Wall insulation in Rockbourne
With the stream down the street and flood zones either side, the bottom metre of a wall here needs a different specification from the rest of it.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Most older walls in Rockbourne are solid and are lined, not filled, and a later cavity wall can be filled only if a borescope shows it dry. The stream runs down the length of the village and a good part of the village sits in flood zones 2 and 3, so the bottom metre of a wall here is not the same as the rest of it. Anything fitted low down has to survive getting wet and has to be able to dry afterwards, and that rules out most of what gets fitted low down as standard.
The usual problems in Rockbourne are a cold, damp inside face on a ground floor wall, black mould along a skirting on an outside wall, or a cottage that has been lined at some point and is now worse than it was.
We look at the wall from the ground up: external ground level against the damp course, what the base of the wall is made of, what the plaster is doing inside, and a borescope through one small hole where there is a cavity. The site visit and the written itemised quote are both free, and insulation in Rockbourne covers the loft.
The work
Walls that get wet from the bottom
The floor junction, which decides it here. Where an insulated lining meets the floor is the detail that fails on a wall that takes ground moisture. Timber battens or a stud set on a wet solid floor rot. Insulated plasterboard bedded onto a damp base wicks.
So the bottom of a lining gets a closed cell board, a removable skirting and a proper stop, and the whole thing is designed to be lifted rather than demolished if it is ever flooded.
Dry it before you line it. A solid Rockbourne wall that is wet at the base has to be diagnosed before anything covers it. High ground level against the brickwork, a blocked air brick, a bridged damp course, a gutter running down the wall and plain penetrating damp all look the same from inside. Approved Document C is the standard the base of a wall works to.
Cavity walls, where the village has them. One hole in a mortar joint and a borescope gives the cavity width, whether it is clear and dry, whether the ties are bridged and whether a failed fill is in there already. A wet cavity rules a fill out. Where the wall is sound, bonded bead or blown mineral wool goes in from outside. We do not offer a guarantee scheme of our own. A fill by a registered installer normally carries a CIGA certificate, so ask whoever drills the wall for it.
Solid walls, which the older Rockbourne cottages have. Brick, flint and cob with nothing to fill. Internal wall insulation means insulated plasterboard or PIR such as Celotex or Kingspan on battens or a stud, taped and skimmed to BS 8000-8. On an old wall that has to breathe, a vapour open build up goes on instead of a foil faced board. External wall insulation behind a render carrier gives a better U value but is a planning question in the conservation area.
Reveals, thresholds and the eaves. Reveals take a thin board or aerogel, and the threshold at a door is the second wettest detail here after the floor junction. Joist ends in a solid wall keep air around them, and a lining that stops short at a party wall leaves a cold strip.
Ventilation and moisture. In a Rockbourne house, insulation raises the surface above the dew point and stops condensation forming, but the water still has to leave the house. Trickle vents, a working extract fan and air bricks kept clear rather than boarded over. Approved Document F sets the ventilation and BS 5250 covers interstitial moisture in the fabric.
What we would talk you out of. Sealing the inside face of a Rockbourne wall that is taking water from the ground. It looks better for a winter, the EPC improves, and then the damp comes out somewhere else. Fix the ground, the gutters and the damp course first; the insulation is worth doing afterwards and not before.
How it runs
Wall insulation that suits the wall you have
Nobody but Thomas prices this. He works out whether each wall is solid or cavity, and where there is a cavity, he looks inside with a borescope. The quote lists the survey and borescope check, the system and its thickness, making good around windows and doors, ventilation, and disposal.
Rooms are cleared and covered, the house is cleaned daily, and waste leaves with us. If we open a wall and find damp or a problem that could not be seen, we show you a picture and a price and wait for your decision.
New Forest District Council is the planning authority and building control. Lining a wall inside is not development, as the guidance on insulation confirms, while cladding the outside falls under the rules on external walls. The Rockbourne Conservation Area covers the village, so external wall insulation needs an application. On the parish's listed buildings, internal lining needs consent too. Regulation 23 brings a whole wall up to the Part L standard once more than half of it is renovated, and the Environment Agency flood map is worth checking before you specify anything at low level.
