap in the end? What do you think of the argument that removing the gap gives the house the ability to dry out the exterior wall (even at 100mm IWI)?!

We're a terrace property and I'm wondering if front-to-back airflow in the roof and under the ground floor would be adequate.

Why the 2" gap in the end?

Because

Condensation will always be a concern between the colder exterior wall and the warm interior boarding.

Airflow stops this. It's the same principle for insulating a cold roof.

I guess breathable insulation might mitigate any condensation problems, but I'm (lacking any real world experience of it) somewhat circumspect.

Cheers for clearing this up, I was thinking it was too good to be true, will look at other option.

@Nef, will revisit the under floor option!

I keep a 1l bottle of isopropyl alcohol around for tasks like this. Less dodgy than petrol and also good for lifting grease off kitchens

Agreed - someone buy my router please before it goes to gumtree/ebay

@TW I'm talking about a heritage-style solid wall installation with no vapour control layer. So a fully permeable insulation system using wood-fibre board and lime plaster that would work with the walls thermal mass (not against it).

A non-permeable insulation layer with gap would be pretty standard, but also leads to overheating in the loft, trickier bridges/returns (around sash window boxes) and might mean the wall/timbers achieve 20% humidity in poorly ventilated areas regardless.

I'm talking about a heritage-style solid wall installation with no vapour control layer.

I realise that - the image was meant to illustrate the ventilation / airgap point, not about the vapour control aspect.

And I recognise the faffiness of it all - we're in the same boat, wondering how to insulate cold old walls with wood sash windows.

On the wall that we have done, an offset stud with a gap was easiest, as it is a blank wall.

For the rest, wood wool board & sheep wool may be the way forward.

@JonoMarshall - I intend to internally insulate the side wall (end of terrace and don't own the land outside) - I see the breathable, no cavity options as hempcrete (slow, messy and needs thickness to achieve any useful insulation value), woodfibre (needs lime plastering) and cork. They are all humidity buffering to some extent (can take in water vapour and give it out again). I am curious about whether cork can be applied as a thick internal finish (ie no plastering over) or if that leads to issues with condensation behind. Maybe the walls need stripping back to brick and re plastering in lime before adding cork, at which point what's the difference with getting a pro in to do woodfibre. I am currently at the wishful thinking stage of maybe DIY-ing cork but haven't got very far.

Speak to Mike Wye, Twy Mawr, Cornish lime, lime green etc they are usually extremely helpful.

Yep, I've looked at similar options. Hempcrete is out (mess and weight). I originally assumed cork would be too expensive (perhaps not if unfinished). We already have a base of semi-decent lime plaster and we don't mind working with lime plaster/paints on top.

I contacted Pavatex and they stated that reducing U-values beyond 0.4 was inadvisable as would have too significant effect on rate of drying of the (exterior) wall, hence frost damage. This seems to be confirmed by Jospeh Little in Breaking The Mould:
"It seems reasonable to deduce from this that once driving rain is dealt with internally-insulated walls appear to work best with less insulation than 0.45 W/m2K"
https://www.buildinglifeconsultancy.com/content/breaking-mould-5 (link not secure)

However, I wondered if there was an alternative to accepting a worse U-value (for IWI) by reducing humidity (heat recovery from bathrooms for example) as the improved interior environment might provide better external wall performance during dry spells?

Or perhaps I need to fixate less on U-values...

Have you considered insulated cladding outside instead?

That would've been ideal, but we're in a conservation area.

I intend to externally insulate front and back with decent u-values (lime render on woodfibre the frontrunner atm), accepting that the side will have much less good u-value but should still make a big difference to comfort levels.

Just remembered the company name that I got insulation from. https://www.backtoearth.co.uk They seemed pretty on the ball.

fantastic, thanks.

all very vague, but anyone here have any inspiration / experience / advice for finishing this gas fireplace?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CUrPwbq2rcB6VZQc9

thinking of one row of these up the sides, two rows on the top and then fill out the bottom with it all the way to the floor.

https://www.riadtile.com/product/natural-white-zellige-4x4/

then a clean modern mantle built around that by me.

I'm in the process of planning some shelves for our alcoves I need to mass produce the shelves. With 4 different lengths how can I work which combination of cuts will be ideal to avoid wastage

Based on sheet wood? https://www.cutlistoptimizer.com/