The biggest challenge in making the barn habitable was insulation to prevent heat loss.
James continued, “The main issue with insulation is air tightness. Most heat is lost from a building through air leakage and we knew we couldn’t seal the building adequately with rigid board material. The wind would always find a way through” he said. “What’s more, cutting and fitting boards to the studwork and beneath the roof would take weeks of work. We needed a system that would be both quicker to fit and give us better performance.”
James looked at alternatives and contacted local contractor, Greentherm Solutions who specialise in spray applied insulation, using Icynene, a system originally developed by a Canadian company.
Icynene is a water blown breathable foam that expands 100-fold when applied and seals every little crack, joint and service hole completely.
Greentherm sprayed Icynene between the stud wall frame and directly on to the exposed stone walls creating a homogeneous and uninterrupted blanket of insulation, 125mm thick. The roof structure was treated similarly, spraying directly on to the breathable underfelts Icynene is ‘vapour open’ there is no need to maintain an air gap above the insulation.
To prevent noise transmission between the dwellings, Icynene was also used as cavity fill insulation in the blockwork party walls.
According to the manufacturers, because Icynene has a soft, yielding texture and open, cellular composition, it provides outstanding insulation performance yet still allows the building to breathe naturally, preventing the build-up of potentially damaging condensation.
“The whole spraying process took less than a day and a half to complete rather than the three and a half weeks it would have taken to insulate with
ICYNENE
Fully breathable, Icynene spray foam insulation was applied to the internal walls and roof area.
Icynene is a water-blown insulation that expands 100-fold when applied, sealing all cracks holes and service holes. Its open cell structure lets the building breathe naturally.
rigid boards” said James. Costs were broadly similar for both insulation methods but speed of installation and performance were in Icynene’s favour “you simply cannot fit any other kind of insulation faster” he concluded.
Throughout the process, Local Authority Building Control were kept informed and were fully supportive of the process use.
TEL: 07851 854860 29
WWW.ICYNENE.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
