How To Insulate A Brick Wall

[@adrianrichards247]

As a novice (retired sales manager) I’d just like to thank you for taking the time to produce these videos ....I’ve learnt a lot , and you’ve given me solutions for many diy projects during lockdown and beyond ...... very much appreciated , I don’t think you fully realise how much you’ve helped people not only saving money....but mental well being .....Once again thank you.

[@riboid]

Airtightness goes hand in hand with insulation, but still of importance to still allow anyway room to natural ventilate. Remember - a hole in the fabric of the building is classed as uncontrolled ventilation - opening a window, door or the air vent is classed as controlled ventilation. The only point I would pick up on and it is really important - I would have used aluminium tape, on the insulation over the wood and rubbed it down with a piece of plastic. Heat and vapour will be naturally drawn to the wall as its external, so taping it up with aluminium tape will perform a vapour barrier. On the bitumen front - it has a small cavity in between the two leaves, so the moisture will have 'somewhere' to go if it comes up against the bitumen. But, I can guarantee you, with this insulation on that wall and increased airtightness, this room will retain the heat very well and will be comfortable. Good job.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you and nice information

[@wagabira]

hi Ks , I will be doing the same as this gentleman coming march. would you recommend vapour barrier plastic before the plasterboard? thanks for your help.

[@drewukdrew]

Your attention to detail and thoroughness never ceases to amaze me 👍👍👍

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.

[@richardmoy2945]

Great work as always, as a fellow painter i appreciate the time and pride you put into your work….

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.

[@toria-j]

Really looking forward to the coving video - I have a load to (re)do in my house after I had internal wall insulation fitted this month. Thanks.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.

[@siypic]

Ditto..... just about to start mine the next couple of days...... being sorting out an old bungalow and have been watching this channel since just before all the lockdown malarky.... get invalulable info from these guys..

[@hamiltonlowry1018]

Your the man keep it going your on track Hope you are so proud of what you are doing there’s not to many who would take it on

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.. I've always liked a challenge and this seams to have it all. And it does give you great satisfaction knowing you can turn any room into someone dream room.

[@jameslovering9158]

What options would be available for the floors ? can you life every 4th board and lay insulation ?

[@StudioSouster]

Great work. But I wouldn't recommend using bitumen paint inside because it's toxic and carcinogenic. Especially in a bedroom. Better to use a vapour barrier (VCL) for moisture control if the insulation isn't foil backed, and a line of DPC on the back of the battens.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

It's okay once fully dry, they actually used it in the past to seal water tanks. It's not carcinogenic. Thanks

[@GavinLawrence747]

I actually enjoy your channel a lot, but this isn't the right way at all to deal with why that room is cold/damp. As soon as I saw the bitumen paint I thought oh no don't paint it over the brickwork, and that's exactly what you've done :(

[@idi0tdetectioninprogress]

100%👍

[@richardmoy2945]

What’s the issue with painting the internal brickwork with bitumen? I

[@gerardoleary9243]

Quite right what you are saying, if you don't know what you are doing , don't do it

[@gerardoleary9243]

Quite right ,I thought the same as you ,if you don't know what you are doing, don't do it! Simple , Stick to the paint brush, sorry but true , you are out of your depth on this subject

[@PaintingandDecorating]

@@idi0tdetectioninprogress can you explain what you mean.

[@rotimiore1383]

How is the insulation now? do you have anything you'd do differently for insulating the brick wall looking back 1 year.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Not really, possible use a tanking solution instead of the bitumen, but that's just because of the mess and smell. Okay once dry. Thanks

[@johnnyoldskool6504]

It’s coming along nicely,looking forward to the next part

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you..

[@user-cn1em2qx6f]

good vid. i want to do this but people on internet say that condensation will form where the joists are and damage them. what do you think of this? is this really that much of a problem or are people just over the top

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Condensation is difficult to deal with.. temperature inversions. It may happen and it may not happen.. also it is not there all the time, due to temperature.. thanks

[@imaknexus]

Best video so far, keep up the great work mate and good detail... how did you maintain the gap between insulation and wall?

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you, needs no maintenance.

[@TomTremayne]

This chap is incredible........his work is worth literally thousands of pounds in my opinion. Tradesmen on the decorating side are massively under-valued & under-paid, especially so compared to electricians & plumbers, many of whom, in London at least, are dishonest crooks!

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you..

