Insulation in walls

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tweake, Jun 13, 10:20am
you sure on that?
i thought they changed it so no DIY on external walls allowed now ?
no doubt thanks to leaky homes.
christin, Jun 13, 10:34am
It must be hard to monitor, not that I could or know how, but what's to stop me ripping off the gib myself and bunging insulation in?

I won't do that but just wondering how they even know?
johotech, Jun 13, 10:34am
There is an exemption for owner-builders to carry out restricted building work on their own home.

Installing insulation is not restricted building work, but does require a building consent to ensure it is done to the building code.
mack77, Jun 13, 10:35am
If I was in your situation I would just fit a pelmet above the top of the window so as to prevent warm air falling down the inside of the window when the curtains are drawn. Then I would replace your curtains with some thermal curtains(e.g. second hand from Trademe or Op. shop) and perhaps even sew another layer or woollen blanket on the inside.
If that wasn't sufficient I would build another wall inside (i.e. on room side) the existing wall and insulate it and then you won't have any of the problems mentioned above regarding moisture control. I wouldn't bother with a building consent if you intend to live there forever.
Subsequent posters may find some potential problems with my ideas but that's what it's all about.
johotech, Jun 13, 10:36am
Nothing to stop you. But you don't even know how it should be done. So should you really do that?

Plus, if you want to sell the house, you would like the "insulated exterior walls" to be a feature which add value wouldn't you? Without a code of compliance, you're just wasting money.
christin, Jun 13, 10:42am
Which is all exactly why I said I won't do that, and as I said I don't know how, It's just a question.

If someone did to their house (just as an example as per above and previously it won't be me), they could just say walls were insulated when they bought it etc? Unless you have always needed consent.
christin, Jun 13, 10:45am
The curtains will be replaced with decent ones.

They did have them but needed replacing quickly so they were put up at the time, the room hasn't been fully used in 2 years (as of June 20/21 :-( )

Well, used by the cats, but seeing as one is currently outside in the wind etc, I dint think the two of them care lol
johotech, Jun 13, 11:20am
Looking at the photo of your house, I probably wouldn't bother with wall insulation. To do all the exterior walls would be expensive. Probably over $10k plus decorating.

Start with the simple thing. Is the roof insulation good? At least R3.x? Are the windows or doors draughty? Do you have proper ventilation in bathrooms vented to outside (not a fan/heatlamp unit)? Do you have modern power points which don't allow air through? Any old downlights which aren't sealed? Good thermal curtains right to the floor?

Is there any space under the floor which could be insulated? Even if you have to lift carpet and cut access holes.

Old inefficient fireplace chimneys which should be covered over?

For windows, the 3M window film is better than nothing. Especially if you have condensation problems.

Then with any left over budget, get efficient heat pumps installed in areas where you require additional heating. You would be surprised at how little they cost to run, especially if you keep your house reasonably warm (18deg) and dry all the time.

I have seen houses which have been fully insulated with consent and compliance, only to see them 12 months later with severe moisture problems under the floor, because of reduced ventilation via the exterior framework. In your case, the stucco exterior is probably over timber. If that timber dries out too much, it could cause cracking in the stucco and you could end up with leaks and be worse off.

I can't see any subfloor ventilation in your photo. Plus it looks like your floor level is pretty close to ground level - which wouldn't be allowed these days. Do you have any moisture problems at present?
aj.2., Jun 13, 11:32am
OP, even if the hassle of no insulation in the walls , one way to do things is to make sure the batts in the roof go right out under the eve's, this will stop the air flow from under the house rising up, and cooling down the walls , thus causing heat lose.
I have concrete tiles on the roof , and spent time placing the batts right to the edges , and that made a big difference.
christin, Jun 13, 8:09pm
There is subfloor ventilation, little grids. The whole house isn't flat there is a an area underneath, just not huge. The door going in is flat with no steps but further down there is space, enough to get under for pipes etc, just!

But on the front of the house and left of the house are grids for ventilation etc.

There is also insulation in the roof. I am looking at getting thr house possibly rewired, and once that is done, will see about updating the insulation up there.

No downligts in the house.

I don't mind the decoration costs, as want to tidy up and strip each room etc, just don't think it will be cheap getting consent bit by bit which is how I was planning on doing the decoration.

I have one heatpump as mentioned and two fires. I may get a heatpump in my room as that's two rooms joined and the main bedroom of the house. Or maybe see if going in thr hall area will reach all bedrooms.

