Get an IR camera, if you try a different insulation method on the next exterior wall take a look at both walls with an IR camera. Visually it should make for an interesting YT video.
This book is a comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to build a second unit on their property. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxzaRUJNcbypw-fRBDbqqz43ULIa-1EGP- It showcases various types of houses, such as garage apartments, with photos, videos, and floor plans. The book provides the square footage and the dimensions of each house, as well as the option to order the plans or customize them according to your preferences. You can choose from a range of styles, from ultra modern to cottages and A frame lake houses. The book also offers suggestions for sheds, pool houses, and office studio buildings. This book is an ideal resource for the aspiring home designer.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but a suggestion from me would be to pull some data cables through the walls while you have the plasterboard off. More and more home devices are trending towards being "smart" or network connected and some will always perform better via a cable rather than Wifi. It may not be as useful in a bedroom, but in the living spaces and office space data cable could be extremely helpful. It can also just be left in the wall instead of presented if you don't immediately have a use for it. Love the videos, keep it up. Marc.
Wifi works great since the AC standard so ethernet cables are obsolete unless you need to connect a small server park. Wouldn't bother in a wooden/plasterboard house anyway. Here in Europe we live in houses with 30cm rebarred concrete walls, and HR++ glass. They actually limit your WiFi, but these types of builds do not.
Excellent idea. Purchase bulk Cat 6a cable and run a couple lines to each room now. Anyone who says you won't ever need cables is ignorant. Modern wifi still isn't capable of serving even a fraction of the bandwidth. You can route all cables to a central location where you now have an abundance of new network options. Even if you don't need a whole server, you could setup a simple data backup system that you can now transfer media to at data center level speeds. Not to mention being able to utilize the full speed of fiber internet.
@@GatorBird22 Suit yourself. You do know that modern WiFi has higher speeds than 1G (1000 Mbit/s) cable right? The only thing to consider would be to run 10G lines through the house. You will need a 10G workstation, CAT6a cable, 10G switches, 10G server / synology... ánd a disk array that can actually keep up with higher speeds. Leave one component out of that chain and WiFi is just as fast. I edit a lot of video and I work on a local SSD, then synology just mirrors the files to the server on it's own pace. I have a full 10G network and a very fast disk array.... but it's still too slow to work on it directly. And although the mirroring is obviously faster over 10G, 1G would do just fine as you don't have a constant stream of changes during the whole day. I find 10G expensive for the benefits you reap, and by the time it will get cheaper, then WiFi-6 and 802.11ax have taken off and will still about match the 10G corded solution. So yeah, I don't see the use for corded as it would only make sense in a datacenter/server on which multiple people are working on simultaneously. I get the sentiment though. I used to be the same. And each to his own: if you have a better feeling with a cable, please go for it. Just don't say it's far superior to wifi, since it's not.
R15 with 2x4 walls is standard recommended in zone 4 in the USA. In countries where the SI system is generally in use, the R-values will also normally be given in SI units. This includes the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. I-P values are commonly given in the United States and Canada, though in Canada normally both I-P and RSI values are listed. International System of Units (SI) while those in the US (based on measurements in Fahrenheit as opposed to Celsius) are approximately 5.71 times those measured using SI. So if that is true R15 in the USA = R2.62 in NZ
Canada would be the same Rvalues as the States. Our code in Ontario (some of the most strict building codes) requires a minimum of R22 in above grade walls, R20 in below grade walls, R31 in cathedral or flat ceilings and R60 in traditional attic ceilings. This equates to RSI of 3.87, 3.52, 5.46, and 10.56 in order. I would argue though, that the way Scott has installed it isn't a true R2 in the first method, as he didn't install behind the 'noggs? Thus leaving a cold space. Not condemning that, he always does the best work possible. The next layer on top covered that, but the whole system wouldn't be effectively rated to his quoted, R3 I think he said. And yes, I know he's renovating and that's different. Here in Ontario, our corners are framed open too, so you can always get insulation into the corners and we would install 6Mil Vapour barrier before drywall (gyp board, plaster board) too. Love these videos
And the Oscar goes to Jesse’s dad. What a performance. Hands in the pockets, perfect delivery, genuinely seemed interested, all the right questions, what a professional.
Thanks for this video - really helpful! I'm renovating an old Japanese house and have a very similar situation in parts of my walls. I'm going to use your method of inserting the sheets into the cavity before the insulation. We have rockwool here readily available. Cheers.
