External Insulation Matters

[Glassman]

Have been thinking about external insulation for a while but didn't go for it because I dithered over it and ended up running out of year. Have also had a few things going on which took up a lot of time.

I'm looking to get some idea of the dos and don'ts as well as any recommendations and suggestions. The house has 9" walls. No cavities. It's a post-war gable-front (and rear) building; detached. Three sides are in pebble-dash and the fourth is in old stocks with two external chimney breasts. There is a (ground floor) extension at the back which is insulated; the loft has also been converted and sits within the gabled roof.

My questions are:

1. Is it best to removed the pebble-dashing? I've heard some suggestions about going over the top of it but I would rather it was taken off because I think it's blown on the rear wall plus the gables are almost flush with the tiles of the roof.

2. Windows. They need changing. Before the insulation, or after?

[John D.]

Replace the windows first. Then the render (presumably?) on the insulation can be finished into the windows neatly.

If the insulation is mechanically fixed I'm not sure what difference removing the pebble dash will make.

[Glassman]

John D. said:

Replace the windows first. Then the render (presumably?) on the insulation can be finished into the windows neatly.

If the insulation is mechanically fixed I'm not sure what difference removing the pebble dash will make.

I can't see how they will finish the top edge on the gables. It's already flush.

[No ideas for a name]

Glassman said:

I can't see how they will finish the top edge on the gables. It's already flush.

Removing the pebbledash is only going to gain you about 20mm.
If the tiles are flush with the gable, then it sounds like the roof needs to be extended. I assume that means stripping off the last few 'columns' of tiles, extending the woodwork and adding another column of tiles. Main issue will be finding matching tiles.

My neighbour a few houses down had his done last year (along with the other side of the semi)... I will take a look up to see how they did their ends.

[Glassman]

Found an image on my phone; it was taken at a bit of an angle and makes the loft look narrow on the left (it's not).

[mattvanders]

I’ve got a thread on here (1930’s goodlife) of our renovation but haven’t updated it for the year yet. We have done external render on the flat walls but haven’t done anything on the front bay window. I actually did internal thermal insulation plaster board as very few companies would do the bay window (time consuming with more cutting and shaping of the foam). The flatter surfaces shouldn’t be as much of an issue. Get windows replaced first, then extend covers over the window seals. We had a new roof and had the eves extended past the original position to make it all look right.

[No ideas for a name]

No ideas for a name said:

My neighbour a few houses down had his done last year (along with the other side of the semi)... I will take a look up to see how they did their ends.

I just looked at my neighbour's and compared it to the unmolested house next door to his which is the save/similar design.
Looks like the roof used to overhang the gable end by say 300mm..... the insulated one now has a very small overhang. So, they didn't need to pull the roof over, but 'used up' all that space.