Exterier insulation and "obstacles"

John_Cultane

I recently decided to get my house insulated and decided from everything I checked external insulation was the best option. Now the guys are pretty much finished the mounting of the insulation but I am 100% happy with what they have done where there were obstacles. They have cut insulation around the gas meter and they have also cut around the fuse board in the garage.

To my mind that means I'll have two cold bridges which will negate the effectiveness of the job as a whole. The insulation company assure me this has never come up before and isn't an issue.

I was truly expecting them to remove these, place the insulation on and then remount them. One of the other insulation companies said they would do it that way and it makes sense to me. Am I being too picky? It isn't cheap so It isn't really a huge expectation given the cost.

Macha

Hi John,

As I understand it, best practice is for installers to apply a thin layer of insulation around edges and door/window openings etc. to minimise thermal bridging. I assume they have done so with the gas meter and fuse board as well? If not, I would ask them to look at it.

You should also check if the insulation system they use is Agrement certified, which means it will be fully tested to ensure it serves its purpose.

Do they offer any sort of thermal imaging service so that you can ensure the insulation is properly installed? By rights, the agrement system should be a good guarantee.

John_Cultane

No thermal imaging is offered and the system is approved. The problem is really with the installation and my expectations. If certain areas are not covered the heat will go out in those spots is my thinking. Effectively it is like building a boat with holes in it is they way I see it.

Macha

John_Cultane wrote: »

No thermal imaging is offered and the system is approved. The problem is really with the installation and my expectations. If certain areas are not covered the heat will go out in those spots is my thinking. Effectively it is like building a boat with holes in it is they way I see it.

OK, it wouldn't necessarily be standard practice to offer thermal imaging but it is a good sign that the system is approved (well, I would have been v worried if it weren't).

You're right that thermal bridging will happen at certain points however, this does occur with other areas, such as joints with windows and doors, the window & door surface area (depending on the u-values of your windows and doors), vents etc. How much of a problem it will be will depend on the size of the areas in question and the u-value of those areas.

I'm going to check if I can transfer this post over to another forum where you might get a more satisfactory answer.

t

MicktheMan

All these "obstacles" should have been noted during the initial survey of the house by the contractor and gone into detail with you on how they would be overcome. Did this happen? Was the risk of damp/mould on poorly insulated wall sections explained to you (was a condensation risk analysis done?). Did you read the iab cert yourself? Do!

In my experience there are a lot of ewi contractors out there who really do not know how to externally insulate a house properly (or perhaps they do know but dont want to do it properly as it will take longer). As with all energy efficient upgrades, workmanship and knowhow play a huge role. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter if a system has iab certification if the contractor doesn't do it properly.

atech

MicktheMan wrote: »

In my experience there are a lot of ewi contractors out there who really do not know how to externally insulate a house properly (or perhaps they do know but dont want to do it properly as it will take longer). As with all energy efficient upgrades, workmanship and knowhow play a huge role. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter if a system has iab certification if the contractor doesn't do it properly.

+1

I believe this is the reason that in the near future only applicators registered with the NSAI will be allowed to be used if a HES grant is being sought.

Apparantly quite a large % of SEI registered contractors that applied to get on the NSAI list have failed.

It's going to get much more regulated, each team will now need at least 1 person on the build that will have been approved by the NSAI, where as currently its the company thats registered and 1 supervisor for all the teams in that company.

dathi

did they take the soffit off and continue the insulation up behind the fascia think not. as it is not on any of the agrement certs but leaves a huge thermal bridge at the top of the wall.