Kevin McCloud webchat - Monday 20th June - 1 - 2 pm

[RachelMumsnet]

He's been at the top of our webchat wish list for too long, so we're v excited to announce that we'll be joined next Monday (20th June) by Kevin McCloud who'll be answering your questions between 1 and 2 pm.

Designer, property developer, writer, eco-campaigner and television presenter, Kevin is best known for the Channel 4 series, Grand Designs. Kevin has a strong interest in sustainable building and his company Hab Housing's core aim is to construct beautiful, environmentally friendly housing. He's joining us in his role as ambassador for the Great British Refurb Campaign, which is committed to rallying the Government and business to help make every home in Britain as energy efficient as possible. The campaign is supported by Knauf Insulation, which has provided all the insulation products used in the campaign's eco-refurbishments to date.

Kevin is happy to answer questions on how you can green-up your home and eco-home design as well as chatting about his life as a campaigner, designer and broadcaster. So whilst we try to spruce up MNHQ, you put the date in your diaries to join us on the 20th. If you're not around at 1pm, please send your questions to Kevin in advance to this thread.

Hullo right back!

@GentleOtter

Hello and welcome, Kevin,

Is there such a products as paint on insulation?

And can brazenly ask for a kiss as it is my birthday on the 20th?

Thank you

Hello GentleOtter Many happy returns! Sort of, but not sure I'd advise them. There are products available that are marketed as insulated paint however the improvement they offer in terms of heat- and money-saving when applied to an un-insulated wall is extremely small. Generally speaking the thicker the insulation the better, so a layer of paint isn't going to do very much. I'm sure you already have but better to think about insulating the wall itself - simple roadmap. If you have cavity walls, fill them, if not, get an expert round to look at your solid walls as you may be able to insulate them inside or out. But, and its a big but, if you have an old building without a damp-proof course, be extremely cautious. X

LOL at Monsieur Bastard, I had forgotten about him.

Hello Kevin

@GentleOtter

How can you properly insulate a loft which is hoaching with bats?

Bats take presedence over human beings as residents of a building. My solution (forced on me by my ecological survey) was to build a bat loft within the roof space. It had separate entrances for different species of bat, it's lined with sarking board so they can hang and it has a heated reptile mat for long eared bats to reproduce. The pilates room is going in next week! The bat loft has a floor covered in building paper which can be collected up once a year with the droppings and the whole structure is suspended above the ceiling of the rooms below, allowing a 300mm void which is insulated with Earthwool Ecose loft roll

@Indith

I love Kevin. I adore that he speaks different languages too and makes an effort with those that he doesn't speak, it is so, so refreshing to see that on television. I always come over all of a flutter when he is in France or Italy and chatting away.

A question, what can you do to insulate a loft conversion? Our loft bedroom is a fairly normal loft conversion with run around storage. It is freezing, absolutely freezing in winter and of course boiling hot in summer. What can be done (cheaply!) to make it a usable space?

Hi Indith , don't sneeze all over your laptop, if I were with you, I'd lend you my hanky.

If the ceiling to the roof has been finished off with plasterboard then unfortunately the only way of providing an efficient insulation solution is to take down the plasterboard, and then insulate. The roof construction itself will dictate how best to do that, maybe installing glass mineral wool between the rafters and then underling the rafters with a thermal laminate board. Or you could look at a multi-foil insulation which can fit in very small spaces. In summer, make sure you think about the ventilation you'll need - this could be as simple as opening windows on opposite sides of the building to make the air flow better. So I'm sorry but in all likelihood for a balmy year-round loft conversion you'll probably need to do some remedial work on the interiors as well.

Hi Kevin, DP and I watched 3 episodes of GD back to back just this Saturday evening. That's how much we like it.. although the guy who tastelessly wrecked the ancient barns in Suffolk was absolutely horrid, and I really felt for his poor wife who didn't seem to get a say in anything.

Anyway, we were wondering, how many projects do you work on at one time?

And if you branch out into smaller projects, DP would like you to know that he is about to paint his all-white apartment in daring shades of colour. He would be happy to show you round Thanks

@outnumbered2to1

I absolutely love Grand Designs and in fact was enjoying a discussion about the best ones today at a family birthday party. (Ben's house in the woods was voted the best with the tyre house in france a close second and the castle in Italy third). I have to ask though which is your favourite of all the builds?