Cost
Solid or cavity: the question that sets the price
No rate per square metre, because the windows, doors and junctions take the time. Access. A cottage on the street, a farmhouse behind a wall, and a post-war house on the edge of Rockbourne are different jobs. Cavity fill is drilled from outside; lining is done room by room. The work at height rules set the platform for any outside work.
Which wall. A clear cavity can be filled quickly. A solid wall has to be lined inside or insulated outside. A borescope check settles which, before any quote.
Breathability. Old solid walls need a breathable system, or damp builds up inside.
Junctions. Window and door reveals, floors, eaves and party walls are where heat escapes and condensation shows. That detail is most of the labour.
Low level. In a flood zone, material near the floor should cope with getting wet and drying out again.
Ask other quotes whether the wall was checked with a borescope, what system and thickness, how the reveals are detailed, and who makes good afterwards.
If damp has appeared
Damp after insulating a wall
Damp patches or mould on an outside wall after cavity fill or lining usually mean water is crossing the cavity, or warm air is reaching a cold spot. We look before taking anything out, because the fix depends on which it is.
If a wall has been wet from flooding, tell us before we come. Phone rather than using the form. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and if we cannot pick up, a call back follows as soon as one of us is free. The first visit finds the cause and tells you what the options are.
Worth knowing
The bottom metre of the wall is its own problem
A stream running the length of a village and mapped flood zones either side of it mean the ground here holds water for months rather than days. Walls take that up at the base, and old walls take it up further because they were built without a damp course or with one that has been bridged since. None of that stops a wall being insulated. It changes what goes on the bottom of it.
The practical rules are short. Nothing organic at low level, so no timber battens sitting on a damp floor. A closed cell board rather than a mineral wool for the first course or two. A skirting that unscrews, and a plaster that can be replaced without taking the insulation with it. And a build up that lets the wall dry inwards, because a wall that cannot dry pushes the moisture up instead.
Get that right and a lined room in a flood zone is perfectly sensible. Get it wrong and the first wet winter takes out the lining, the plaster and the decoration together, which is the expensive way to learn it.
Who you are dealing with
One firm, one owner, one price
We are based in Boscombe, and Rockbourne is 16 miles from there. We cover the village, Whitsbury, Sandleheath and the lanes towards Fordingbridge, all under New Forest District Council. Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Rockbourne, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
It is run by its owner, Thomas Hannen, who does the survey and the pricing himself. Checkatrade lists a verified 10 out of 10 from a customer. The site visit is free, as is the written quote, itemised line by line.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Rockbourne?
Most repairs in Rockbourne need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Rockbourne |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council is the planning authority for Rockbourne. The National Park boundary runs close by, and the Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Rockbourne Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Rockbourne. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Rockbourne. |
Questions
Questions about wall insulation in Rockbourne
Can a wall in a flood zone be insulated at all?
Yes, but the bottom of it is designed differently: closed cell board, no timber on the floor, a removable skirting and a plaster that can be replaced on its own. The rest of the wall is a normal job.
Our wall is damp at skirting level. Will insulation cure it?
No, it will hide it. Find out whether it is ground level against the brickwork, a bridged damp course, a gutter or penetrating damp, put that right, let it dry, then insulate.
Why does the lining somebody fitted years ago make it worse?
Usually because it sealed the inside face. The wall still takes water from the ground, and with nowhere to dry to it moves up the wall and comes out above the board.
Is a breathable build up really necessary on an old wall?
On a solid wall that gets wet, yes. A vapour open lining lets the wall dry inwards. A foil faced board traps the moisture in the masonry, and interstitial condensation does the rest.
How long before we can decorate after a lining?
The board and skim have to dry before paint goes near them, and a wall that has been wet takes longer. We tell you at the quote, not at the end.
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Have the base of the wall looked at first
Thomas comes out, checks the ground level, the damp course and the cavity, and prices the work in writing. The visit and the quote are free.