Insulating an Olde House

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

mainstation

Feeling the Heat
Jan 4, 2009
344
N.Ont.
I have an 80 yr old Stone house with less than 3 inches of interior wall. The exterior is 12" or so of quarried stone. I started to remove some crappy panelling today and found a finished layer then a coarse layer of concrete. I drilled a small pilot hole and was hitting the exterior stone within 3 inches. I am guessing I have a layer of lath, about an inch of air space, then the stone wall. How do I effectively insulate this home. I know there are a few on Hearth.com with really old homes, your help/experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks all.

ps. I am not good at posting pics on here, but if you PM me, I can email pics.
Thanks.
 
I initially anticipated having a stud wall to deal with under the lath, but now from what I read online, the 1' of Air space behind the stone exterior is beneficial to the stone and shouldn't be messed with, plus that is a lot of concrete/mortar dust to deal with. Now I think my options are to frame new interior walls and insulate/vapour barrier them. I am hoping to get about an R18 with the combination of new studded wall and the original.

Thoughts?
 
I think adding new studs or at least furring strips onto the inside of the existing studs is a good idea. Foam may allow you additional options also. I see you are in Canada. They do things a bit different than the US, so you might want to see what is done locally.

Matt
 
There have been some to use foam boards in this situation. You will get maximum r-value for little space, It would also act as a vapor barrier. Here is a link on a forum that deals specifically with older or historic homes. Our home is 150+ years old and is a bear at times. Some things you have to watch with retrofitting, especially with brick or stone homes.

http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=21
 
insulating the olde house... can you use ye olde insulation :p
 
Hello

For 100% Thermal Break, I would install foam sheathing, then studs and in between the studs, R13 for 2x4 studs or R19 if you use 2x6 studs then sheet rock.

That's what Mike Do It Right, Holmes on Homes would do!!
 
IMO, I would go spray foam. That is the most dense foam out there, R7/inch for high density stuff. Or you could re-stud, foam sheath and then add Roxul R14 batts in the 2X4s. 1 inch foam sheets would give you R5, and R14 in the studs would total R19.

Andrew

PS. Roxul is very water resistant and acts as a firewall as well. And it's not much more than the Owen's Corning (or any other type of fiberglass insulation).
 
Thanks all, my only cost effective option is to sheath with 1" SM, then reframe a new interior wall with Roxul, vapour barrier and drywall . You guys are right it should give me about an R18/19 insulation. I will lose minimal sq footage on the additional framing so no biggie.
But the house is a storey and a half, so my upstairs rooms may be an another challenge as all the closets meet the roof line at about 4' up the wall. ggggrrr Olde houses.
 
Old homes have charm that my new energy efficient home will never have. And I doubt this house will be standing in 100 years yet all old houses are standing today (and may be a bit crooked).

Look at the ecoACTION ecoENERGY retrofit program (via Federal Government): For Exterior wall insulation, you can get up to $1875!!!

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/retrofit-homes/retrofit-qualify-grant.cfm

EXTERIOR WALL INSULATION

Insulate a minimum of 20 percent of the total exterior wall area. Minimum additional insulation
Percent area RSI 0.67 (R-3.8) to RSI 1.59 (R-9) Greater than RSI 1.59 (R-9)
The grant is based on the percentage of wall area that you insulate and does not include walls between individual units. For a semi-detached or end unit row house, grants are 75 percent of the amounts shown. For a middle unit row house, grants are 50 percent of the amounts shown.

See “Important notes about building envelopes and insulationâ€. 20% $225 $375
40% $450 $750
60% $675 $1,125
80% $900 $1,500
100% $1,125 $1,875
 
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/

Another place to ask questions that I frequent. John Leeke who moderates the historichomeworks site is also a member there and Ive seen his name come up in weatherization threads.


http://www.buildingscience.com/resources/retrofits

Building science has a lot of articles on how to do this stuff. Word of caution though that their #1 priority is energy efficiency, preserving the history is a distant second consideration and as result some of there total conversions I believe could be mistaken for new construction when they finish. Not my cup of tea. But nonetheless you can learn a LOT from their stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.