I adore your house and setup. The detached garage is so nice for you, the garden space is wonderful for Jess. Your home is a perfect size to live in and do nice renovations without them becoming huge projects. It's really heart warming to see you go from your apt and a storage container, to now having your own home with a garage : ) I love you
Living in California, we remodeled our old 450 sqft cottage and added another 500sq ft. It didn't have exterior wall insulation in the old part. We ended up removing all the old redwood siding (along with all the lead paint) and doing osb shear wall, tyvek wrap, hardie plank (cement board) siding and pink insulation in the wall cavity. The combination of lead paint, straighening out some out of plumb walls and matching the addition siding; made it make sense to reside the house. Also spray foam insulation was prohibitively expensive. Its a very clever system you have come up with! Looks to be very economical too! Also, just an observation: It looks like your citrus tree in the intro could use a bit of fertilizer. The yellow leaves with green veins is chlorosis, usually indicating iron or magnesium deficiency. Any all purpose or citrus fert will fix it right up. Here in CA, we have to fertilize 2-4 times a year (depending on soil conditions) to keep citrus happy and productive. Enjoy your vids! Cheers!
This seems like a good system to give better conductive insulation while maintaining drying potential! It’s not perfect but as Hemingway said “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is” Scott, do not forget about the convection heat losses. In a old house like this the wind can render the conductive heat resistance useless if all the heat gets blown out of the house by a breeze. Different researchers arrive at different numbers but a conservative estimate seems to be that 30% of the energy used for heating and cooling come from air-loss. The best way to reduce convective heat losses in your climate and house is to use drywall as an air-control layer. If the walls and ceilings are drywalled with an airtight connection it’ll greatly improve the comfort of the house. Make sure that all the electrical boxes and heating ducts get’s seals to the drywall and are airtight. It can occur great air-losses from electrical boxes and plumbing. Use expandable foam (in a can) to seal the internal wall cavity from inside the attic space. Also, check gaps and holes in cavity sliding door pockets from above. Internal wall sliding doors can contribute to significant air leakage. The trickiest connection to make airtight in your house is between the floor and wall. The easiest method is to use Spray Polyurethane Foam to seal and insulate under the floorboards. This is not a DIY job. Furthermore the framing and drywall should get caulked to the floor boards, then you should have a good system. Just don’t forget that a house needs ventilation. But this should preferably be handled by mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. The essence of what I am trying to communicate is the with not a lot of economical investment you can greatly improve the performance of your house. It’s about paying attention to the details of how every penetration and connection gets handled. There is an Australian company called Efficiency Matrix that also has a youtube channel that have a lot of great information applicable for you and the details you should implement.
I've been insulating/renovating my 100+ year old house in NZ for some time now, here is what I've found. Insulation improves things a lot but will not work anywhere near its full potential if air gaps in the house are not dealt with. The Insulation stops heat migrating through ceilings and walls but does not stop that warm air escaping through gaps. Even small gaps move a huge amount of air in my experience. The worst areas are behind window/door reveals, around skirting boards, and especially around the perimeter of lowered ceilings. Pay particular attention to previously renovated areas that were not finished well. The other issue (in my case) was hollow walls that had timber sarking both sides and no dwangs. The ceilings were lowered but the walls are hollow well above the lowered ceiling and they act like big heat radiators in the roof space. My solution was to pull off a few sarking boards just above ceiling height in the roof space and tightly fit pink batts atleast 400mm down the wall cavity, further if possible. This made a huge difference. Expanding foam has also been very useful in many areas. Wall cavity moisture in exterior walls is a concern after insulation, I'm going to reclad my house on the worst weather wall and use a cavity batten to separate the cladding from the wall cavity. Your idea for a 20mm air gap is a good one in my opinion, if the insulation gets wet it will become a big problem, so it makes a lot of sense. It can be tricky renovating old houses but can be very rewarding work turning something old into something new again.
You are 100% correct. Stopping air flow is the number one priority when insulating. Many insulation products, like glass wool, lose their r value when air passes through it. The same is true with water.
After spending a year doing a renovation of a 100+ vila. I would agree that getting the moisture release is very important. I’ve tried a few different approaches. But think my new strategy of pulling off the weatherboard. Putting on rigid air board with taped joints, then cavity battens, then massive R value insulation and new gib is great. But better is RAB board and insulated plasterboard. Its not a precise science though. Whatever works in terms of cost, time and effort
At the same time houses without a heat exchanger can be too tight…”sick building syndrome”. Does he plan to install one? If not I wouldn’t worry about a little fresh air migration.
In the UK, a timber framed building would have the cavity filled with a PIR insulation with the best practice being it fitted with a product like gapotape. Then externally you would have a breathable membrane, then counter battened to allow airflow, then your cladding.
