Adding insulation to an old house.

Submitted ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨qyron@sopuli.xyz⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Here is my problem: I have an old house - nearly 100 years old - that I need to insulate but I have a few problems and concerns I need to deal with.

I’ve been looking into the insulation solutions available in my market and it is basically a matter of gluing thick boards of styrofoam-like material to the walls.

On the outwalls this is not feaseable as the house faces a road with no sidewalk, so I’d be encroaching onto the road. Inside, adding 5cm of insulation would make small rooms smaller to the point some would be, for all practical purposes, rendered into generous pantries.

Because I live in a somewhat rural area, mice and rodents are a concern, so adding materials they can chew through makes no sense. It would be like supplying an easy to move through medium to run the entire house. I have seen houses and buildings with this kind of insulation chewed into, the moment the smallest of pieces of the hard plaster gets cracked, which is very easy. The added fire hazard is a concern as well, I’ll admit.

I’ve already seen cork insulation but the base color is always brown and does not deal well with being painted on.

What other options may I look into? I’m in southern Europe but in an area with harsh winters.

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Comments

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rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Can you inquire with your local leadership about encroaching into the roadway? It really does seem like this would be your best option. Or reconstruction.

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- qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  None is an option.
  
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czardestructo@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Perhaps not the same but I own a 150 year old home in America and I have foam insulation blown in. The insulation it provided was minor but what it helped tremendously with was drafts and air exchange. On older homes air leaks and sealing any cracks and drafts can potentially save you more money than adding actual insulation depending on how leaky it is. Food for thought though it might not help you.

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- qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That was the kind of thought I was looking for.
  
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towerful@programming.dev ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You could put lining paper over the cork, so you have a paintable surface.
My flat has plaster render over brick for internal walls (external walls are lath & plaster).
My hallway has a styrofoam backed wallpaper. It gets damaged SO easily, and I haven’t found a decent way to repair it. I presume at some point, I just need to repaper it.
I think cork is a bit hardier than styrofoam, but just a heads up for high traffic areas

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- qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The cork I’ve been able to find specifically warns against painting it or covering it in any fashion. I could go for an accent wall on it but it is not a material easy to match and the texture is just off.
  
  I may use cork liner on the floor before setting down wood pavement (I intend to reuse every piece of wood I can manage to salvage) but not on the walls.
  
  And yes, styrofoam is horrendously fragile. At some point you may have to consider replacing parts of it, which apparently is very easy, but just putting up such a fragile material doesn’t make sense for me.
  
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Thrashy@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
With old masonry wall construction, you need to be very careful about how you retrofit insulation to the walls. Insulating the interior makes it very likely that you’ll have moisture-related degradation of the stone and grout making up the wall, as you’re cutting off drying potential from the interior side of the wall. If it’s possible, insulating the exterior is your best option, otherwise you’d likely need to take the approach of building a new wall assembly inside the existing one with a clear air gap between the two, losing significant interior space in the process. This article from Building Science Corporation goes over some of the details.

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archomrade@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It is very common in the US to use foam boards with z furring channels to insulate agaist concrete or similar materials, but using furring channels with just about any type of insulation would work (foam is the most efficient, though). You can then fasten drywall or your typical wall covering to the channels and paint as normal.

Just about any solution will reduce your occupiable space though, or protrude on the exterior. Most jurisdictions in my area are ok with encroaching a few centimeters for the purpose of higher energy efficiency, but I have no idea about your situation.

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robotopera@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Not in the eu, so translate the material names as needed. Foam board insulation with a layer of plasterboard directly over the top seems to be your only option. If you are worried about durability just use a thicker plasterboard. Keeping the assembly under 5cm might be difficult if you want a useful r-value.

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- qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve seen that material, I think.
  
  Does it look essentially like a piece of drywall lined with styrofoam?
  
  I understand that concern and I intend to improve the thermal efficiency of the house but not at the cost of turning bedrooms into pantries.
  
  The house is really old and there are rooms under 10 square meters; a standard couples bed (140x200cm) will not fit there and even a single bed will make the room feel cramped.
  
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  - robotopera@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You would by the foam and drywall separately. You can either glue the entire them together or glue the foam and use tapcons (concrete screws) to attach the drywall to the wall (screws go through the foam) if you want to do something without giving up space… hang a tapestry? lol
    
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Thavron@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It might be helpful to know what kind of walls you have. What is the material, do they have space that can be filled with insulation material?

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- qyron@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Stone. No gaps I can take advantage of.
  
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  - pdavis@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨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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