(oh dear god - i am now public banning myself OFF my laptop on Monday as it is certain i will make an arse of myself by declaring undying love and the desire to have his babies)

My favourite is Ben Law in the woods. Why? because it was a film about a more sustainable way of life which mentioned the 's' word only once. And nothing went wrong. I'm a big fan of those projects where nothing goes wrong because building is hard enough anyway and always requires a degree of compromise. Problems just increase the number and degree of compromises. I'm just interested in projects that are exemplary and beautiful.

Can I just add, there is no way that you can get pregnant from taking part in this webinar.

Thank you.

Can you recommend companies that use disabled friendly equipment. Such as kitchens and wardrobes aimed at wheelchair users? Do you have any tips for wheelchair users and storage systems? Thanks. We love your shows.

@SoloIsAHotCougar

Oooh! another GD's fan here!

I have not had my loft insulated because I have no storage space as it is, so to lose the loft as well...? no!! I also have passed on cavity wall insulation and incidentally, my Mum's house has never been colder since she had her's done and she's had cold/flu over and over since then. Coincidence?

I was wondering about the possibility in the future of having a third bedroom put on top of my single storey extension, but instead of a brick/block structure, I was thinking of a conservatory type of thing. Not sure if that would be environmentally more friendly than the traditional type and whether I'd end up freezing cold/boiling hot in the weather extremes. What are your thoughts please?

Hello SololsAHotCougar, this is the problem I've encountered on our housing scheme in Swindon. There, we are raising the height of the ceiling joists in the loft with a second layer of timber to accomodate the deeper insulation and then boarding out on top if that. An alternative would be to sling some timbers across the trusses and board out that area. You could add 270mm of glass mineral wool (100m between the joists and then 170mm laid at a right angle to the 1st layer), this can be done in conjunction with laying an extruded polystyrene boards such as Space Board around the loft hatch area and then laying chipboard on top of them. Or you can look down a natural materials route, like hemp or sheeps wool. Deeper joists would gives you an insulated loft space and a rigid secure platform to store your Christmas tree. But do run your idea past an engineer or surveyor to make sure you aren't overloading your roof structure. And make sure you leave room at the edges of the roof to let it breathe.

Hello Kevin,

If you had to choose your own ultimate pad, would it be a) restored old house (e.g. Victorian/Georgian/older) b) barn / industrial building conversion c) brand new house of your own design? Would it have contemporary or antique furnishings, and where would it be?

Thanks

Follow-up question; have you ever wanted to weep because of what some idiot has done to a perfectly lovely building?

Oooh! just logged in et voila! one of my question just answered!
Thank you very much Kevin!

@DiNammic

Bonjour Kevin! are you sponsored by North face

If only. I have about four North Face jackets and I've had to buy every one at full price. A rival of North Face did offer me some clothing a few months ago from there summer range. What good to me is that? I need insulation.

Thank you Kevin.

@kittykitty

AIBU to be every so slightly irritated by these government campaigns (whilst still loving Kevin obvs) They always seem to suggest we're all mad not to want to insulate our homes and make them more energy efficient, but they don't seem to take into account how incredibly expensive it can be. I'd love not to have the wind whistling through our Victorian terraced house, but I simply don't have the £2k it costs to replace each individual wooden sash window. Maybe if there were more grants available, they'd get more people signing up.

This is very simple. The Green Deal (intended for launch Autumn 2012) is not yet even about devising the strategies for insulating our housing stock, right now it's about the funding mechanism so that homeowners do not pay anything upfront against the cost of eco refurbishing. If it works - and it could be the single most significant piece of legislation to green our homes - you will end up with a much higher performing home, a better internal air quality and cheaper energy bills. Essentially, it's a mechanism whereby your energy company or an investment company covers the cost and you invisibly repay them through your energy bill (which will still be cheaper!)

@herhonesty

Dear Kevin please settle a real hot topic on MN for us. is it worth paying the extra for premium paints (F&B, Fired earth, Little greene) or just as good getting the colour matched and saving the money....

