Comment on Adding insulation to an old house.

Thavron@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Stone. No gaps I can take advantage of.

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  • pdavis@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t really know of a way that you can add insulation without taking up interior space, exterior space, or replacing the wall with more modern materials.

    • What about the sides of the home not facing the street? Can you add an exterior layer of insulation and then new exterior siding to those walls?
    • On the side facing the street, you could replace the stone wall with a different type of wall that was more thermally resistant. This would of course be a major undertaking.
    • I am sure you have considered fully insulating the floor and ceiling as best you can.
    • If rodents and or insects are a concern, look into Mineral Wool/Rockwool Insulation.

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    • qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Taking some available space away is a given.

      Many places have a long experience in dealing with cold, which my country lacks, hence I’m asking here for advice. The default solution was either endure it or burn more wood.

      I may be able to shave off one or two centimeters of the total volume required as the walls are currently covered with a very thick layer of cement that was set with no concern to prior levelling the stone (in places where the mortars started to fail I chipped away to clear the loose material and there are spots where 2 to 3cm of cement could be saved just by grinding away an edge of a stone) but going by the solutions my market has available, I risk needing to layer up to 10cm of material on my walls.

      I do intend to insulate floor and ceillings as they will be, for all practical purposes, rebuilt, as the current wood floors are thin.

      The house is squeezed between a pedestrian street, where I can’t encroach, as there is little room already, and another house. I do have one wall I intend to insulate from the outside as it faces an empty plot.

      Mineral wool I have been looking into it but I was warned it wicks moisture. Is this true?

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