Retro Fitting Wall insulation

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Retro Fitting Wall insulation - type and cost

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Morgenmuffel

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#1569978 11-Jun-2016 13:32

Jase2985:

called and asked them for a quote?

Nope because

A) Last time I called a company they wouldn't give me a quote without seeing the house, (understandable I guess but i really just want a rough idea).

B) Last I had a company round for a quote, I got the hard sell and then repeated follow up calls and even a suggestion of getting finance to pay for stuff.

C) there are bound to be people on here, who have had it done and can give me a rough idea

D) I always feel like I am wasting someones time when i am getting them to come out for a quote, and i may not end up purchasing, which is daft I know.

edit, that sounds grumpy and its not supposed to, i just like to put things in order to explain what i mean, although i have probably over explained

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Morgenmuffel

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#1569981 11-Jun-2016 13:39

As to the other bits

House is 60s or 70s, clad in weatherboard,

DIY is NOT in my DNA, ok I'll rephrase that Good DIY is not in my DNA, My building style is rustic/squatter camp but unsafer

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elpenguino

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#1570023 11-Jun-2016 15:34

Morgenmuffel:
As to the other bits

House is 60s or 70s, clad in weatherboard,

DIY is NOT in my DNA, ok I'll rephrase that Good DIY is not in my DNA, My building style is rustic/squatter camp but unsafer

Haha, sounds like insulation is too good for your place!

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

adw

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#1570087 11-Jun-2016 17:41

We have an old villa, weatherborad exterior, gib interior. Have been insulating walls as we renovate but two things really, really made a difference to the heat.

We tripled the ceiling insulation with the last lot being long rolls that go over the top of all the other insulation and the dwangs so you get all small gaps sorted. (We were told the ceiling was insulated but when we checked it had old 'insil fluff' in it which had blown to the corners of the ceiling. We initially put one layer of batts in but a few years later did this).

We also did under house insulation and were advised by a specialist to make sure to have heavy plastic put on the ground (tied/taped around the piles) as well as the insulation in the dwangs. The result was amazing. We only use a wood burner to heat the main part of the house and had stripped back floors to the lovely rimu - the floors are now still warm in the morning (even though the fire has burnt out) because the cold isn't coming up through the floor and the heat isn't escaping through the roof.

If you haven't tried that I'd really recommend it. Good luck.

JessieB

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#1570098 11-Jun-2016 18:16

If you are planning on staying for a while in your house, then taking the weatherboards off an older house is a good idea, in particular if you can DIY. Invariably you will treat the bottom plate with preservative and apply plenty of borer treatment. New wiring can be put in. Once the insulation is put in place you then cover with building wrap. That can not be done from inside, and is a requirement of the building code to minimise the chance of insulation becoming damp from condensation or a breach of the weatherboards. Invariably your old bottom 3 or so weatherboards will have too much deterioration and will be replaced with treated pine weatherboards, either new ($10/m) or second-hand ($5/m). If DIY then obviously it is more practical to do sections of the house at a time, but then council consent could be a problem. I am not sure how the council would find out if you did not get consent; perhaps when you come to sell, but then you would only do this if you planned not to sell.

mattwnz

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#1570123 11-Jun-2016 18:52

JessieB:

If you are planning on staying for a while in your house, then taking the weatherboards off an older house is a good idea, in particular if you can DIY. Invariably you will treat the bottom plate with preservative and apply plenty of borer treatment. New wiring can be put in. Once the insulation is put in place you then cover with building wrap. That can not be done from inside, and is a requirement of the building code to minimise the chance of insulation becoming damp from condensation or a breach of the weatherboards. Invariably your old bottom 3 or so weatherboards will have too much deterioration and will be replaced with treated pine weatherboards, either new ($10/m) or second-hand ($5/m). If DIY then obviously it is more practical to do sections of the house at a time, but then council consent could be a problem. I am not sure how the council would find out if you did not get consent; perhaps when you come to sell, but then you would only do this if you planned not to sell.

Far less risk to do it on the interior with gib. Especially when replacing weatherbaords , you are dealing with flashings. If you aren't replacing 'like for like' you would also need to do the cladding to the latest standards, which may mean a cavity installing. Then likely all the windows would need to come out and reinstalled, and then you have to redo the interor reveals, and possibly regib anyway. The quickest and easiest way to increase the R values int e house is liekly to insulate teh ceiling with up to R6 and also the floor, especially considering 40% of heat is lost through the roof, and less through the walls.

Also if you are selling, and the buyer ask about insulation, and you hadn't got a consent, but you said the walls have been done recently, you will get questions. Any good building survey company should also pick it up, and compare it with what has been consented at the council, as many now get all the council documents to check for unconsented works. Most buyers are looking at a way to offer you less, so unconsented cahnges. Not to mention insurance risks. YOu ahve a fire, and they found it has been reclad without a consent, insurance comapnies will be trying to look for a way out of not paying.

mattwnz

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#1570125 11-Jun-2016 18:57

timmmay:

elpenguino:

The audit showed a wall that had been done in this way and then had the gib stripped off a few years later. Filling of sections was incomplete and the wall even had a whole segment or 2 missed because of unevenly spaced nogs.

I have it, I've opened up some walls, and yes some sections are missed - 5% perhaps. Missing sections really reduces the effectiveness.

mattwnz:

I had a quote for the foam stuff several years ago, and it was very pricey. Think it was about 5k for two walls in an old part of the house that didn't have wall insulation. Don't think the company is even around now. Far better cost benefit by just doubling the insulation in the ceiling, as long as you don't have a skillion roof. Can't add much else to what others have said, as most is good advice. Some of the pumped in ones can also settle and/or shrink, and as others have said, they can missed cavities. You also need to factor in filling the holes, and probably repainting the exterior.

If however you are removing gib to install insulation, you should check with your council as to whether you need a consent, and may need an inspector to check the insulation before you install the new gib. Even the pumped in stuff may need it, as you can affect the weather tightness (block cavities etc) of the building. Also some foams shouldn't come in contact with plastic, as they can eat into it. All this can affect your insurance too. So good to check that too. Not getting a consent when you needed one can be major problem if you need to resell the house.

Cost me, from memory, $3K for an average sized house about 5 years ago.

That doesn't sound too bad, I think my quote included refilling all the holes and putting the cladding back to how it was, which may have been repainting the exterior. It was also effectively two sides of the house. But there have been articles about the system I had a quote for, and apparently it was shown to shrink overtime and missed parts of the wall., and wasn't shown to be all that effective. I figured it was better to extra insulate the celing and floor, and possibly remove the gib later down the track to insulate the walls.

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timmmay

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#1570132 11-Jun-2016 19:27

If you remove weatherboards you usually have to throw them away and replace, in my experience.

richms

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#1570133 11-Jun-2016 19:29

I know someone once who thought it would be a good idea to carefully remove the gib so you could put it back on when they were getting some plumbing put thru. Everyone else LOLed at them.

Richard rich.ms

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