The homeowner describes their experience with external insulation, noting that despite improvements to windows, doors, attic insulation, and a heat pump system, they are still facing dampness, musty odors, and cold temperatures in the rear bedrooms. They seek advice on how to address these issues permanently.
External insulation was added to our cold 1960s four-bed semidetached house. The rear wall was taken down in the refurb and replaced with blocks positioned flat . It didn’t bring the level of insulation I’d hoped for. We have triple-glazed windows and doors facing north, with double-glazed ones facing south, and the attic is insulated. We also installed a heat-pump system. The engineer and builders were registered.
The real problem that you are experiencing here is one of condensation. Condensation arises due to a number of factors, including poor insulation standards, poor levels of heating, high levels of moisture vapour and poor levels of ventilation.Our son’s family needs more space. Would it be costly to swap houses with them?
You refer to an “indent” in the insulation just above the flat roof and no doubt this was required to avoid interfering with the flashing at the roof/wall junction. Unfortunately, this creates a “cold bridge”. The principle of external insulation is to have a house “wrapped”, with no gaps, but it is inevitable when retrofitting a property that there will be certain obstacles and difficulties associated with achieving a perfect solution.
In addition to regularly opening windows, it is typical to have permanent vents for the habitable rooms and mechanical extractor fans to the kitchen and bathrooms. In fact, there are whole air systems available which are incorporated in new properties. However, it is relatively difficult to install these systems retrospectively. But if you have a good combination of background ventilation and mechanical extractor fans, it should be possible to keep condensation under control.
Condensation Damp Insulation Heat Pump Ventilation
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