Exactly the same in Ireland with vapor barrier inside, also if using fiberglass insulation vapor barrier keeps fiberglass insulation particles from interning the building.
What I have gathered from being in the industry for over 20 years(mostly home renovation in the north east UnitedStates) and watching building channels from around the world is that vapor barrier, and insulation detail are very climate dependent. Methods that work in dry climates aren't the answer for wet climates, which may not be the answer for a cold climate or a mild climate. Your best resource would be from local builders. Typically high end builders will be a better source of info because they with the budgets to implement latest technologies and methods. Maybe also look to see if there are building organizations/groups/clubs. They maybe able to point you in a good direction and offer good localized information. Matt risinger is a good source of starting information, but he based out of Texas, which is a hot dry climate. He methods may not transfer to well or be as effective in the south island's mild climate.
yeap, everything related to insulation and barriers is, and more, the structure also, the materials and so on. Where I live the the state agency in charge of the building domain, will regularly publish standards for everything, that contain all the coefficients needed for the builders to calculate their wall loads, girder loads, roof loads, wall thickness and so on, so that a minimum is reached in all concerns, since we are in an earthquake prone area, as well as snow and winds, so there's a lot of shits to take into consideration, hence only in the past 15 years the modular wood or metal building actually came into the market.
Parts of Texas are very humid. Austin is on the boundary between the dry part and the wet part so in the same week it can be as humid as Houston some days and bone dry a few days later.
@@bobloblaw10001 Risinger 'The Build Show' there in the Austin area is a very big proponent of building NRG efficient homes. He is a big proponent of the zip system, which keeps the moisture out, and then uses air purifying/humidity controlling equipment on the inside. He gets grief in comments that the products and materials are too expensive for the average consumer, but he is a good source of information if your goal is to build an NRG efficient home.
Apparently countries like US and Canada (as opposed to Europe, New Zealand and most others) does not use RSI, but an imperial variant: R-value (in I-P) ≈ RSI-value (in SI) × 5.678263 RSI-value (in SI) ≈ R-value (in I-P) × 0.1761102 From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)
Hi ya Scott and Jess. We are renovating a 1905 house in Oamaru and especially this episode is absolutely gold for us. Thank you guys sooo much for such a great channel and all your hard work. Kind regards David & Brenda
What an interesting video. I live in Ontario, Canada and watching this video, and then reading comments bringing building code from all over the world makes me realize how strict our building code is here. Im a builder in Ontario and we wouldn't be able to do what Scott has done here, even in a reno. Not knocking the work by any means, just interesting how different it is. Our building code and the research I have done shows how important vapour barrier is. A few things, though. It HAS to be on the 'warm side.' Meaning when heating your home, its cold outside, warm inside, so it is installed on your studs before drywall (plaster board). It CANNOT go on the cold side, behind your cladding, because that allows moisture into your wall cavity, insulation, etc and will breed mold and decay. Also you can't have 2 vapour barriers, inside and outside, this traps moisture within the wall cavity and makes a mess. When Ontario brought in mandatory 1" (R5) exterior insulation a few years ago, people onstalled it without enough knowledge and some used a product that had an outside vapour barrier. This then created the double vapour barrier and ruined a lot of homes. The exterior wrap or 1" insulation board needs to breath, we use Tyvek, similar to the product Scott used before installing the first round of insulation. Most importantly, we treat the home as an envelope and believe that the tighter that envelope (the least amount of air movement from inside to out), the better. And the tighter envelope is more important than all the insulation in the world. Small holes/gaps allow air exchange and renders the insulation almost invaluable (to an extent, obviously). We hen have HRV's (heat recovery ventilators) to breathe for our homes mechanically, as you need air movement, but in a controlled manner. ... sorry, that was a lot. Love the videos and the different perspectives!
As a guy living in nordic country I am impressed how thorough you made your insulation. Nice! IMHO despite of climate any building should have good insulation.
Plus, their Quadcore formulation now achieves the same thermal performance for the next thickness down i.e. 80mm now gives you the same as the old 100mm.
Hey buddy, I’m a long time fan, I’ve learnt a lot from you. The reason for my comment is, I believe you are one of the few creators that can seamlessly transition into commercials , unlike other channels it doesn’t seem intrusive at all. It shows you actually have an awareness, keep up the great work my friend✌🏻
There's imperial R ratings as well, but there's no easy calculation between the two. R3.0 in the walls, and R6+ in the ceiling and underfloor will make you super cosy and that heat pump will hardly have to work to keep your place warm. I'm in Canberra where it get's down to -5C and now that I've managed to get everything (except the walls, currently R1.5) upgraded, our heat pumps are only set on 18C and we are comfortable year round.
