When I wrote the last blog in September 2010, I thought it would be a couple of weeks to finishing. Unfortunately that proved not to be the case. We had a number of delays caused by contractors not being available and then we had the bad weather – which went on and on. We got fairly frustrated as the weather delays were understandable but we kept remembering the good days when no-one came to do any work. Weeks went by with nothing happening at all. We finally got the last work done in the last week of February 2011.
We have tried to stay positive despite the frustration & not let the delays colour our view of the work. We have been really pleased with the effect of the insulation – we are warm and comfortable and we have already worked out that our daily usage of gas during this cold winter is less than the yearly average of the previous 12 months (ie including the summer months when gas usage is minimal). Our new Clearview woodburner is great – lights really quickly, heats the room in a quarter of the time of the previous woodburner and uses less wood – brilliant!
Our aim with regard to our cottage was that the works that we have had done should not be obvious to see. We wanted the cottage to look as it did prior to the building work. You can see for yourself if we achieved this.
House after completion Feb 11
We think that once the climbers have returned to their previous height, only by looking closedly will you be aware that the walls are 4in thicker than before.
Wondering if you could give us any more feedback on your external insulation. We are wondering about having this done but have been quoted £25k, are looking at other quotes. Can you recommend some people to do this? We have a 1930-s house and are also getting cavity wall insulation but wondering whether to add to this with external insulation.
Wow, well done both, amazing!
Hi Ingrid
sorry to be ridulously late in responding – we didn’t get your comment through until now. I expect you have already decided what to do but in case….. I would think that if your 1930′s house has cavity walls then that should be OK. We previously lived in one which were solid brick so couldn’t do cavity wall insulation. The figure you have been quoted looks around what I would expect for a detached house. I think it would be worth doing all the other things you can before embarking on external wall insulation as it is a significant operation.