Our house was constructed over varying years as far back as 17th century; at
some stage 3 buildings were reconstructed into one. The solid walls are a
mixture of stone and brick with a thickness of about 18-20 inches. A bedroom
at one time had a door to outside steps, this has been blocked off (and
steps removed) to about half the wall thickness. There is a former window
that was also blocked off at possibly the same time on another wall, it has
a shallower recess, either the infilling was thicker or a different material
used (the wall on this side was built much latter as the room was originally
narrower but widened at some stage..

The former door wall, an end wall to the house, is much more exposed as the
"window" wall is facing an area roofed over with another building on the
other side of this roof. I think due to the exposure the weather, gets
condensation in the winter/cold weather . I don't think its penetrating
water, as the alcove has remained dry over the current very wet weather. The
room is not in regular use and the window has a window left permanently on
ventilation position.

This is the room we are going to "do up" next so I need to identify what to
do in the alcoves, it would appear best to remove the existing shelves and
fit insulation and plaster board over this. I am unsure if this is the best
way of removing the problem or materials to do it?

In article ,
"John" john(no writes:
Our house was constructed over varying years as far back as 17th century; at
some stage 3 buildings were reconstructed into one. The solid walls are a
mixture of stone and brick with a thickness of about 18-20 inches. A bedroom
at one time had a door to outside steps, this has been blocked off (and
steps removed) to about half the wall thickness. There is a former window
that was also blocked off at possibly the same time on another wall, it has
a shallower recess, either the infilling was thicker or a different material
used (the wall on this side was built much latter as the room was originally
narrower but widened at some stage..

The former door wall, an end wall to the house, is much more exposed as the
"window" wall is facing an area roofed over with another building on the
other side of this roof. I think due to the exposure the weather, gets
condensation in the winter/cold weather . I don't think its penetrating
water, as the alcove has remained dry over the current very wet weather. The
room is not in regular use and the window has a window left permanently on
ventilation position.

This is the room we are going to "do up" next so I need to identify what to
do in the alcoves, it would appear best to remove the existing shelves and
fit insulation and plaster board over this. I am unsure if this is the best
way of removing the problem or materials to do it?

I unblocked and opened out a fireplace to use as an alcove.
The rear is a north-facing half brick wall (4"), which I was
sure would end up with condensation on it, particularly if the
alcove was fitted with shelves. I fitted 25mm Cellotex sheet
and screwed plasterboard through it to the wall (which isn't
easy). Then plastered it. It's been fine. It stays warmer
than the 9" brick walls in the rest of the room, so there's
no chance of condensation.

I would consider thicker Cellotex given your thicker walls
probably insulate better. It wasn't worth it with the rest
of my room being 9" walls, and I couldn't afford to lose more
depth in the alcove.

You can get Cellotex type insulation board which can be
plastered directly, which would have been easier than trying
to screw through both into the wall. I deliberately avoided
use of battens as I didn't want any timber trapped behind
which could easily get damp enough to go rotten. Ideally you
want the board sealed to the wall so there's no air gap behind
(which otherwise has the potential to cause condensation).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

John wrote:
Our house was constructed over varying years as far back as 17th century; at
some stage 3 buildings were reconstructed into one. The solid walls are a
mixture of stone and brick with a thickness of about 18-20 inches. A bedroom
at one time had a door to outside steps, this has been blocked off (and
steps removed) to about half the wall thickness. There is a former window
that was also blocked off at possibly the same time on another wall, it has
a shallower recess, either the infilling was thicker or a different material
used (the wall on this side was built much latter as the room was originally
narrower but widened at some stage..

The former door wall, an end wall to the house, is much more exposed as the
"window" wall is facing an area roofed over with another building on the
other side of this roof. I think due to the exposure the weather, gets
condensation in the winter/cold weather . I don't think its penetrating
water, as the alcove has remained dry over the current very wet weather. The
room is not in regular use and the window has a window left permanently on
ventilation position.

OK.. heating?


This is the room we are going to "do up" next so I need to identify what to
do in the alcoves, it would appear best to remove the existing shelves and
fit insulation and plaster board over this. I am unsure if this is the best
way of removing the problem or materials to do it?



Never underestimate the power of books to insulate by the way, but
certainly if you have maybe 9" of solid wall between you and typically
a north facing aspect outside of the house, you are going to get
condensation unless you run a lot of heat.

I'd be looking at 50mm or more of celotex/kingspan here..in fact over
the whole outside walls of any room you are renovating unless there is a
definite reason to preseerve the original wall surfaces. You can either
do studwork (typically 2x2), and fit insulation panlel between, or
simply use board and insulation sandwiches.