With Canberra is that the preferred combo? I think I've got r2 in the walls and r3 in the ceiling. I'm looking to upgrade and was interested in which r values you'd use for the 40 to -6 temperature ranges we get?
Interested to see how you’re going to solve the issue of your window reveals. Seen as you’ve effectively created a service cavity but the windows obviously weren’t set up for that initially. Maybe a two piece architrave that wraps into the reveal as well? Would be hard to make it look nice though, with quirks etc.
Mold between the plasterboard and vapour barrier can manifest only if enough moisture can form in that particular spot. And that can happen only if the insulation thickness is insufficient. Warm air from the room meets cold vapour barrier surface and water steam transforms into condensate. Mineral type insulations (glass wool, rock wool) require vapour barrier because of their poor capabilities to diffuse moisture (they soak up water very good, but drying out is a pita), plus every percent of soaked up moisture drops their R or U values dramatically.
Hey Scott, how about using sheep's wool insulation? It has an R-value of approximately 3.5 to 3.8 per inch of material thickness and there must be plenty of that in NZ???
I love the idea of making it the best version of the house it can be. We have a 1940s weatherboard and have done a similar method with the paper internally with a gap then earthwool 2.7s. It’s such a big improvement! And 100% on expanding foaming all the gaps! Less bugs can get into!
Nice going! Love the content! I built a new house here in Sweden 2017, I have 35cm insulation in the walls, 30cm insulation in below the concrete pad and 60cm insulation in the roof! But we need it in winter time :) Best regards David
I like the comment about making the house the best version of itself, not the best house. Comments for example on having the building wrap on the outside of the framing are all well and good for a new house, but you are not going to achieve that here without ripping the cladding off. It is about improving an old house, within reason. Can you tell us if the external wall insulation was covered by the consent process?
risking repeating what others may have already mentioned, have you considered hempcrete (mixture of hemp fibre aggregate bonded with lime)... hemp being well insulating yet pervious hence regulates humidity i.e. no vapour barrier needed & lime being anti-fungal protects the existing woodwork/framing. Perhaps hemp products/systems aren't available on your side of the planet but if at hand I'd highly recommend this 100% natural/sustainable & nontoxic material! Come to think of it, potential down side for your specific renovation is wall thickness could be inadequate... Anyways, well enjoy your channel & manner... brilliant & informative entertainment doesn't congest this platform, thanks for being an exception that confirms the rule!
Hey Scott. I work in building physics research, so can help answer a few of your questions... - Yes, in the US they use imperial R-values (ft2 F h / BTU), whereas we use metric R-values (m2 K / W) almost everywhere else - You are right about vapour barriers too. They are typically only a good idea in regions with harsh winters and very mild summers. The general rule of thumb is to place the most resistance to vapour transfer on the warm side of the insulation - this avoids condensation. So in cold climates, a vapour barrier can be installed on the indoor side of the wall, but in more temperate and/or variable climates like we have in NZ and Aus., it's better to allow the wall to dry in both directions. - I don't see any value in installing the strips of building wrap on the indoor side of the frame either - if it was me I wouldn't bother. - If it were me, I probably wouldn't bother installing the membrane between frame members, or establishing the 20 mm cavity, either. The membrane is unlikely to be very effective as an air barrier, vapour control layer, or back-up waterproof layer when it is so discontinuous. If it's standard practice in NZ it's probably worth doing though - maybe I'm missing something. Thanks for all the great videos! I'm slowly renovating a house of similar vintage myself - I'm always interested to see how you're tackling each challenge.
Hey Alan, what would you recommend if insulating between studs in a subtropical area such as Brisbane? Seems to be a distinct lack of info on insulating old weatherboard etc houses other than just pulling all the external cladding off.
In the Netherlands we use the saying: insulating means ventilation. Which means that if you close all the gaps you need an other way to get fresh air in your house. We have heat recovery ventilation here that uses the warm air to pre heat the cold air from outside. 👍🏻
Currently doing a 1930s Bungalow in the UK. We’ve built a stud frame 100mm in from the existing wall. We’ve then wedged a 100mm layer of insulation in between that and the frame so that we have no thermal bridges and then packed the frame out with insulation. You are right to be concerned about moisture when insulating internally. Definitely want to use a vapour open construction like you have so moisture can escape to inside and out. We’ve used Steico Flex wood fibre insulation, not sure if it’s available in NZ? But it’s great! 1. It’s not itchy to install 2. You can just cut it with a normal saw 3. It has thermal mass so takes longer to heat up in summer, insulating better from the heat 4. It’s denser than most insulation so has really good sound proofing properties Another alternative we looked at was sheep’s wool however that was a little more expensive and didn’t have as much going for it. Also using a wood wool plasterboard and lime plaster on the wall to keep things vapour open. Has meant we haven’t needed any vapour control layers etc
If you can't remove the exterior cladding, this seems like a good solution. The only thing I would have done differently is to tape over the studs to seal the housewrap sections between the studs to each other so that I had a continuous air barrier. It seems like it might be less work than applying the stripping over each stud too.
