Damp proofing with originality

[Pennyviz]

Just started to strip downstairs toilet and have discovered bottom 2 feet of all walls have a layer of polystyrene foam under lining paper.

Could have been worse I suppose.

 

[MikeG]

Deleted.

 

[TheForge]

We had polystyrene foam from floor to ceiling under vinyl wallpaper and on top of bitumen paint in our bathroom, with a layer of cement and corrugated plastic tanking underneath!

 

[Pennyviz]

Impressive!

 

[88v8]

Just started to strip downstairs toilet and have discovered bottom 2 feet of all walls have a layer of polystyrene foam under lining paper.
.

Perhaps some family members didn't have very good aim

Ivor

 

[ireneadler101]

We also found this in our house - although assumed it was insulation rather than damp proofing (although frankly it could be either, our house being both cold and damp!).

 

[Flyfisher]

I recall rolls of polystyrene 'wallpaper' being fairly commonplace in the DIY sheds many years ago but not so much these days. Must have been a passing fashion, along with polystyrene ceiling tiles. I always thought it was for insulation rather than damproofing but fortunately it's one abomination never to have been afflicted on our house. Perhaps building regulations put an end to it? I imagine it would be pretty awful stuff in a fire.

 

[mims&pip]

I recall rolls of polystyrene 'wallpaper' being fairly commonplace in the DIY sheds many years ago but not so much these days. Must have been a passing fashion, along with polystyrene ceiling tiles. I always thought it was for insulation rather than damproofing but fortunately it's one abomination never to have been afflicted on our house. Perhaps building regulations put an end to it? I imagine it would be pretty awful stuff in a fire.

We discovered some in our last (thatched!) house :roll:

The PO had used it to insulate an external wall - one of the few remaining that still had their original lime plaster......most had been stripped back to bare stone - when he moved there in the early 1990s.

Mims x

 

[noj]

I discovered that what I thought was a sagging area of failed lath and plaster in the attic room was actually a sheet of polystyrene held on with lining paper, sellotape and lots of emulsion.

I suppose it was intentionally a more insulating fix than the repairs between the the dining room and kitchen that were just the paper and paint...

 

[MatthewC]

Just started to strip downstairs toilet and have discovered bottom 2 feet of all walls have a layer of polystyrene foam under lining paper.

Could have been worse I suppose.

We had some really hard "cement render", about an inch thick up to 2ft up some of the walls. Absolute nightmare to get it off

We also found this in our house - although assumed it was insulation rather than damp proofing (although frankly it could be either, our house being both cold and damp!).

I would think it was a "solution" for both, as if your house is damp it will also be cold. We had some for insulation in some upstairs bedrooms when I was young - my memory (often poor) says that it was called "Katina" or something like that. It didn't make any difference whatsoever - we still had ice inside the windows in the morning. (Cue the old-timers: "when I was a lad...")