SOS: DIY on little or no budget

RubberChicken

Hi all,

I have a friend who is in a difficult situation. She has a small old house that has no insulation in the attic and old drafty single glazed windows. One of these windows even has holes around the frame. She is saving as fast as she can to afford the attic insulation and replacement windows, but in the meantime she is shivering and wearing several layers of clothes in bed.

Here's the question: What can she do with little to no money to insulate some of her house? Does anyone have any handy recycling ideas? Keeping in mind that this is a temporary measure.

kadman

Window frame holes can be filled cheaply with expanding foam between the frame and blockwork/stone ect.

Duct tape heavy guage polythene around the inside of the window frames, to temporarily seal out any draughts from poor fitting sashes. You could also seal with mastic any gaps in sashes/poor glazed frames.

Where abouts are you located, maybe some folks here could help you out with surplus insulation , left over from selfbuilds ect

kadman

RubberChicken

North Cork area - she or I could pick up any freebees or cheapys, much appreciated!

She does have a couple of friends who are lined up to do the work for her, just not in a position to pay much for anything at the mo.

Sent her the link to this thread, so she'll be reading along with us.

Thanks for the help!

JohnBoy

fill any of the gaps around the windows with mastic as said and tape the joints or something to eliminate the draughts.

then start buying the wool roll by roll if needs be. insulate over the bedroom first, and work around the house. it'll cost slightly more to buy the wool this way as opposed to in a batch, but it will definitely help even to have one or 2 rooms done

John Mason

there are some great websites around, where you can ask for item or people advertise them - its all free but you will have to pick them up. i have got loads of things from plasterboard, fencing, bags of skim etc. i am not sure if i can advertise the names here but if you want to pm me, i will be happy to pass them on

I believe that grants are available to insulate houses from local councils.

Worth checking!

djmc

I heard that bubble wrap that is used in packaging makes very good insulation for windows if you dont need to look through them bathrooms etc
they will still allow light through
A kind of like double glasing and can be always be taken off when weather gets warmer

Stoner

she could keep her eye on www.jumbletown.ie in the DIY section for free stuff