Do t want to spend thousands as In Reality it's onky cold here 2 - 3 months of the year and can be heated, just thinking as insulation to make that more economical and as I'm doing the decorating. Not sure if the $$$$ I save in energy efficiency will be worth what it will cost - esp as it may not be that differnt due to windows etc.

Or maybe do some of the internal walls if the gib is coming off anyway,
annies3, Jun 13, 10:14pm
Yes the best advice yet, we had superb help from the building inspector when we tackled this house, everything was explained and even plans drawn up for us, couldn't have been better.
Edit to add the relative humidity or moisture here is always less than 70%
tweake, Jun 13, 10:58pm
thanks for the correction
christin, Jun 13, 11:01pm
Thanks. I guess it all comes down to the costs. Don't particularly want to go down the borrow money track to do it. Lived with it okay for a few years now so not wanting to go into debt for it if too much

Will concentrate on things I can afford after I do my rewiring etc if it's going to mean borrowing lots of $$$$$$
tweake, Jun 13, 11:29pm
checking and removing any old unsafe wiring takes priority.

also look into covering the dirt under the house with ground sheet. cost is low if you do it yourself. reduce the moisture that comes up through the floor.
also check drainage around the house. anything to stop water from going under the house.
tweake, Jun 13, 11:31pm
what was the cause there?
was that due to the underfloor insulation?
christin, Jun 13, 11:40pm
Yeah wiring is definitely first on my list of many things to do ;-/. :-)
christin, Jun 14, 7:16am
Damn forgot lotto ticket!
trade4us2, Jun 14, 9:34am
I've done a very major recondition and had all the wiring and plumbing replaced. While doing that, maybe you could cut about 600mm from the Gib board horizontally around the outside walls, and push in insulation up and down.
tweake, Jun 14, 10:28am
very difficult to push insulation in. even if you get it in, it could end up being compacted which degrades it. you also have the major problem of how to you get the building paper in for the moisture control ?
if you can't control the moisture your better to leave the insulation out.
christin, Jun 14, 6:45pm
I don't mind taking all the gib off was just going to do it room by room gradually which seems a pain consent wise for small gain caue of the windows.

How much does consent generally cost? I have no idea but don't think its too g to be cheap doing that each and every room.
mm12345, Jun 14, 8:47pm
I think you need to get an answer from your council on this.
The potential problem I see there is that they might require inspection - to check that the wall insulation is in place correctly (ie not in contact with exterior cladding etc). The basic idea is that while changes may not require that the entire cladding system is brought up to the present building code, changes should not make things worse - and bridging between cladding and framing with insulation which impedes airflow and holds moisture will make things worse.
Apart from the cost to get consent, there's an inspection fee - usually around $150 - $200 per inspection. They presumably can't inspect the work once it's closed off with new gib, and you presumably don't want to pay $200 for a separate inspection for each room you do. Perhaps they'll accept one inspection, supported by photos of the insulation in place in other areas - you need to talk to them.
You've got a similar issue with the re-wiring - it will cost a lot to get a sparky out to rewire on a "room by room" basis. Perhaps you also need to talk to an electrical firm, and find out if they're happy to work with you running (but not connecting) new cable for your rewire, they can come back and do the work in as few visits as possible. I think in that case it needs to be signed off by an inspector, so you'd probably need to be dealing with a larger firm.
christin, Jun 14, 9:43pm
I'm going to do the rewire all in one go. I'm hoping they don't have to pull off the gib for most of that.

That's where all my $$$ are going to go initially.
tweake, Jun 14, 11:26pm
what you need to do is get a builder in, cut open the wall somewhere (wardrobe?) and inspect the outside wall so you know what your dealing with and builder can advise on what can be done.
as mm12345 mentioned above can't have insulation touching outside cladding. installing building paper without pulling outside cladding off is very tricky. a builder needs to see what the cladding is and work out a way to do it.

sparky, get them in to inspect. see what needs done, it may be ok or in dire need of a full rewire. no way of knowing of whats been done over the years. they can give you an idea of whats involved, if they can pull cables through or have to cut walls open etc.
christin, Dec 16, 3:14pm
Yeah I'm going to get a sparky in to advise. I just want one that's not going to see me a female who knows bugger all about wiring and say it all needs to be done when it doesn't. I know they're few and far I between just had mechanics like that that try it on so just being cautious (luckily I realised in the case of the mechanic :-) )

The kitchen and lounge is an extension in late 80s I think so that half may. Not needt to be done, not sure. Will get a couple of quotes and to from there.