Insulation Advise

[WelshDadOfThree]

Due to the situation we find ourselves in I thought I'd ask for some advice.

The Property:

We live in a converted L shaped barn, one half of the L is stone and about a foot thick the other is single brick.
It was converted in the early 90's and we think done by a DIYer. They put stud walls up in front of most of the stone walls and filled that with what looks like 50mm of polystyrene and plasterboard over the top.
Internal walls are clinker block with dob and dab. Having looked in the loft space, its a combination of polystyrene and fiberglass over the one half of the house, the other I think has nothing under the boards and 50mm Kingspan in the rafters.​

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The Situation:

Storm Babet ruined us, water at least 20 inches all through the house.​

Currently awaiting the drying out process to complete. All stone walls a have been exposed floor to ceiling all brick walls to a meter high.​

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The Question:

The insurance company are getting to the point where we need to start thinking about reinstatement. We intend to use our own builders and are thinking about what would be the best type of insulation for the walls. We're thinking about keeping some of the newly exposed stone walls and for the others we're not sure what should be the best way to insulate them.​

Loft insulation in the the stone part of the house is virtually non existent and I was considering thermofloc and keeping the kingspan in between the rafters however am unsure if this would be a good option or not.​

Any advice would be most appreciated.​

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[a twig]

A read of the options in this thread, wood wool and wood fibre, will hopefully get you on your way

Post in thread 'Plastering question'
https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/plastering-question.16738/post-243367

 

[Lacan07]

Due to the situation we find ourselves in I thought I'd ask for some advice.

The Property:

We live in a converted L shaped barn, one half of the L is stone and about a foot thick the other is single brick.​

It was converted in the early 90's and we think done by a DIYer. They put stud walls up in front of most of the stone walls and filled that with what looks like 50mm of polystyrene and plasterboard over the top.​

Internal walls are clinker block with dob and dab. Having looked in the loft space, its a combination of polystyrene and fiberglass over the one half of the house, the other I think has nothing under the boards and 50mm Kingspan in the rafters.​

​

The Situation:

Storm Babet ruined us, water at least 20 inches all through the house.​

Currently awaiting the drying out process to complete. All stone walls a have been exposed floor to ceiling all brick walls to a meter high.​

​

The Question:

The insurance company are getting to the point where we need to start thinking about reinstatement. We intend to use our own builders and are thinking about what would be the best type of insulation for the walls. We're thinking about keeping some of the newly exposed stone walls and for the others we're not sure what should be the best way to insulate them.​

Loft insulation in the the stone part of the house is virtually non existent and I was considering thermofloc and keeping the kingspan in between the rafters however am unsure if this would be a good option or not.​

Any advice would be most appreciated.​

​

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20 inches!! First things first, how did that happen? And (if possible) has it been put right?

 

[malcolm]

If you are expecting future floods then the ground floor insulation would better be waterproof (celotex or similar). For that to work there would need to be an air gap between the insulation and the wall which is properly ventilated. Ventilated to the loft space and maybe some air inlet at the bottom of the wall.

That would mean the stone wall is outside of the house so the only insulation you get is from the plastic stuff so do U value calcs on that basis ignoring the stone wall. A wood frame spaced off the floor might work best. Woodwool boards and lime plaster on top of the frame will dry out after a flood. Plasterboard never dries out and would need to be replaced every flood.

Probably a better alternative is to have breathable (lime pointed) stone walls downstairs. Plaster them with lime plaster if you don't want to see the stone or add a bit of insulating lime plaster to up the U value a little. Then the walls won't mind the occasional flood. Scottish Heritage did a bit of research for brick walls and found the U value of dry walls was twice the value of walls that were wet due to cement and masonry paints.

The roof sounds odd. Normal strategy is to have a well ventilated loft with 300mm rockwool (or similar) on top of the ceiling. Most of your heat goes through the roof so it's important to get that right. Having insulation on the pitched roof is not sensible if the loft is not an attic.

 

[aockenden]

Sry to hear about your disaster. For me, now 3 years into research and 2 years into hardcore practical experience living in and renovating a derelict Welsh stone cottage from the ground-up, I can say the answers to me have become formulaic.

Strip all external walls (inside and out) back to original stone / brick, carefully removing all cementitious materials from all mortar joints.

Render outside with NHL 2 or 3.5 (depending on weather exposure).

Plaster / render inside of external walls directly onto the bare masonry with insulating lime plaster (we are doing a hot-mix of coarse hemp shivs + granulated cork + quicklime). No hiding anything with battens / studs / boards.

Ventilate the loft through the fascia’s / soffits / roof vents. Insulate between the joists in the loft with thick ionic-treated sheepswool then run another layer of the same stuff perpendicular across the joists to cut the thermal bridging through the joist wood.

Dig up the ground floor (assuming it’s not suspended timber floor). Replace it with a breathable limecrete insulated flooring system (LECA or foam glass insulating aggregate, not a hemp-lime floor which I believe are probably not very appropriate for our wet climate).

Replace single-glazed windows with double or triple glazed preferably timber windows.

Deal with any ground-level / drainage issues around the perimeter of the property, including installing French drains and whatnot.

That’ll basically get a place as a good as it can be. Might think about a ventilation system like MVHR if you’re going to go-hard on the draft-proofing.

 

[WelshDadOfThree]

20 inches!! First things first, how did that happen? And (if possible) has it been put right?

Lots of factors caused the flood, we've a beck that runs around the field behind our house which hasnt been cleared in more than 10 years. An oak tree subsided into it, blocking it. An under ground stream runs under our back garden into the beck. When the beck backed up, the stream had no where to go and a fountain appeared out of our back garden. As the house sits lower down then the road, the back garden and every other building in the area, it acted like a bowl and just filled up. Not being on mains seweage meant it had no where to go. We've taken lots of steps for it not to happen again including getting the beck cleared out. Since then barely a puddle on the driveway so we're hoping that keeping on top of maintenance should keep us good. Its the first time any the areas history that its flooded and theres records going back over a hundred years. Fingers crossed its the last.

 

[Lime]

Lots of factors caused the flood, we've a beck that runs around the field behind our house which hasnt been cleared in more than 10 years. An oak tree subsided into it, blocking it. An under ground stream runs under our back garden into the beck. When the beck backed up, the stream had no where to go and a fountain appeared out of our back garden. As the house sits lower down then the road, the back garden and every other building in the area, it acted like a bowl and just filled up. Not being on mains seweage meant it had no where to go. We've taken lots of steps for it not to happen again including getting the beck cleared out. Since then barely a puddle on the driveway so we're hoping that keeping on top of maintenance should keep us good. Its the first time any the areas history that its flooded and theres records going back over a hundred years. Fingers crossed its the last.

Not being on main sewage is/was a blessing IMO.
For many people who are flooded out, the situation is often made considerably worse by sewage.
The main sewage system interconnects properties with one another, cutting through natural obstructions to the flood, which allows the water (mixed with sewage) to back-up and reach a much larger area.