How to insulate an Edwardian House properly

[RoseAddict]

We have a drafty Edwardian end of terrace which is hard to heat. We tend to rely heavily on a log burner which we love but the more we read about it the more we realise we must make some changes and use it less. Last year we tried using the central heating more but we can’t really afford it, the house never gets very warm without the log burner on and this year the gas situation is frankly terrifying.

The loft is insulated a bit with that awful glass fibre stuff. There’s about 10cm in there with boards over it and loads of stuff I’m storing for a family member.

We have an original front door which we have worked on draft proofing but os basically still very drafty.

We have double glazing which is ok- last year we replaced the worst offending windows that were very badly fitting and didn’t close properly.

The wall on the detached side gets very cold. The cupboard under the stairs blows a gale in to the hall.

We are trying to think where to start. We don’t have loads of money to spare but could borrow if it were really going to make a difference.

We need to replace the downstairs floors, should we do underfloor insulation? Should we insist family member takes back the stuff from the loft and then triple the insulation up there? Should we look into external wall insulation (probably too ££ and problematic but we want to look at all options).

We could spend a couple of K right off or save up or borrow to do a bigger job if we really feel it’s worth doing.

We are not in a conservation area so have a reasonable amount of freedom wrt external insulation etc. House is currently pebbledashed so to take that off and insulate the outside wouldn’t be as sacrilegious as if we had pristine red bricks.

Or we could move! Would rather not move though

Agree I’d do loft insulation and loft hatch first- including ventilation otherwise you’re prone to get mould in the bathroom. Loft insulation can be a DIY job. I did my loft hatch by getting the joiner to make a rectangular open box around the hatch in the loft with a lift up separate lid with insulation on top and handles on the underside to lift up when going into the loft.

Underfloor insulation will take longer to get quotes for depending on trades around where you live.

@Bobsyer congrats on the house! I’d love to see that document if you find it

You probably have solid walls like ours dk no cavity wall I sulation. We have put insulation plaster board on the outside walls in each room as we have gone along. You put it on the inside of the wall and plaster over the top. It is relatively cheap to do and has made a big difference in the rooms now done.

@flapjackfairy yes I’ve been reluctant to do that just because the skirtings, walls and cornicing etc are the one thing that are ok in this house. Also been reluctant to do exterior as I love the old bricks and although we have pebbledash at the front lots of houses round here have had theirs removed and restored. But I think we need to be pragmatic and choose one or other option at some stage.

@SallyLockheart yes we will try and do a DIY job on the loft and I love the insulated loft hatch you described. If you get a chance to post a photo that would be amazing. We need a carpenter to do another job so maybe we can do something similar. You are right there will be await to find someone to do underfloor insulation we are in London

Ignore all the typos I’m writing fast on phone while supervising DS homework

I hear what you are saying. In fact we have not done downstairs rooms because of that issue but we dont have coving in the bedrooms so they have been done and it has really helped. I wouldn't rip out original features either.

When the inside wall insulation went in at my place, yes, on that wall we did have to get replica skirting and coving. Now that it's all done, you would never know though. The replicas are very good and once painted you'd never know

Has anyone who’s externally insulated their house give me an idea of price? Also have an Edwardian/Victorian house with no cavity wall. I can’t cope with the upheaval of internal.

Already got loads of loft insulation, double glazing and a composite front door. Loft hatch is a good idea. When people say loft ventilation do you mean one of those systems that circulates the air from the loft to the house? Doesn’t that ventilation make heating worse?

One of our issues is damp. I have to have the thermostat up one degree more than I’d ideally like otherwise we get terrible mould in the front room and bedrooms….on the external walls. Would external insulation help with this it make it worse?

We’re a red brick semi….is it going to look shit if we have it done and next door don’t?

I'd really recommend the book Old House Eco Handbook - lots of useful info and how to's for old houses Inc insulation that lets the house breathe properly etc.

How old is your boiler/radiators?

