Sunroom and air tightness testing

Wquirke1234

Hi

I have an extremely cold sunroom with a 13 ft
t and g ceiling so cold that I think it's freezing the rest of the house. There are double timber doors with single pane glass. Would an air tightness test be of benefit, what is typical cost and do they do any remedial work themselves.

Thanks

Ps did thermal imaging a few years ago but didn't show anything significant

Wartburg

Wquirke1234 wrote: »

Hi

I have an extremely cold sunroom with a 13 ft
t and g ceiling so cold that I think it's freezing the rest of the house. There are double timber doors with single pane glass. Would an air tightness test be of benefit, what is typical cost and do they do any remedial work themselves.

Thanks

Ps did thermal imaging a few years ago but didn't show anything significant

A qualified air tightness tester will might do a recommendation but does not cover the required work itself. Otherwise it would be a jack-of-all-trades, without the detailled knowledge you need.
Coming from my own experience, you have a noticable air infiltration through the t&g ceiling, unless she´s covered completely with a membrane underneath. Furthermore the junctions between the single windows are causing a terrible thermal bridging and bottom of the windows, where they meet the wall, too. What the most people complete underestimate is the fact, that your exterior gable wall of the main building turns into an interior wall at the junction between your sunroom and the adjoining room. There is plenty of cold transfered into your house just because of this detail.
My honest advice: save the money for the testing and invest it instead, to seal your double room door. Keep the sun room mostly locked during the winter.

BryanF

Wquirke1234 wrote: »

Hi

I have an extremely cold sunroom with a 13 ft
t and g ceiling so cold that I think it's freezing the rest of the house. There are double timber doors with single pane glass. Would an air tightness test be of benefit, what is typical cost and do they do any remedial work themselves.

Thanks

Ps did thermal imaging a few years ago but didn't show anything significant

As the title suggests. It’s a sun room, use it between April & oct after that use it as a winter garden

Edit: not sure why heat loss survey or air-tightness test is required. Calculate the m2 glazing and when ur was installed and we’ll be able to comment further

Wquirke1234

Thanks. Built in 2007. Its about 20x15 ft. Double glazing windows. The rubber seals in the windows have gone a few times since then, there and all over the house.

Wquirke1234

Thanks for your reply. My wife wants to get pvc doors there because of the expense of completing renovating the room. Id be ok with that if they looked ok and guaranteed to minimise cold transfer to the rest of the house.

Wquirke1234

What the most people complete underestimate is the fact, that your exterior gable wall of the main building turns into an interior wall at the junction between your sunroom and the adjoining room. There is plenty of cold transfered into your house just because of this detail.

Would the pvc doors stop this?????

Wartburg

Wquirke1234 wrote: »

What the most people complete underestimate is the fact, that your exterior gable wall of the main building turns into an interior wall at the junction between your sunroom and the adjoining room. There is plenty of cold transfered into your house just because of this detail.

Would the pvc doors stop this?????

A uPVC door will definitely seal your existing house against the cold, coming from the sun room better than the existing standard door. Just make sure that you have the surrounding gap of minimum 10mm around the door frame, properly insulated as well.

Wquirke1234

Wartburg wrote: »

A uPVC door will definitely seal your existing house against the cold, coming from the sun room better than the existing standard door. Just make sure that you have the surrounding gap of minimum 10mm around the door frame, properly insulated as well.

With expanding foam/board/air tightness membrane?
Sorry im clueless with all this?

MicktheMan

BryanF wrote: »

As the title suggests. It’s a sun room, use it between April & oct after that use it as a winter garden

This^^^^^ assuming the space can be sealed off during the heating season.

OR

replace the timber t&g ceiling with an air tightened alternative AND replace all the windows with passive certified units airtightened to the surrounding blockwork.

Wquirke1234

MicktheMan wrote: »

This^^^^^ assuming the space can be sealed off during the heating season.

OR

replace the timber t&g ceiling with an air tightened alternative AND replace all the windows with passive certified units airtightened to the surrounding blockwork.

Sorry Mick the man, what was the first point

MicktheMan

The arrows (^^^^^^) are pointing to the quoted text by Bryan_F i.e. I am agreeing with what is being quoted but also adding extra information.

Wartburg

Wquirke1234 wrote: »

With expanding foam/board/air tightness membrane?
Sorry im clueless with all this?

I would use a self-expanding gap filling foam tape to seal arround the door frame, by assuming that your opening is pretty straight. The french door between your house and the sun room will cost you maximum 2k, whilst all suggested upgrades of your sun room will probably hit a five-figure number.
If you require additional living space, you should invest into better insulation and air tightness for the sun room. If you have enough space already, create a sealed barrier between your house and your sun room and use the sun room as recommended by BryanF.

Wquirke1234

Wartburg wrote: »

I would use a self-expanding gap filling foam tape to seal arround the door frame, by assuming that your opening is pretty straight. The french door between your house and the sun room will cost you maximum 2k, whilst all suggested upgrades of your sun room will probably hit a five-figure number.
If you require additional living space, you should invest into better insulation and air tightness for the sun room. If you have enough space already, create a sealed barrier between your house and your sun room and use the sun room as recommended by BryanF.

Thanks Wartburg