You simply get what you pay for. Generally speaking the more expensive the paint the more binder and the more pigment there is in it. Meaning that it will cover more, faster and to a better finish. But don't my word for it since I'm biased, ask any decorator.

Kevin, do you think these companies offering solar panels which you have to pay for but you get cheaper energy bills and fit payments are worth it?

[quote Zizo]Hi Kevin,
Secondary double glazing for older properties, cheaper, flexible, far more aesthetic, no loss of original fabric, reversible, and draft proof, so why is this not being promoted instead of Upvc replacement glazing? Who are the best suppliers? Is this a gap in the low carbon/heritage market? Discusswww.mumsnet.com/te/1.gif

Thanks Kevin.
Keep up the good work and I'll talk lime mortar with you next time! www.mumsnet.com/te/4.gif[/quote]

I?m not promoting UPVC glazing! I?m a fan of shutters, a fan of curtains. I?ve built some timber shutters and some work by Max Fordham engineers has shown that they can be as energy efficient as double glazing. What I?m looking at now is how we could build shutters from double glazing itself (this is a technique that is being trialled at the HQ of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings). Great.

GentleOtter, you got a kiss.

This is like Justin Bieber-mania for, ahem, the maturer lady.

@iklboo

Do you deliberately pick 'eco' house builds because you know they'll go three trillion quid over budget?

Both our super-eco projects actually didn't go over budget - Ben's house in the woods, and Kelly and Masako's hexagonal house were built to very tight and small budgets. Of course a lot of people do go over budget because it is only human to want the very best for yourself and your family. Three trillion happens to be the cost of implementing the IPCC's (global climate body) carbon targets so it would be a bit over the top for a self-build.

You are trying to wind me up aren't you?

I did indeed, Bup and will forever boast never wash again.

@FannyFifer

Big grand designs fan here. :-) Remember the house where they built a swimming pool right in the middle of it, was so dark and dingy and just seemed sooooo wrong. How do you manage to stay so diplomatic about it all. Liked your programme that was in India and u were staying in the slum, really interesting. Did you honestly stay all night in the rat house, and what I really want to know is where you went to the loo??

Do you really want to know? There was a communal loo (of sorts) outside the house. Luckily and miraculously my stomach was fine the entire time I was in the slum. I did get a chest infection however, from the pollution. As to the rats, finding them in my trousers at 2.30am was the last straw. I spent three nights sleeping in two different homes in the slum (Dharavi) by which time I'd sleep a total of about 45 minutes. It was back to the hotel after that.

As to staying diplomatic, dealing with self-builders is fairly straightforward to dealing with a film crew which demands the patience of Job.

@Sophie31

Hello Kevin, I live in a large Victorian property, but it costs a fortune to heat. I'd like to get solid wall insulation installed but I don't want to risk destroying all of the beautiful internal features. Is there anything I can do so that they remain in-tact?

Hello Sophie31 and Svengass - I?ll answer these together as they?re similar-ish subjects. You need to be very careful ? about applying any insulation to historic buildings which is not breathable and which doesn?t create cavities in the wall in which condensation and mould can form. The way old buildings work can be quite complex and walls usually need to breathe. Right now there is a lot research going into how old buildings work and this will be published over the next couple of years, hopefully through the government. This is something the Great British Refurb is very keen to drive forward research on. So hang on for now. Meantime, you could consider sealing your attic trap door, secondary glazing, and draught-proofing measures; all of which can make a big difference. Housing associations like Gentoo are experimenting with historic buildings and you could check out their websites. But I?d be cautious if you want to avoid storing up damp and mould problems. If you live in a terrace then insulating the front and back walls on your first floor, internally, is going to be less controversial than the ground floor. But whatever you do, use a breathable insulation method like mineral fibre in a stud frame. You might consider external wall insulation which can be applied to the outside face of your property?s walls - either to the complete building or individual elevations ? whatever is most suitable. However, do bear in mind that if the property is listed or in a conservation area you may find you are unable to make any changes to the façade. In this instance, a hybrid system which combines both internal and external wall insulation would be worth exploring as it offers you the flexibility to adapt your approach to the project on a room by room basis. But again if you are going to go down this adventurous route do engage the services of a surveyor or conservation architect.