Home  5  Books  5  GBEzine  5  News  5  HelpDesk  5  Register  5  GreenBuilding.co.uk
Not signed in (Sign In)

Categories



Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.
Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


powered by Surfing Waves




Vanilla 1.0.3 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome to new Forum Visitors
 Join the forum now and benefit from discussions with thousands of other green building fans and discounts on Green Building Press publications: Apply now.




Housing - Renovation: Is localised insulation of old slab worth it?

Bottom of Page

1 to 9 of 9

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorwholaa
    • CommentTimeMay 6th 2021 edited
     
    I am having an old slab removed in parts of an old floor in a very old terrace house, for insertion of a new plumbing pipe. The old slab is not insulated. When this is being done, is there anything stopping me from adding some EPS (as chunks or beads) or glass foam insulation gravel around the pipe to get a wee bit of insulation into the floor? I know it is not going to make a huge difference but I have seen the thermal conductivity data on concrete and even a crude 1 cm of EPS makes a significant improvement that is worth the ten mins it would take but I don't want to damage the newly laid concrete. Or would cold bridging make it a waste of time? It is being done by plumbers who are not very knowledgeable on the topic
    __________________
  2.  
    IMO any insulation is better than not having it. It reduces the heat loss in that area and with a floor if it is at the outside edges of the floor then worth a lot more than in the middle.
    • CommentAuthorwholaa
    • CommentTimeMay 6th 2021
     
    Great. Do you think a sprinkling of glass foam or EPS beads scattered throughout would weaken the new concrete? I presume the insulation has to be really embedded in so water cant get into the insulation
  4.  
    EPS under the concrete. I wouldn't mix anything into the concrete. EPS is not affected by any water from either ground up or concrete down. Use 100 grade EPS.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeMay 7th 2021
     
    Does part L1b of the building regulations apply to these works?
    • CommentAuthorjms452
    • CommentTimeMay 7th 2021
     
    Posted By: wholaaI am having an old slab removed in parts of an old floor in very old terrace house, for insertion of a new plumbing pipe.


    How much extra removal to do the lot?

    I don't know the scale but consider if you could do the lot and do it properly..?
    Maybe even build in under floor heating to get heat pump ready..?

    Insulating a solid floor is incredibly disruptive so I suspect it is now or never...
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeMay 10th 2021
     
    Perhaps sleeve the pipe as some plastics like PVC should not be in contact with EPS.
    • CommentAuthorwholaa
    • CommentTimeMay 12th 2021
     
    I am very glad you pointed that out CWatters. The plumbers are concerned insulation will increase risk of cracking. Really we don't know what they are going to find when they start cutting so time will tell if it is possible to insulate. The drainage is pretty awful 1970s retrofit, a street gutter drain was used as the houses drain
    • CommentAuthorEd Davies
    • CommentTimeMay 12th 2021
     
    Posted By: CWattersPerhaps sleeve the pipe as some plastics like PVC should not be in contact with EPS.
    Is EPS a problem for unplasticised PVC? Not sure, but I thought the problem was that the EPS somehow sucked the plasticiser out of wires, etc, making them brittle.

1 to 9 of 9

  1.  
Add your comments

    Username Password
  • Format comments as
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
   
The Ecobuilding Buzz
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
Logout    

© Green Building Press