Have you got an escutcheon over both sides of the keyhole on the front door? A small thing but that plus brushes on the letterbox made a big difference to our very draughty front door

EWI varies a bit depending on number of windows etc to go around any any special features to reinstate. We had EWI installed about 4 years ago and it cost £16k including scaffold, replica stone sills and replica Tudor boarding at a gable end (live in a conservation area, hence putting it back to prior facade). Covered about 120/130 square meters of wall to give some context

'Under carpet foil insulation', is cheap and easy to install (unlike under floor insulation). And obviously you'd top that with the best underlay that you could afford, and wool carpets are more unsulating than polyester.

You can buy bespoke ready insulated loft hatches online.

Where you have mould, that sounds like condensation to some extent. Do you have furniture close to external walls - if so, try moving it out from the wall a bit.

You can check if your house has an EPC here. Our one says EWI would make the biggest difference, then getting solar power (obviously that doesn't make the house warmer). If you have internal wall insulation you need to make sure you have no damp issues whereas EWI can help apparently.

@CovidCorvid by loft ventilation I personally just meant leaving some space by the eaves without insulation so it gets a draft through the loft space. Not an air circulation system

I really wouldn't externally insulate. It looks naff plus old houses are designed to breathe.

You can get your door draft stripped which should help.

Historic England have guidance on energy saving for old houses.

Loft insulation should make a huge difference to start with.

Our front door is original but we had the glass within the door and surround replaced with newer, tougher glass which made a difference straightaway. When we had the security of the door improved by having extra wood batons fixed to the frame on the outside, that reduced any draft coming in around the outside. We've kept all our original windows (a mixture of casement and sash) but had them overhauled and glass replaced which has helped with noise and heat insulation. We all wear socks and slippers inside but during cold weather, will heat the living room - the only downstairs room that has carpet - but not the rest of the house. We really need to sort out a new roof but that hasn't happened yet!

@SallyLockheart

Where you have mould, that sounds like condensation to some extent. Do you have furniture close to external walls - if so, try moving it out from the wall a bit.

The mould I have isn’t behind furniture. Though I do get some inside the fitted wardrobe but that has improved when we insulated inside the fitted wardrobe/onto the external wall.

But we get mould on the inside of the living room curtains. And mould on the bedroom external wall nowhere near any furniture. I blame dh for breathing too much. We have a dehumidifier running 24/7. I can’t have the bedroom window open at night in the winter but I do open it for an hour or so before I go to work. But can’t leave it open all day as the house would be freezing and it’s cold enough in winter.

@JaninaDuszejko I found the EPC thanks I had no idea there were recommendations on it! When we bought this house we were so desperate due to rising prices that I didn’t really pay attention to any of the details.

The EPC says

1. Wall insulation
2. Under floor insulation
3. Draft proofing

Then a bunch of stuff we’ve already done like low energy light bulbs and replace old windows etc

@SE13Mummy yeah slippers are a must! I lived in an arctic parka and ugh boots full time the first year we were here but we have improved things somewhat since then so now I’m down to three layers of woollens and sheepskin slippers.

We have got the stained glass in a double glazed unit but think we can still work on other bits of it. We don’t have an escutcheon will do that!

@CovidCorvid damp is so awful isn’t it. I’ve lived in various places with dreadful damp problems and it has made me very hesitant about installing insulation here as we have no damp issues at all

This is the plan:

1. Insulated air tight loft hatch
2. Take all the stuff out of the loft and increase the insulation
3. Get quote for under floor insulation and new flooring

As for EWI being naff, I’m finding being cold is pretty bloody naff now! I do love the bricks but they are all covered in pebbledash from the 1970s so would take a lot of work and money to restore anyway

We swapped off white pebbledash for off white EWI so no, I don’t think it is naff., EWI is superior as you avoid thermal breaks by doing a whole wall. From a purely financial perspective, it’s a very long payback but so much warmer. 😀

Re breathability, we had solid cinder breeze blocks with no cavity so they didn’t breathe anyway!

We won external wall insulation from our council as part of the green deal in 2015! I think it would have cost 6-7 thousand. We don't live there any more. It made a big difference but we were mid terrace so it was just front and back. We also put in new windows and front door.

I really miss how cosy that little house was!

Do people think there will be grants again for doing this sort of thing?