[@saudilass]

Just when I think you have pulled the last rabbit out the hat? Out comes another jaw dropping video from you, so impressed 👌

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you..

[@philquarmby4408]

Can the insulation touch the blockwork or does there need to be an air gap

[@PaintingandDecorating]

The less gap the better thanks

[@kroneditor9266]

Notice you didn't tape the joints in the insulation. Any particular reason or did I miss something? Very informative videos which I do appreciate :-)

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thanks.. no reason just two layers of insulation and never thought to tape the first..

[@Joe-os3vp]

Hello, I'm confused from all the different methods people use and would appreciate some advice! I want to insulate a outhouse attached the house (once a stable). It's an 150 year old house so I think the bricks are more porous. There are three external walls, double brick thickness. I painted them but there is lots of damp and the paint has turned yellow in places. It's an unheated room. I've sealed it pretty well apart from the door which needs insulation strips. I want to fit 50 or 100mm thick (what do you recommend?) Insulation but don't know whether to use wooden frames or just glue them on. Or to use bitumen. It won't be worth heating permanently; just when needed for work, with an oil heater (it will be a craft workshop and gym). Hopefully this will be enough to stop damp. Sorry for the lengthy comment! Any help you can give would be great.

[@riboid]

Joe, I would strap the wall out and make a frame. Make the sizes so that your 2.4m x 1.2m gyproc sheets have somewhere to land (600mm centres) and insulate between the strapping (celotex). Then, apply a vapour control layer (vcl - pro clima - now, you can be cheaper equivalents) and staple this over the insulation and the studs. Then, use tescon vana airtightness tape (it sticks like shit to a blanket) and tape up all the seams (50mm overlap on the joints of your air tightness membrane - pro clima or equiv). Then you can gyproc over the top. The vapour barrier should always be on the warm side of the insulation, so firstly, any moisture that is drawn through the gyproc, will then stop when it hits the vapour barrier. Any moisture which penetrates the brickwork will be able to wick back out externally and you do not want to stop this process, so ensure, that your outhouse is NOT painted with gloss or anything like that as that will lock the moisture in. You said you will use this as a gym, so you will be generating lots of moisture in this atmosphere and your humidity will be potentially high, so look at forced ventilation in the form of a 4" extraction fan that has a humidity sensor on it. It will regulate itself. If you insulate the entire place, floor, roof etc, then it will retain heat fairly well, but if you want to increase the performance = instead of putting on just gyproc over the insulated wall, then you could apply insulated gyproc over it. ?The greater the thickness of insulation, obviously the better, but be practical as you will not be living in the out house. Good luck.

[@Joe-os3vp]

@@riboid That's a great help, thanks! Got to write all this down. I only used matt masonry paint on the inner wall so that's ok. I'm not sure about the fan as I'm sensitive to noise and get irritated by fans. I'll have to just open the door a bit when needed and maybe use one of those quieter portable room fans. I don't sweat much during workouts at least! Thanks again

[@kevinhancock4064]

@k s nice info one thing I come to realise from reading this is the barrier needing to be on the inside ..so the barrier will prevent gyoroc from getting damp and crumbling . I'd have as I've seen others do put frame work up (studding etc ) against the wall with the barrier between stud and wall . Males sense though as you can easily then insulate in between before barrier goes on .. I'm hoping to do this to my external single skin shed . I'm a brickie by trade so doing this is straight fit ward given my knowledge. In most areas . ....the annoying thing for me right now besides my shed need sorting is the mould that appears on our front room walls externall wall thar Is ......its unsightly . We have dehumidifier on the go and I get salts on surface. The wondow segment don't seem bad tbh redoing that isn't an issue. We have pebble dashed exterior ..... I'm wondering maybe from past moisture it's affected all layers of paint /plaster and needs hacking back etc...... let it dry etc . The right side reveal gets a but damp and crumbly . Whether there's cold bridging going on I'm unsure . But I'd have to hack reveal back to look I guess

[@135Ops]

@@Joe-os3vp The moisture you generate in workouts is from your breath not sweat ...

[@jamessomers8955]

Fair play thats an awful lot of work for such a small room. Most (including me !) would've walked away after seeing the state of that floor. Although I'm not entirely convinced by the bitumen on the wall. Will be an excellent series of videos to see it all come together. Keep 'em coming. 👍

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thanks bitumen helps as a vapour barrier any moisture making it through from the cavity.. I should have shown the rotten timber on the adjoining wall..

