It's becoming an increasingly important part of my brand (TM) that I talk about damp in any given situation. So I would like to add to your point about Just Stop Oil by saying the Insulate Britain lot are also misguided. Having spent a small fortune having soaking wet cavity wall insulation removed from our Victorian house, and having spent more time than is healthy reading about old properties and the myth of rising damp, I can say that insulation is often a TERRIBLE idea. If we really wanted to sort out our leaky housing stock, we'd be better off knocking it down and starting again. Because old houses need to breathe and packing them with man-made fibres is not the solution people seem to think is.
As James rightly points out though, there is complexity in everything. The key points I took away from that linked article are that unsuitable insulation was used and poor workmanship was employed:
"In October, the BBC told the story of 84-year-old Tormuja Khatun from Luton whose house with unsuitable solid wall insulation had mushrooms growing on the walls and dry rot feeding off the floor joists."
"Not long after this BBC report, the government ordered an audit by the independent organisation Trustmark of more than 1,000 properties that have had solid wall insulation. It found that in half of the homes audited the work had not been done to the required standard."
It's the same problems that blight heat-pump installations, unfairly earning them a bad reputation.
But this is my point – "Insulate Britain" sounds great in theory, but insulating pre 1930s properties is a minefield and not at all simple. Certainly not simple enough for local councils to encourage everyone to take up some mass insulation scheme. That video you shared doesn't feel like a counter a contrarian opinion, it feels like a vindication! Where are we going to get enough knowledgeable people like this willing to go to these lengths to insulate a pre-war house? We're far more likely to end up with mushrooms on the walls than not.
In the spirit of acknowledging complexity (and out of genuine interest)... what are the non-insulation solutions here that *don't* involve knocking down Britain's housing stock and starting again?
Uh-oh, you asked a dangerous question because I will not be able to help myself. I am inevitably going to answer at length whilst also admitting that this is a tricky one to answer (not least because I am very far from being an expert!) The TL:DR is It's complicated and I am still not fully satisfied anyone has all the answers.
CORK
When we removed the sopping wet cavity insulation and the cement render from our back wall, we installed cork insulation externally before lime plastering. BUT 1. "breathable" is a controversial term, since water might be able to escape as a gas, but it doesn't mean it can escape as a liquid. 2. there's every chance we've simply created more pockets of condensation because the house isn't insulated all around. The lime plasterers promised me it would be ok, but who knows?
Rockwool is basically glass and glass sweats. Also, as I understand it, you shouldn't really insulate a loft if you're not also insulating any sloped ceilings. A lot of old houses have these skielings and they create potential pockets of condensation for damp to form.
There is also often airflow issues thanks to roof membranes that don't breathe and cause insulated lofts to create a microclimate where it basically rains inside on certain days.
If you watch the beginning of that video you'll see Charlie explain the major problems with non-breathable Kingspan/Celotex type solutions.
You'll also see the time he spends getting it fitted and I don't believe we don't have enough decent builders in this country to do this level of work.
AND FINALLY
The alternative solutions are, of course, to
1. get used to living in a colder house and wear a lot of thermal layers and wool (like I do), be better at airing old houses to dry them out (for some reason Europeans understand Stoßlüften but we do not). This is unlikely to happen because people seem to expect their houses to be 20 degrees the big jessies (she said, while wrapped in an electric throw wearing a woolie hat)
2. make energy so cheap and efficient that we can get away with wasting it (although that inevitably leads to more issues about us heating the skies above our leaking properties.
So that's it! Despite not being an expert you'll see I'm very happy to wiffle on about it. I'd be prefer to give the floor to a genuine expert but most of them are too busy going round old houses to fix the problems caused by damp-proofing companies.
I have to agree that it really is a minefield and you have to do your research. Which shouldn't be the case - we should be able to trust the "experts", but I subscribe to the old adage that "if you want a job done properly, do it yourself"! So I've been doing large amounts of research on timber-frame structures (of which my house is one) in order to prepare for an extension and renovation in the next couple of years.
I hope you have more success with the cork than you did with the previous installation. I guess you were "lucky" in that you could remove the old insulation, but I can only imagine what an unpleasant experience it must be to go through such a debacle.
Excellent article. I used to be a big fan of Robin’s but sadly he has evolved into a self righteous prick, unable to see he might be wrong about anything. As for JSO, like you say James, they are turning more people against their arguments than for.
It's becoming an increasingly important part of my brand (TM) that I talk about damp in any given situation. So I would like to add to your point about Just Stop Oil by saying the Insulate Britain lot are also misguided. Having spent a small fortune having soaking wet cavity wall insulation removed from our Victorian house, and having spent more time than is healthy reading about old properties and the myth of rising damp, I can say that insulation is often a TERRIBLE idea. If we really wanted to sort out our leaky housing stock, we'd be better off knocking it down and starting again. Because old houses need to breathe and packing them with man-made fibres is not the solution people seem to think is.
