Green Deal External Wall Insulation

Solid walls can be insulated from the outside where a layer of insulation material is fixed to your property’s external walls with mechanical fixings and adhesive. The external wall insulation layer is then covered with protective layers of render or cladding designed to suit you and your home’s style.

The render or cladding finish can be anything from smooth to pebble dashed, therefore, although the insulation is exterior, your house can still look nice.

The external insulation and finish will cover the whole of the exterior of your property, including existing brick work, and so is likely to change its appearance. It is best to be sure you have planning permission to change the buildings appearance before you install external wall insulation.

 

England and Wales, go to the Planning Portal website, 

 

Northern Ireland, go to the Planning Service Website.

 

Scotland, go to the Scottish Building Standards Agency website

 

To prevent condensation, recessed areas around windows must be insulated as well as the walls – with the depth of insulation depending on the width of the window frame.

 

All external pipework and other fittings will have to be removed and replaced, and it may be necessary to extend window sills and even the roof overhang to protrude beyond the new layer.  It is often possible to fit additional sills to avoid replacing any of the original structure.

Cladding or render?

Cladding comes in a variety of attractive colours and forms: timber panels or shingles, stone or clay tiles, aluminium panels or a brick finish.

 

Render can be either a thick sand or cement mix applied over a wire mesh – or thinner, lighter cement over a strong fibre mesh. It is generally less expensive than cladding.

 

Using A DEAL GREENER as an installer

Green Deal external solid wall insulation should be fitted by a specialist installer trained by an approved system designer. At A Deal Greener we have qualified members of staff in our insulation team that are licenced to perform a full installation. That will, achieve the required thermal performance, weather proofing and other requirements. You can find these system suppliers and their approved installers through one of the relevant trade associations:

 

Insulated Render & Cladding Association (INCA).

 

National Insulation Association (NIA).

 

As your installer we are using Energy Saving Trust Recommended insulation, which is tested by independent experts and complies with relevant British Standards.  

Our installer will need full access to your walls from the outside. 

 

What about damp?

External wall insulation, provided it is done properly, will give you a new weather proof layer that will protect you from penetrating damp for years to come, and should deal with any existing penetrating damp problems you may have had due to poor wall finish. The external insulation will also increase the temperature of the internal surface of the wall, making it less likely that you will get condensation problems on your walls.

 

The main damp issue to be avoided with external wall insulation is rising damp. If you already have a problem with this, then it will have to be fixed before the insulation is fitted, otherwise you run the risk of trapping the damp inside the wall structure and so making the problem worse.

 

It is also important to make sure that the new external insulation layer and cladding do not bridge the damp proof layer in the wall. The insulation should start above this; otherwise water may be able to use the insulation to climb above the damp proof membrane, causing rising damp where it wasn't a problem before.

 

An approved installer fitting a recognised external insulation system will ensure that there are no problems with rising damp and that the external surface is fully weatherproof throughout, so you should not see any new damp issues and you may see some benefit if condensation has been a problem in the past.

 

Contact us!

Call 01157012030 or fill in the form to the right for more info about Green Deal external wall insulation, and advice on what is best for you and your property.  

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