Before meow jumps in, I will make the point that when you adopt this
approach, you are aiming for a hermetically sealed inside to the room:
any damp that is getting into the walls by reason of rising or
penetrating damp, won't be able to evaporate via the room: so you must
watch out for that, and reduce any gross damp problems first. And
possibly put a membrane between the studwork and the masonry to stop te
studwork getting damp and rotting. Additionally the outer face of the
wall no longer subject to heat leaking out, will get a lot colder, and
if its porous and is taking up damp, may suffer from frost shatter and
spalling. You can reduce that by treating it with a moisture barrier,
but if its pulling in water somewhere else so that damp gets behind that
barrier, that will make the problem worse not better.

Years ago a then friend of mine bought a large listed farmhouse that was
both a bit damp and a bit rotten: the solution to the problem was to
build a blockwork house inside the old house, thus preserving the
exterior as the listings required, and tying such [arts of it that
appeared sound to the blockwork, and insulating between..it proved -
with secondary glazing done resonably well - cosy and sound.

In essence you have a similar situation, except that yours is
structurally sound: so i'd go about building a studwork house inside,
and insulating it! It also makes rewiring a doddle - plenty of space to
run cables in the new walls. Even if these are only tied into existing
rings, the potential exists for piecemeal replacement of the wiring over
a period..which is always a bonus in an old house.

Thanks your helpful reply sent me off searching anew. It looks to me that
Koolthurm K17 combines easy attachment to the wall with plaster part off it
much easier and faster than attaching each layer separately, your comments
on the difficulty of attaching the plaster made it look very appealing!

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"John" john(no writes:
Our house was constructed over varying years as far back as 17th century;
at
some stage 3 buildings were reconstructed into one. The solid walls are a
mixture of stone and brick with a thickness of about 18-20 inches. A
bedroom
at one time had a door to outside steps, this has been blocked off (and
steps removed) to about half the wall thickness. There is a former window
that was also blocked off at possibly the same time on another wall, it
has
a shallower recess, either the infilling was thicker or a different
material
used (the wall on this side was built much latter as the room was
originally
narrower but widened at some stage..

The former door wall, an end wall to the house, is much more exposed as
the
"window" wall is facing an area roofed over with another building on the
other side of this roof. I think due to the exposure the weather, gets
condensation in the winter/cold weather . I don't think its penetrating
water, as the alcove has remained dry over the current very wet weather.
The
room is not in regular use and the window has a window left permanently
on
ventilation position.

This is the room we are going to "do up" next so I need to identify what
to
do in the alcoves, it would appear best to remove the existing shelves
and
fit insulation and plaster board over this. I am unsure if this is the
best
way of removing the problem or materials to do it?

I unblocked and opened out a fireplace to use as an alcove.
The rear is a north-facing half brick wall (4"), which I was
sure would end up with condensation on it, particularly if the
alcove was fitted with shelves. I fitted 25mm Cellotex sheet
and screwed plasterboard through it to the wall (which isn't
easy). Then plastered it. It's been fine. It stays warmer
than the 9" brick walls in the rest of the room, so there's
no chance of condensation.

I would consider thicker Cellotex given your thicker walls
probably insulate better. It wasn't worth it with the rest
of my room being 9" walls, and I couldn't afford to lose more
depth in the alcove.

You can get Cellotex type insulation board which can be
plastered directly, which would have been easier than trying
to screw through both into the wall. I deliberately avoided
use of battens as I didn't want any timber trapped behind
which could easily get damp enough to go rotten. Ideally you
want the board sealed to the wall so there's no air gap behind
(which otherwise has the potential to cause condensation).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Thanks your helpful reply sent me off searching anew. It looks to me that
Koolthurm K17 combines easy attachment to the wall with plaster part off it
much easier and faster than attaching each layer separately, your comments
on the difficulty of attaching the plaster made it look very appealing!



I unblocked and opened out a fireplace to use as an alcove.
The rear is a north-facing half brick wall (4"), which I was
sure would end up with condensation on it, particularly if the
alcove was fitted with shelves. I fitted 25mm Cellotex sheet
and screwed plasterboard through it to the wall (which isn't
easy). Then plastered it. It's been fine. It stays warmer
than the 9" brick walls in the rest of the room, so there's
no chance of condensation.

I would consider thicker Cellotex given your thicker walls
probably insulate better. It wasn't worth it with the rest
of my room being 9" walls, and I couldn't afford to lose more
depth in the alcove.

You can get Cellotex type insulation board which can be
plastered directly, which would have been easier than trying
to screw through both into the wall. I deliberately avoided
use of battens as I didn't want any timber trapped behind
which could easily get damp enough to go rotten. Ideally you
want the board sealed to the wall so there's no air gap behind
(which otherwise has the potential to cause condensation).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]