Brick Wall Insulation
External brick wall insulation.
Brick wall insulation. I ve talked in the past about how blown in insulation is highly recommended for northern california but this is especially true when it comes to how to insulate solid brick walls in old homes from the exterior. Larsen trusses with cellulose or batt insulation. Blown in insulation also known as foam or spray in insulation is ideal for filling in nooks and crannies when. When we insulate a building whatever is outside of the insulation gets colder in the winter.
If furring strips were nailed to the inner masonry there is only a narrow 3 4 inch space to add insulation. The thin furring strips that hold the inside walls to this material leaves little room for insulation. Foam insulation is often sprayed in through holes in the interior walls that must then be filled and re painted. Thermal mass is the ability for a heavy dense material to effectively store heat and then slowly release it over time.
Outer walls may be 4 inch thick bricks with inner walls of concrete brick or cinder block that is also 4 inches thick. A larsen truss wall is one with engineered i joists attached to the outside of a stud or brick wall which then creates a cavity that can be filled with additional insulation. Adding 50mm of rigid insulation will reduce the u value to around 0 4 while 50mm of mineral wool or natural insulation will reduce it to 0 5. Our insulation delivers a number of benefits beyond thermal performance in external walls such as best in class fire resistance exceptional noise reduction water repellence as well as vapor permeability and dimensional stability meaning excellent fit and real world performance for the lifetime of the building.
How to insulate an older brick home can be a challenge. A 225mm solid brick wall will have a u value of around 1 7w m k and a 400mm stone wall about 1 4. A recent building science corp. Brick walls provide a high thermal mass.
Very old brick homes often have no space to add insulation as the plaster was applied directly to the brick wall. Retrofit wall insulation is a debatable subject because there is no single right answer for all homes and homeowners. External wall coating can be done using products that bond to the wall surface and even penetrate into the pores to seal the building from the outside with an invisible insulation barrier. This method is sometimes preferred because there are no disruptions to inside activities and it provides waterproofing to.
Article on insulating brick bearing walls says that insulating on the interior with cellulose if ok in a hot humid climate brick should have a fluid applied 10 perm air water barrier coating on the inside face of the brick. Below are a few methods for improving an older home s insulation levels and attaching exterior wall insulation successfully.