External Insulation on Edwardian house, yes or no?!

[Chocolateporridge]

We have an end terrace Edwardian house which is in need of a facelift. We have been offered external cladding as part of a government scheme, there would be no cost to ourselves. It all sounds really good except we really can't picture how it will look when it's done.
We have some red sandstone detailing to the front of the house around the door and windows and the contractor has gone to a lot of trouble to come up with a solution so that, although the sandstone will be covered over, they will incorporate a red resin around these areas to try to mimic what it looks like now.
Has anyone ever done this? I can't see anything like this on the internet.
I'd love to hear your pros and cons and see photos if you have any!

Yes, there are stunning period properties out there that should be preserved, however not all old houses are beautiful. Most are manky inefficient houses that should be massively renovated or pulled down and replaced with modern housing.
The OP has a solid wall end terrace in a row of poorly maintained houses. Nothing will be lost by insulating it, and the OP will have a better, well at least cheaper and more environmentally friendly, living experience.

Because it depends on the age and construction. Houses generally pre 1920s don’t have cavity walls and they are designed to “breathe”, so by using cement mortars, cement renders, gypsum plaster and plastic paints can limit their ability to lose moisture, therefore causing damp. Many people are finding this and having to undo all these modern practices in order to reduce damp and warm up their house.
If your home is newer/has cavity walls then it’s very different.

So it is already rough cast rather than lovely brick? In that case I would say go for it.

We had our 150 year old house externally insulated a couple of years ago. It is fantastic. So much warmer, plus any mould and condensation issues resolved. Our house was already rendered so the external appearance hasn't changed much.

Had external wall insulation installed over pebbledash rendering on solid cinderblock breezeblock about five years ago. First floor only as are in conservation area. So much warmer and for us, the external wall is now much smarter.
There are various options to mimic external decorative features - you would just need to contact different installers to see what options are available. Very thin brick slips are available to go over EWI to good effect.

They didn’t “design “ them to breathe at all. They just built them with the local materials they had and the building knowledge they had at the time.they didn’t know any better.

solid wall construction was a shit way to build houses all it does is let cold and moisture through from the outside to the inside with nothing to stop it.

Once they figured out a cavity could stop it nobody ever built solid walls again.

I think this is our thinking, although our house isn't stunning it's got some period charm, but it will look so much smarter with the cladding.

@Diyextension whether it was designed or not, there is lots of evidence that retrofitting old properties with modern day materials causes issues such as damp.

They need to be upgraded but in a different way.

@Chocolateporridge its personal taste I think in terms of looking smart. I think it will stand out for the wrong reasons and look poor next to those with proper traditional detailing.

I'd think about resale value. I would not buy a house if it had been done. Looks. Damp etc.

Just because something is free, doesn't mean it's good. There are far better ways to reduce heat loss in an old property.

@Chocolateporridge are none of the neighbors interested in getting it done? Personally I wouldn’t hesitate. People like to wax on about period properties but if they were so great why don’t the builders still build them like that?

Victorian semi here. Next door had external cladding and it all had to be stripped off and re-applied (he used a cowboy firm, I think).

Personally, I wouldn't do it.

But is was redone? What is the result now?

It was redone simply because the wall looked so awful once it was removed. He had the wall tile hung with large grey slates from roof to ground. Not sure if there's cladding on it now of if there's just a framework supporting the slates.

Not enough information to blame the exterior wall insulation. What reason did he give for the removal?
If it’s now hung with slate, there is likely only thinner insulation, or none at all.

two of our neighbours had it done a few years ago (joined semis) it looks 100 times better than the old pebbledash and when i asked about it a while back they sung it's praises. ours are not handsome houses, c1920s.

Those going on about damp and breathability- surely a reputable expert contractor takes all that into consideration?

Could I ask what "thick insulating wallpaper" you've used and if you thought it made any difference?

You'd think so but no. They are contracted to use that product. Even surveyors you need a specialist familiar with older building construction.

It's why so many older properties have issues when retrofitted. Usually the companies that install it blame other issues to try and get out of rectifying it.

I live in an Edwardian semi, makes me giggle childishly to say that. I’m ALL ABOUT preserving as much of the original design features as possible, lots of ours are long gone in previous modernisations, and a few I’ve uncovered myself that were hidden. Some internal stained glass windows, floor tiles covered over with tiles stuck straight on with bitumen, am trying to rescue some fireplace tiles that the previous owners tiled directly onto, but I’ve had to let other things go for practical reasons.

Our semis twin still has all the beautiful exposed brickwork on the lower half, its original windows and arts and craft stained glass, I’m jealous, but know how horribly cold their house gets. Ours is original pebbledash on the top half, now painted, and the bottom has been rendered, we wanted to strip it, but it would have been an impractical nightmare.

I think the installation will improve your day to day lives and think you should go ahead, we don’t live in museums, we have to live comfortably in our homes. My parents generation had to use all these original fireplaces when they were kids and were the ones who first started to modernise these old houses, stripping out and replacing impractical out of date things, sometimes you have to let things go, not everything is worth saving if it’s impractical, and old knackered exteriors are included, just get the cladding. If you go back to footage of houses in the 90s and before, many still had their original windows, and they looked so much better than horrible upvc that’s replaced them, but it’s so much more practical, and in fairness that horse has bolted now, we have already ruined the look of most aging properties for practical solutions, go for it.