[@billybodgit6281]

I did something similar around ten year's ago...I used to get condensation on my bedroom wall all of the time.. couldn't paint/wallpaper without mould eventually coming back or paper falling off cos of being wet through..the amount of water was crazy .(it wasn't rising damp..just a very cold wall)...so smashed it back to brick/ repointed where necessary if there was any loose cement /then put bitumen onto the wall then dot and dabbed new plaster board (no batons used) then replastered and my wall has been perfect to this very day ..stressed me out at the time so took the risk.... and it paid off👍

[@robertsmart7484]

@@PaintingandDecorating The bitumen paint on the wall creates a vapour barrier on the cold side of the insulation, so you will get condensation forming between the bitumen and the insulation which will soak into the timber battens. Better to have applied a vapour permeable waterproofer like Storm Dry Masony Protection Cream which would allow vapoir from inside the house to pass through it.

[@justintemp]

Do you have to keep pushing in the insulation board to stop the foam moving it out as it expands?

[@riboid]

This expansion foam is designed for plasterboard, so it doesn't expand as much as the normal open-cell spray foam.

[@justintemp]

@@riboid is it fireproof or fire retardant?

[@riboid]

@@justintemp the gyproc itself has its own fire rating.

[@avisitorhere]

So, the water is migrating through the porous brick from the exterior into the interior, it now hits your water barrier on the interior side of the wall and goes where? It goes nowhere, it stays in the wall, saturating it. The water will turn into ice in a freeze thaw cycle and will over time (not as much time as you think) deteriorate your walls. The system you should be using would allow the wall to dry out as it was meant too. Foam, wall board just contribute to the deterioration of brick buildings in parts of the world that are subject to damp. The products you should be using are wood or hemp fiber and lime plaster. Hemp and wood fiber not only have insulating properties but also can hold around 17% of their volume with water without losing their insulating properties. Lime of course is a vapor permeable plaster that will allow the brick to dry out naturally.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Brick is not porous otherwise houses would be wet.

[@avisitorhere]

@@PaintingandDecorating Brick is porous. A solid brick wall collects moisture and transfers it to the interior thru a process called hygric buffering (storage) and hygric redistribution. Many things can affect that, voids, porosity of the brick, types of mortar etc. Whether it affects the interior or deteriorates the brick you can argue, but bricks are porous.

[@135Ops]

​@@PaintingandDecorating Clown!

[@jimbo-vc3rh]

@@PaintingandDecorating no chance you're a tradesman

[@dr.eyeball.3121]

I wouldn't have coated the brick with the bitumen myself maybe on the back of the battens but other than that looks good.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thanks. once dry and its all sealed it will just help by keeping moisture at bay.

[@swisstony6069]

I am about to start preparing my box room for plastering and I’m wondering why you blocked the hole to the outside brick vent. Do I not need it ?

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Hi I only blocked the inner.. in old houses they had big vents for coal fires to draw their air from... So no coal fires no need for the vent.

[@swisstony6069]

Thank you for the prompt reply, I’ll follow your lead 👍. I will also do the wall with black bitumen paint and again thank you for your time.

[@micmike]

Very nice work. Thanks. I don't think it was over kill.

[@smellypunks]

Why not take the insulation down below the floor boards? Shape it around the joists, cut the last floor board so that it fills the new smaller space.

[@BudoGuy]

In the previous video you mentioned you were going to fix the broken Joist. is that coming in an upcoming video?

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Sorry I've had to rethink what I can film because of time and logistics... sister the joist... we do have a video fully on how to reinforce a joist. thanks

[@BudoGuy]

@@PaintingandDecorating I really looking forward to that one as it looked bad. I'll try and find your other video. Thank you for uploading these they're have been very helpful

[@matthump1405]

I was under the impression there should be a void on the cold side and the warm side of the insulation sheets for air circulation ???

[@justinepps3508]

Not sure I see a reason for using bitumen paint..??On a brick outer wall I used 25mm of Kingspan/Celotex insulation board in between 25mm x 50 battens..on an outside wall without a window I would put 25 mm kingspan straight onto the wall ,, then battens on top at 60mm centres and then 25mm kingspan between those battens reaulting in 50mm in total

[@justintemp]

Why do you add spirit to the bitumen? To thin it?

[@riboid]

Helps it flow a bit better.

