How much can i do?

[keatsie]

Probably been asked before but...i need to repair the infill panels on my gradeii listed building. The outer render on the panels is cracked and falling out in place. The infill in the panels looks from what i can see is brick, so has been replaced from waddle and daub at some point.

So, what am i allowed to do. I would like to be able to rerender the infill panels with the correct lime morter and possibly replace the brick infill with fiber boards with lambs wool insulation. Do i need planning for both or either, can i do the work myself or do i need to get in a specialist company?

 

[Flyfisher]

As I understand things, 'like-for-like' repairs require no listed building consent and the work can be done by anyone, including DIY.

Thus, I would say that re-rendering the failed panels would require no consent and you could do the work yourself or pay someone to do it for you. However, if the existing render is cement-based (as ours was) and you wish to replace it with lime render (as we did) then that is not exactly a 'like-for-like' repair and, strictly speaking, you should really apply for consent (as we did, among other things). Having said that, I would guess that the chances of getting into trouble for replacing cement-render with lime-render would be vanishingly small!

Replacing the brick infill with fibre boards and lambswool insulation would, I think, be fairly construed as an alteration and thus would require LBC. For all we know, the brickwork in question might have particular historical importance - unlikely, perhaps, but that's why the LBC process exists. Again, any authorised work could be DIY or by a specialist company.

As with all such questions, it is really only the responsible conservation officer who can give you a definitive answer.

 

[MikeG]

FF has it pretty much bang-on.

Architect's hat on.....

Why are you proposing lamb's wool insulation? For a start, last time I looked it was only certified for horizontal use, not vertical, so wasn't suitable for walls. Admittedly, for reasons I'll give in a minute, I haven't bothered checking on that for a while. Secondly, it is no better in any performance consideration than mineral wool ("fibreglass"), and is much more expensive. Mineral wool recycles lots of material in its manufacture, and is a completely different product from that available only 10 years or so ago. It is so much more pleasant to work with. I understand that providing a market for otherwise nearly valueless wool is a benefit, but I would weigh that against the factors I have mentioned. Finally, there was a catastrophic breakdown of the insect proofing of wool a year or two back, leading to all sorts of problems with moths, and it was hauled out of a number of National Trust properties as a result. I would want to be absolutely convinced that this had been cleared up before even considering using wool in a building, and for me, that would mean leaving it maybe a decade to see if any further problems emerged.

Some materials gain fashionable and unwarranted appeal, and in my view, lamb's wool insulation, appealing as the idea is, falls into that category.

 

[Zebra]

No, you can use sheepswool insulation in walls. I have it in mine. It's lovely stuff, much nicer to use than rockwool, and I'd use it again if I could.

 

[88v8]

Interspecies co-operation.
Zebras providing homes for moths.
Warms the cockles of the heart.

Ivor

 

[legstrap]

Yep, gone through the same with our house. Our timber framed, wattle and daub panelled cottage had cement render on the outside, different infil panels.. some wattle and daub, lots of brick, some concrete, and some just boarding filled with fibreglass insulation. We've ended up just keeping the existing panel infils as a change of material requires LBC, and the conservation officer wants sectional and elevational drawings of any proposed change in material. even if you want to go back to wattle&daub.
If it is like-for-like, and a minor repair, no LBC needed.
I'm currently in the process of drawing up the timber frame to highlight which timbers require repair/replacement. Very time consuming!

 

[Kearn]

Replacing the brick infill with fibre boards and lambswool insulation would, I think, be fairly construed as an alteration and thus would require LBC. For all we know, the brickwork in question might have particular historical importance - unlikely, perhaps, but that's why the LBC process exists.

Why unlikely?! After stripping off the nasty plastic paint and various gypsum render from our 16th C timber frame, the exposed brick infills on the lower level were very nice and certainly historic and tell a story, having been done at various stages over the last 300 years, including one panel with beautiful Georgian penny rolled pointing still intact. Removing what 'shouldn't' be there' is not always an easy assessment given these places have evolved through the centuries! Our infill brickwork had also helped out by playing an unintentional structural role after the sole plate had long disappeared - I found all 7 posts were floating by at least a foot in places!

I now quite like the contrast of the brick below and re-done lime plaster above. Incidentally, in the 6 upper panels, all of which had blown, almost 5 had the original elm wattle in place fortunately (the 5th needed repairing to fill gaps) and the 6th had been filled with brick at some early stage - after consideration, we didn't remove the brick and plastered over it - as with most of our decisions, we try to not unnecessarily replace things that are not original but have history and aren't doing damage, with new representations of the original - if that makes sense?!

 

[MatthewC]

As I understand things, 'like-for-like' repairs require no listed building consent and the work can be done by anyone, including DIY.

Thus, I would say that re-rendering the failed panels would require no consent and you could do the work yourself or pay someone to do it for you. However, if the existing render is cement-based (as ours was) and you wish to replace it with lime render (as we did) then that is not exactly a 'like-for-like' repair and, strictly speaking, you should really apply for consent (as we did, among other things). Having said that, I would guess that the chances of getting into trouble for replacing cement-render with lime-render would be vanishingly small!

Replacing the brick infill with fibre boards and lambswool insulation would, I think, be fairly construed as an alteration and thus would require LBC. For all we know, the brickwork in question might have particular historical importance - unlikely, perhaps, but that's why the LBC process exists. Again, any authorised work could be DIY or by a specialist company.

As with all such questions, it is really only the responsible conservation officer who can give you a definitive answer.

I would agree with all that FF says above, but would add that you might also need to ask for Building Control involvement if you add insulation, as you are changing a "thermal element". There be dragons!