Wall Insulation ... Temperatures Rising

This week our Irish farmhouse is in DIY turmoil. Living in a house that requires ongoing renovations in between our normal working lives while rearing two small children is no easy task. Every so often we launch into the next job on a long evolving list, knowing that for the couple of weeks it takes to do the job, family life and home will be in turmoil and covered with a thick coating of dust.

The task in hand is to insulate the walls upstairs. Cue the arrival of a most obliging and helpful Father-in-Law. Yes I do seem to have more than my fair share of wonderful In-Laws, don’t I!

Our house is built from cut stone. In winter the stone loses its heat, especially at the external corners where the wind whips around the edges. The resulting internal cool walls then become coated in condensation at night. This provides the perfect conditions for the growth of a sinister looking black mould. We can cure this by either refraining from breathing at night, or by insulating. We chose the latter, thus temperatures won’t drop low enough to cause condensation on the walls anymore. We did a lot of research into hemp-lime plasters which did look like a great insulation option. In the end our one week tight time constraint dictated we use dry lining cosy board instead. Eco options are not always feasible. First, it takes quite a bit of research to source what your after. Try and find a one stop shop like Ecoshop or Sustainable Ireland with many of the options under one roof. Then it takes a good while to digest all the information you receive and mull over which options suit your house, budget and time constraints. We always try to meet and talk to people who have been living with the various options, and in doing so have met some fantastic characters and made new like minded friends. At first I found it very difficult to abandon some of the eco-options, but unless you are time rich and cash rich, many of these solutions just seem to creep beyond reach. I have come to accept that we can only do what we can, and as long as we have done our research on all the options, favouring the eco options whenever possible, then we are on the right road. I have sought to ease my feelings of guilt about not going for hemp-lime plaster insulation with the fact that we installed solar panels a couple of months ago!

Comments

[Joe]

A really interesting blog. Just wish I updated mine as often as you. I am hoping to get going with some vegetable growing here in Co Roscommon. I have linked to your blog on mine. I will add the Hobby Horse site to my www.shoponlineireland web site in the next day or two.

Good Luck

[Vera]

Hi there,

Congrats on this blog - lots of ideas to keep the kids going. How do you get the time for the updates? Great to read ...

[Rebecca]

Joe,

I just visited and bookmarked The shop on line Ireland link, wish I'd known about it before, saves a lot of time.

[Bogdodo]

How's it going with the cosyboard a year on - we looked at all the options and decided finally that 40mm of polyurethane wasn't too much of an eco-sin, provided we keep it intact for decades.

How was it last winter for keeping you warm and avoiding condensation?