This is an enjoyably contrarian opinion! I had no idea, and was one of the insulation-is-good sheeple!
Here is just one recent story about the terrible consequences of insulating old housing stock. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c203rnepzexo
As James rightly points out though, there is complexity in everything. The key points I took away from that linked article are that unsuitable insulation was used and poor workmanship was employed:
"In October, the BBC told the story of 84-year-old Tormuja Khatun from Luton whose house with unsuitable solid wall insulation had mushrooms growing on the walls and dry rot feeding off the floor joists."
"Not long after this BBC report, the government ordered an audit by the independent organisation Trustmark of more than 1,000 properties that have had solid wall insulation. It found that in half of the homes audited the work had not been done to the required standard."
It's the same problems that blight heat-pump installations, unfairly earning them a bad reputation.
As a counter to the contrarian opinion, I found this to be an interesting watch: https://youtu.be/2CvilBdkXMg?t=317
But this is my point – "Insulate Britain" sounds great in theory, but insulating pre 1930s properties is a minefield and not at all simple. Certainly not simple enough for local councils to encourage everyone to take up some mass insulation scheme. That video you shared doesn't feel like a counter a contrarian opinion, it feels like a vindication! Where are we going to get enough knowledgeable people like this willing to go to these lengths to insulate a pre-war house? We're far more likely to end up with mushrooms on the walls than not.
In the spirit of acknowledging complexity (and out of genuine interest)... what are the non-insulation solutions here that *don't* involve knocking down Britain's housing stock and starting again?
Uh-oh, you asked a dangerous question because I will not be able to help myself. I am inevitably going to answer at length whilst also admitting that this is a tricky one to answer (not least because I am very far from being an expert!) The TL:DR is It's complicated and I am still not fully satisfied anyone has all the answers.
CORK
When we removed the sopping wet cavity insulation and the cement render from our back wall, we installed cork insulation externally before lime plastering. BUT 1. "breathable" is a controversial term, since water might be able to escape as a gas, but it doesn't mean it can escape as a liquid. 2. there's every chance we've simply created more pockets of condensation because the house isn't insulated all around. The lime plasterers promised me it would be ok, but who knows?
WOOL
Wool in the loft is a popular choice but the issue with moths is a potential problem thanks to unscrupulous suppliers. You can read someone much wiser on the subject here: https://www.heritage-house.org/stuff-about-old-buildings/insulation/sheepwool-insulation-and-moth-infestation.html
Rockwool is basically glass and glass sweats. Also, as I understand it, you shouldn't really insulate a loft if you're not also insulating any sloped ceilings. A lot of old houses have these skielings and they create potential pockets of condensation for damp to form.
There is also often airflow issues thanks to roof membranes that don't breathe and cause insulated lofts to create a microclimate where it basically rains inside on certain days.
SWIP SYSTEM
I don't know anything about this beyond this video from Charlie DIYyte, who I have a lot of time for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou1CjwflZtM
If you watch the beginning of that video you'll see Charlie explain the major problems with non-breathable Kingspan/Celotex type solutions.
You'll also see the time he spends getting it fitted and I don't believe we don't have enough decent builders in this country to do this level of work.
AND FINALLY
The alternative solutions are, of course, to
1. get used to living in a colder house and wear a lot of thermal layers and wool (like I do), be better at airing old houses to dry them out (for some reason Europeans understand Stoßlüften but we do not). This is unlikely to happen because people seem to expect their houses to be 20 degrees the big jessies (she said, while wrapped in an electric throw wearing a woolie hat)
2. make energy so cheap and efficient that we can get away with wasting it (although that inevitably leads to more issues about us heating the skies above our leaking properties.
So that's it! Despite not being an expert you'll see I'm very happy to wiffle on about it. I'd be prefer to give the floor to a genuine expert but most of them are too busy going round old houses to fix the problems caused by damp-proofing companies.
I have to agree that it really is a minefield and you have to do your research. Which shouldn't be the case - we should be able to trust the "experts", but I subscribe to the old adage that "if you want a job done properly, do it yourself"! So I've been doing large amounts of research on timber-frame structures (of which my house is one) in order to prepare for an extension and renovation in the next couple of years.
I hope you have more success with the cork than you did with the previous installation. I guess you were "lucky" in that you could remove the old insulation, but I can only imagine what an unpleasant experience it must be to go through such a debacle.
This is the issue. These "experts" are often total scammers and you just don't know who to believe. I hope your extension goes well!
Excellent article. I used to be a big fan of Robin’s but sadly he has evolved into a self righteous prick, unable to see he might be wrong about anything. As for JSO, like you say James, they are turning more people against their arguments than for.
YES. Just YES.
I’m sensing that you might agree with me!
Yes. Just Stop Oil are idiots. And all going home and charging their phones/turning the lights on/cooking dinner too!