Internal Wall Insulation - Sound, Thermal or Both?
Installing internal wall insulation can be carried out in a number of ways and with a variety of insulation materials -
Depending on what type of internal walls you are insulating, this can quite often govern the way it is done and what materials would be used - for instance, if you are insulating internal stud partition walls you are quite likely to be doing this for acoustic reasons rather than thermal as you more than likely would require the whole of your house to be at a similar temperature. In the instance of insulating these partition walls a good result can be achieved using Acoustic Partition Roll. APR is easy to install in between the metal or timber studs and can be very cost efficient. If you require a higher level of noise reduction then we would recommend you step up to a product such as Rockwool Flexi or Rockwool RWA45 , this product comes in slab insulation form and will reduce the sound more efficiently than the glass mineral acoustic partition roll.
When retro fitting insulation in party walls such as in between semi detached or terraced houses or apartments a number of products can be used again depending on what you are trying to achieve, the aforementioned acoustic insulations could be a suitable solution if sound reduction is the requirement. Alternatively if insulating to keep the heat in then you may want to use a pre-bonded insulation / plasterboard these are made by a lot of the top insulation manufacturers such as Kingspan , Celotex and British Gypsum. These types of insulated plasterboard come with various types of insulation on the back
of them and quite simply to coin a phrase "you get what you pay for"! The cheapest of these insulated plasterboards would have expanded polystyrene on the back moving on up the scale you can get extruded polystyrene, PIR foam and up to Phenolic foam which would be the more thermally efficient but the most expensive. These types of board can be Dot and Dabbed with drywall adhesive straight on to the wall or mechanically fixed onto the brick / block wall or into timber. An alternative method could be to batten out the walls and install rigid PIR insulation boards in between the timbers and insulate over the top of the timbers with a rigid foam insulation and finish with plasterboard or again use a laminated plasterboard.
If you are looking to insulate the inside of the external walls then a number of things can come into play such as if the walls are damp or uneven, then these both can be overcome by fixing horizontal battens then vertical battens over them, hence leaving a small airspace for the wall to breathe.
You could then use the rigid foam insulation in the same way as you would with insulating the party walls. Alternatively if you don’t mind losing more space in your room you could look at using a mineral wool product such as Knauf Earthwool or Rockwool these would be installed in between stud timbers which would need to be deeper as you would roughly need double the thickness of mineral wool insulation compared to PIR foam insulation. When fitting insulation on the inside of the external walls it is always essential to ensure a suitable vapour barrier is installed to stop the risk of interstitial condensation.
In all instances of preparing your budget to retro fit insulation internally, a large number of things need to be taken into consideration - such as having to extend internal window reveals and sills, removal and replacement of skirting & electrical fittings such as light switches and sockets, removal and replacement of radiators, removal and replacement of cornices and/or coving, and any other items that may be already present or affixed onto the wall being insulated. This can initially be off-putting, but if you started to think about adding insulation then you have done it for a reason and that is more likely because you have noticed its cold, and remember in the long run you will get some of your money back in energy bill savings.
For more advice on your options and prices for Internal Wall Insulation, feel free to give our experienced staff a call at our offices on 01793-791010 or email us your enquiry to insulation@buildingmaterialsdirect.com
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