Tetalan E

[Pford75]

When considering the paint removal from our house, our architect suggested looking at a product called 'Tetalan E'. This is apparently an external insulation which is covered with a thin layer of 'mesh' ready to take a coat of lime render.

I can't find anything about it online - has anyone else had any previous experience? Keen to consider external insulation (since the kitchen is North facing, single skin wall). Obviously, will also consider internal insulation when we do the kitchen, but any internal space we can save is a bonus. My concerns are around the breathability of this insulation and long term performance.

Any thoughts?

 

[MdB]

We are planning to add external insulation and render to the "new" part of our house and then render over. My understanding is that in typical schemes available, the insulation is Celotex or similar and hence non breathable.

 

[Pford75]

I had the same understanding, but my architect tells me this product is rockwool a breathable layer then covered in a mesh which can then be lime rendered. Anyone know if rockwool is breathable?

 

[AMc]

Rockwool is vapour permeable a.k.a. breathable - obviously not as directly as the existing wall but it should work.
I would also investigate a slightly lower tech mechanism of supporting rockwool and mesh with an external framework.

The Green Building Bibles & the associated Green Building Forum will make for good research. The books are pretty good for not much money - by both volumes.

 

[Penners]

There's a funny thing - I googled "tetalan e" and got no results at all that relate to the product. (Although it's handy to learn in the article "Transformation of a terminal to a bridging carbonyl ligand accompanied by iridium-iridium bond cleavage: an example of transmission of electronic effects from one metal center to another" that teta lanthanide chelates adopt a dodecahedral geometry).

Is it possible that there's a different spelling?

 

[Moo]

Inspired by Mr P's efforts, I too did a bit of googling and found this:

The M-4 6/A Sofam-built main battle cruiser was the mainstay of the Serrll Scout Fleet and a front line presence of the General Assembly's authority. It had a better part of nine tetalans grade C composite armor on top of the four-tetalan thick polymer hull construct. Even without secondary shields, it could withstand several twenty-four millisecond bursts of up to one hundred and twenty-eight TeV at close range. Hopefully, it gave it enough time to get away or press an attack

Excerpt fromShadow Gods Series Book 5: With Shadow and Thunder by Stefan Vucak (Science Fiction)

 

[robgil]

i remember having this product explained to me by a fella that does restoration work , it was a mesh that could be lime rendered and came in rigid sheets , cant for the life of me remember what it was called though.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Not being at all technical about this stuff, I can't help but ponder the wisdom of insulation anyway. Is the idea to protect elderly brickwork from the elements or to keep the carbon footprint down a bit?

A builder friend of mine decided to 'insulate' externally and says his house is now bl***y cold as a result.

I

 

[MdB]

In our case it is the difference between a £500 heating bill and a £1500 heating bill. I am hopeful we will bring down further when we insulate the second half of the house.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh to have a £1500 heating bill.

 

[Feltwell]

"Transformation of a terminal to a bridging carbonyl ligand accompanied by iridium-iridium bond cleavage: an example of transmission of electronic effects from one metal center to another" that teta lanthanide chelates adopt a dodecahedral geometry).

Penners, I think you may have found the first example of cleavage there that most men are not even remotely interested in.

 

[Pford75]

I too had similar Googling experiences...will check the spelling, but I have taken it from the drawings.

Our desire to consider insulation here is threefold.

1. This wing of the house is rather cold and anything which can improve comfort levels/reduce heating bills is welcome
2. External insulation is attractive as we don't want to lose too much room inside the kitchen as it is already a little narrow
3. The existing lime render needs replacing anyway, so it would seem a small marginal effort to add this

 

[Penners]

How thick does this coat of Tetalan E end up being?

I must confess to a strong streak of scepticism* towards any form of insulation that doesn't boast substantial thickness. I just can't see how the science works.






* Try saying that with a mouthful of cornflakes.