Comment on 'Botched insulation means mushrooms grow on my walls'
GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 month agoThere is another thing that I sometimes talk about on here, breathability.
You either need to prevent any moisture moving in any direction, or allow vapor to move with breathable materials.
Ones that allow water vapor to move, but not liquid water.
Older buildings, where the original materials were breathable, should ideally continue to use breathable materials. This prevents issues with water wicking through one old surface, then getting trapped behind another. It also removes the risk of damaged or badly designed vapor barriers allowing things through, as the materials themselves help get the moisture out as a passive action.
manualoverride@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m not aware of any insulation and rendering options that allow breathability of the sub structure. This is why any internal leaks need to be fixed and rising damp needs to be mitigated with DryRods.
Pretty much the only buildings that cannot be insulated without a massive amount of work is where the floor of the building is sitting in groundwater without a waterproofing membrane.
GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 month ago
I like to think of it like a passive action that helps handle the smaller amounts of moisture (humans breathing, cooking, laundry), but also an action that helps reduce the problems of acute issues that occur. That way, when something does happen, there is at least a dampening effect while the leak is fixed.
Leaks and rising damp still need to be addressed, obviously.
Examples are things like vermiculite render on the outside, Steico/Wool batts as normal insulation.
The downside is, it’s expensive. The insulation is only as good as fibreglass/rockwool, and costs about 3x as much.