Here is my problem: I have an old house - nearly 100 years old - that I need to insulate but I have a few problems and concerns I need to deal with. The walls are essentially stone and an old kind on solid cement block.
I’ve been looking into the insulation solutions available in my market and it is basically a matter of gluing thick boards of styrofoam-like material to the walls.
On the outwalls this is not feaseable as the house faces a road with no sidewalk, so I’d be encroaching onto the road. Inside, adding 5cm of insulation would make small rooms smaller to the point some would be, for all practical purposes, rendered into generous pantries.
Because I live in a somewhat rural area, mice and rodents are a concern, so adding materials they can chew through makes no sense. It would be like supplying an easy to move through medium to run the entire house. I have seen houses and buildings with this kind of insulation chewed into, the moment the smallest of pieces of the hard plaster gets cracked, which is very easy. The added fire hazard is a concern as well, I’ll admit.
I’ve already seen cork insulation but the base color is always brown and does not deal well with being painted on.
What other options may I look into? I’m in southern Europe but in an area with harsh winters.
Cork insulation would usually be skimmed over with plaster. You could have a look at insulatiing plaster too, but I think that needs to be thicker than cork to work well. Less munchable by critters though.
In an old building, you need to use breathable insulation, breathable plaster, and breathable paint (and breathable mortar, if you’re repointing the outside). The moisture needs an escape route.
You could put lining paper over the cork, so you have a paintable surface.
My flat has plaster render over brick for internal walls (external walls are lath & plaster).
My hallway has a styrofoam backed wallpaper. It gets damaged SO easily, and I haven’t found a decent way to repair it. I presume at some point, I just need to repaper it.
I think cork is a bit hardier than styrofoam, but just a heads up for high traffic areasPerhaps not the same but I own a 150 year old home in America and I had foam insulation blown in. The insulation it provided was minor but what it helped tremendously with was drafts and air exchange. On older homes air leaks and sealing any cracks and drafts can potentially save you more money than adding actual insulation depending on how leaky it is. Food for thought though it might not help you.
It might be helpful to know what kind of walls you have. What is the material, do they have space that can be filled with insulation material?
Stone. No gaps I can take advantage of.
I don’t really know of a way that you can add insulation without taking up interior space, exterior space, or replacing the wall with more modern materials.
- What about the sides of the home not facing the street? Can you add an exterior layer of insulation and then new exterior siding to those walls?
- On the side facing the street, you could replace the stone wall with a different type of wall that was more thermally resistant. This would of course be a major undertaking.
- I am sure you have considered fully insulating the floor and ceiling as best you can.
- If rodents and or insects are a concern, look into Mineral Wool/Rockwool Insulation.
