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New facade and insulation, but how?
I don't know if I should really be asking my question under the insulation forum, but I'll try here.
We have a beautiful old house that we would like to restore to its simple traditional siding from the time and at the same time make it less energy-consuming in terms of heating. The house originally was a simple cottage with very thin plank walls that were clad with asbestos cement about half a century ago, I guess. Later, someone tried to make the house warmer by spraying some white material (which looks like polystyrene when it hardens) into the walls and floors, but when we fixed all the floors with new beams and insulation, we saw that it hadn't spread at all and was only found in thin layers in some places.
The walls, as mentioned, are very thin and obviously poorly insulated, but how can we get better insulation without extending the walls too much and ruining the appearance of the house? The ends of the rafters (eaves?) are beautifully cut, in my opinion, and I don't want to lose this detail on the house. I think we should remove the asbestos cement and see what's underneath and "start over" to save space, but my husband wants to put the siding over the asbestos cement, which would clearly be simpler and less costly. I assume we're not the first to have this problem, so I hope someone here has thoughts or experiences to help us with?
We have a beautiful old house that we would like to restore to its simple traditional siding from the time and at the same time make it less energy-consuming in terms of heating. The house originally was a simple cottage with very thin plank walls that were clad with asbestos cement about half a century ago, I guess. Later, someone tried to make the house warmer by spraying some white material (which looks like polystyrene when it hardens) into the walls and floors, but when we fixed all the floors with new beams and insulation, we saw that it hadn't spread at all and was only found in thin layers in some places.
The walls, as mentioned, are very thin and obviously poorly insulated, but how can we get better insulation without extending the walls too much and ruining the appearance of the house? The ends of the rafters (eaves?) are beautifully cut, in my opinion, and I don't want to lose this detail on the house. I think we should remove the asbestos cement and see what's underneath and "start over" to save space, but my husband wants to put the siding over the asbestos cement, which would clearly be simpler and less costly. I assume we're not the first to have this problem, so I hope someone here has thoughts or experiences to help us with?
A problem that really only has one good answer.
To make the house somewhat more insulated, the most important thing is to make it airtight and to properly insulate the edges of the joists. The junction of the floor and wall usually has gaps.
Then proper insulation in the attic with cellulose and salt that works well with wood shavings, moss, doorways, etc.
Don't forget the window caulking and to regulate the draft in the chimney during winter, but a healthy house must breathe.
To make the house somewhat more insulated, the most important thing is to make it airtight and to properly insulate the edges of the joists. The junction of the floor and wall usually has gaps.
Then proper insulation in the attic with cellulose and salt that works well with wood shavings, moss, doorways, etc.
Don't forget the window caulking and to regulate the draft in the chimney during winter, but a healthy house must breathe.
It's windproof with the Eternit, I suppose, but I understand that you mean we need to remove the Eternit to properly insulate?
The attic is insulated with fiberglass by the previous owner, and when we bought the house, the inspector had them remove half of the insulation as he claimed that too little heat was rising to the attic. Should we replace it? We use our fireplace a lot during the winter, so I hope the draft in the chimney is okay. We are also considering installing a water-jacketed stove at the other chimney, which is not in use today.
The attic is insulated with fiberglass by the previous owner, and when we bought the house, the inspector had them remove half of the insulation as he claimed that too little heat was rising to the attic. Should we replace it? We use our fireplace a lot during the winter, so I hope the draft in the chimney is okay. We are also considering installing a water-jacketed stove at the other chimney, which is not in use today.
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