What would you choose for IWI in this 1860's cottage?

[Claud]

Hi

I'm a secret lurker of this forum but recently joined as I'm hopefully completing my final renovation home after doing a few projects before. I must say its been a great resource so far and I cant wait to dig in a little more. We have an 1860's Norfolk redbrick cottage with solid walls. I have been set on using wood fibre and have read previous threads in here on why its a great product. My biggest reservations is the amount of plastering work I would need to do in the application on wood fibre plus the idea it will become difficult to fix to the external walls.

So I guess my question is if you were to construct a stud wall system on the cold walls how would you go about it? And obviously with a stud system we come back to using plaster board which goes against the whole permeable ethos of woodfibre bonding. If you build a stud would you add a dpm between the wood and brick or would you look to create a gap?

Or any tips on how to tackle this with wood fibre? I'd love to hear what you would do in this situation. I'm a tree inspector and my wife a nurse so we dont have buckets of cash to chuck at this.

It's been a dusty old job removing the wattle and dawb ceilings but its great to slowly make progress on this old house. And yes that lintel looks like they may have widened the window and caused an issue which i'm going to have to fix.

 

[CarolineTheChemist]

One of the many things I’ve learnt along the journey of repairing an old building… the old adage “buy cheap, buy twice” is true for restoration projects. Trying to cut costs by using newer materials often means you end up doing the job twice. This has happened to use a few times now, and one of these was on the IWI of our solid brick walls!

When we first started dealing with the cold walls we attempted a cheap solution with a stud wall and plasterboard combo. It didn’t take long before the plasterboard became soggy and the paper peeled off. Mould started to grow during the cold winter months. Our plasterer came in the spring, took one look at it and said it wouldn’t last. So we had to take the whole lot down and do the job again, but properly this time - base coat of lime plaster directly onto the brick, wood fibre boards, two coats of plaster to finish (we skip the really fine top coat). The building is noticeably warmer and drier. Absolutely zero mould despite having no heating for almost two years now.

My advice is don’t waste time and money on things the building isn’t designed to handle. Nature will have its way sooner or later and sadly has no regard for your budget.

I consider us lucky that the realities of the budget approach presented themselves to us before we’d plastered and decorated.
We have to do things at a v slow pace because of money constraints, but at least this means we can see and fix problems before we have progressed!

 

[Claud]

One of the many things I’ve learnt along the journey of repairing an old building… the old adage “buy cheap, buy twice” is true for restoration projects. Trying to cut costs by using newer materials often means you end up doing the job twice. This has happened to use a few times now, and one of these was on the IWI of our solid brick walls!

When we first started dealing with the cold walls we attempted a cheap solution with a stud wall and plasterboard combo. It didn’t take long before the plasterboard became soggy and the paper peeled off. Mould started to grow during the cold winter months. Our plasterer came in the spring, took one look at it and said it wouldn’t last. So we had to take the whole lot down and do the job again, but properly this time - base coat of lime plaster directly onto the brick, wood fibre boards, two coats of plaster to finish (we skip the really fine top coat). The building is noticeably warmer and drier. Absolutely zero mould despite having no heating for almost two years now.

My advice is don’t waste time and money on things the building isn’t designed to handle. Nature will have its way sooner or later and sadly has no regard for your budget.

I consider us lucky that the realities of the budget approach presented themselves to us before we’d plastered and decorated.
We have to do things at a v slow pace because of money constraints, but at least this means we can see and fix problems before we have progressed!

Thankyou for that. Well in that case. I would be adding a solid thick layer of rough lime scratch coat to level bricks, then wood fibre etc. Now to decide if I go 40mm or 60 mm or even 80mm. I have read here that the thicker you go the greater the chance or moving the dew point?

Is there any tips or lessons you learnt from installing the wood fibre on your beautiful property?

There are also different types of fibre. I've been looking at these 2 and trying to work out which is best for me needs, I like the idea of tongue and groove for a more secured fit.

ISONAT - Multisol 140 - Woodfibre Board

ISONAT - Multisol 140 is a natural render/plaster carrying woodfibre insulation board with a tongue and groove profile manufactured in accordance with EN 13171. Designed both as an external sheathing board for timber frame constructions or for direct to masonry applications in Internal Wall...

www.chalkdownlime.com

Steico Therm Wood Fibre Insulation Board - Shop Online

Elevate your home's comfort and environmental footprint with Steico Therm Wood Fibre Insulation Boards SE, available at Insulation4less.co.uk. Designed for seamless installation, each 1350mm by 600mm board covers 0.81m², ensuring thorough insulation for every corner. With a low thermal...

insulation4less.co.uk