[@justintemp]

@@riboid oh right. Thanks

[@rickycoole]

Whoopsie Daisy matey. I think you should probably stick to being a brush hand. The client will surely be calling you back within the year. Maybe do a re visit video in a year and I will eat my hat if it’s all nice and dry and looking good. PS not wearing a hat

[@PaintingandDecorating]

You need to check out the new video.. where I show the room again. Thanks

[@LS-td3dz]

To many adverts spoiling a good channel.

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Not sure I can control that part.. sorry

[@siypic]

Ad block...

[@chaddamp2894]

one of my heroes is Fred Dibnah..did you ever meet him?

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Yes when I was A kid saw him at a show and two of his steam engines.. he knew a lot on construction.

[@daleburns7110]

There is headers and stretchers ……isn’t this a solid wall? In which case sealing a solid wall is asking for problems

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Why would it cause any problems?

[@daleburns7110]

@@PaintingandDecorating because solid walls are very different to Cavity walls……they rely on the mortar joints(lime) to allow the wall to breathe effectively ……sealing the wall will stop this and simply will trap moisture …….breathing cooking drying clothes etc ……warm moist air etc causing condensation that’s trapped via a sealed in wall

[@135Ops]

Yep it's a 9 inch solid wall.

[@LBUK.]

Do you live local? I could require your professional workmanship ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@jonathanfisher5423]

Wow how not to repair... I would never fill bad cement in the brick work with foam 😢

[@feltar1296]

What was dat all about ???? Just put insulated slab on it few hours work not 5 days 🤔🤔

[@jeffbruce1050]

Peter ward I rest my case

[@derek8824]

Your audio is very low. Ever thought of using a wee wireless mic on your collar?

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Sorry keep meaning to sort it out., will get round to..

[@TapelessDrywallFinishing]

👍👍👍

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.

[@squeakmillward]

instead of bitumen you could of used tanking slurry

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Yes

[@squeakmillward]

@@PaintingandDecorating tanking slurry then no nails on the battens to isolate the finish surface?

[@GavinLawrence747]

tanking slurry is for wetrooms and swimming pools, not internal bedroom walls!

[@kesgreen4639]

@@GavinLawrence747 absolutely! Before we moved into our house, the previous occupants got a 'damp company' in. They put tanking slurry on the lower part of the ground floor walls. Guess where the mould appeared...

[@GavinLawrence747]

​@@kesgreen4639 It can be a devil to remove but its worth it.

[@stephenevans1833]

Great job!. My only issue I have ever had with you in the past is your use of pva …. But credit where credits due 👍

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Thank you.

[@riboid]

What is the issue with him using PVA?

[@stephenevans1833]

@@riboid not on this video . Some in the past . If you’re in the trade , you’ll understand what I’m saying . Not bringing up old arguments . One persons way is not necessarily the right way !

[@nickevans7049]

hes messed up guys

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Can you explain what you think is messed up.

[@muttyhc]

What is the brick wall and mortar? Solid wall and lime?

[@kesgreen4639]

Certainly if it's an older property, moisture should be allowed to pass through the wall, so nothing impermeable should be applied. I see so many old buildings (including the house in which I currently live) ruined by modern materials.

[@muttyhc]

@@kesgreen4639 if it is lime mortar I agree needs to breathe. Would have put bitumen on the stud or a plastic dpc on the stud only and left it to breathe. If house is rendered or anything on outside that's a recipe for problems

[@PaintingandDecorating]

@@kesgreen4639 wrong your property should be water proof... water passing through your walls is not good... the cavity is to stop water leaks and to help stop moisture increase.

[@simulatordave2440]

Why on earth did you fill the AIR brick in for. Buildings need AIR to breath. You should be ashamed

[@PaintingandDecorating]

Wrong the cavity needs to breath you only block the inside not the outside... and some of these old houses have coal fires taken out and no need for so mush air entering the room. plenty of air movement through the floor and door.. thanks

[@simulatordave2440]

@@PaintingandDecorating Wrong my friend that wall was a 9'' wall NO cavity 🤣 think someone needs to go back to collage bless you

[@riboid]

@@simulatordave2440 Try and be nice Dave and not a dick. Educate not denigrate.

[@135Ops]

@@PaintingandDecorating It hasn't got a cavity you haven't got a clue.

[@loading...2009]

Are you just a DIYer right? What a mess…

[@simulatordave2440]

All you guys need to STOP doin this

[@loadofstuff10]

I would say that wall doesn't have a cavity..

[@ceciliacopley7227]

Impressive 💗