@@GWHAWK87 removing the exterior cladding and adding continuous foam insulation over the sheathing and water barrier before reinstalling cladding is the ideal solution
Side note. After finding this channel a few weeks back, I finally finished watching the entire back catalogue - all caught up. I learn interesting things in just about every exciting episode. I'm not a builder - I just make and refinish stuff in the home workshop, as well as home remodeling work. Build all my home office furnishings (cabinets, tables, shelves), as well as Marcia's office furnishings (cabinets, counter tops, and hutches). Old connection to NZ, family friends (from Wellington) my folks met on their delayed honeymoon while I was a pre-natal passenger. Never been, hope to some post-covid day... Be well!
I would say , stick to getting advice from those who are of a similar climate. Here in California of the u.s.a, our energy buildings is not even close to yours. We have wild swings in temps and extreme heating and cooling is needed. But where you are I imagine not so much. And most definitely not even close to Texas, where Matt is from.
Hi been watching you since you started. I am a bricklayer by trade but like you can put my hand to everything. You have some very good ideas. I always try and yours celotex insulation instead of fiber glass in england as you know we are bit colder we have snow. Lol
I didn't quite get how you sorted the windows.....were they the original frame/reveal? with the extra insul would have thought they would need to be extended.
North West Scotland here. Just finished a timber frame extension to an old stone built cottage. !50mm timber studs with the bays filled with 120mm PIR foam panels, 25mm foil faced PIR foam over the face of the studs internally with joints taped and another 25mm over the outside before strapping and timber cladding for a total of 170mm depth of PIR insulation. Roof has 200mm rafters with the rafter bays filled with 150mm PIR, 35mm foil faced sheets internally across the rafters with another 35mm externally before battening, sarking and slating for a total of 220mm of PIR insulation.
In France, for certifying a renovated house, R value for external walls is at 3,7 minima and roofs (empty attics) at 4,5 minima. (R value is expressed in m2 Kelvin par Watt (m2. K/W)
I’m a carpenter working in Auckland, the Rockwool is a common insulation, I used it in almost every projects, of course it’s not available in Bunnings, but not hard to get.
Here in Denmark we also have R value, but its most common calculated to U-value. Both is an expression of how much heat escapes through 1 m²(cubic meter) of the construction at a temperature difference of 1 degree between the exterior and interior of the construction part (W/m²K). Where as R is higher the better, U-value is better the lower. We also have some pretty high isolation standards in our building regulations. Currently for a newly build Class 2022 house, you need at least: 455mm isolation in the roof, 335-300mm in the walls depending on it being bricks or wood or another "light" material and 300mm in the floor. It wasn't that fun being an apprentice, cause you would do all the isolation where I was an apprentice.
Same with the U-Value in Switzerland. Almost a half a meter of insulation for the roof is impressive! I think new builds here have to be U 1.6 or so, that makes about 200 mills of styrofoam on the outside walls (Usually still a classic plastered styrofoam on brick build, which isnt my favorit, but the cheapest unfortunatly)
The same method for trying to minimize cold areas are used here in Sweden as well. I did my garage with 195 mm and 45 mm of insultation. Since Im particular about what I put in my walls I use wooden fibre instead of glasfibre/rockwoll. About the same U-value as glasfibre. And we dont use R-value.
I saw a video of you doing this for someone else’s house a while back Scott, thought it was brilliant and when we did our kitchen reno recently we did the external walls just like this (but 2.2, we’re in Melb & don’t need the extra). Thanks to your great idea, we can stand to be in our kitchen in winter 🙏😃 Cheers to you.
This is a good resource for vapor barriers, from AUS so perhaps more relevant than other countries (product is German though). Matt's content is great, I love learning from his team, very knowledgeable in the way he applies the systems, it is hard to transfer that to AUS as yes most of the products are not available.
Its fun to see the different standards and codes around the world:) The "Tek17" codes we use here in Norway now calls for 20cm insulation in the walls, and about 40cm in the roof. We also use the vaporbarrier and outside windbreak/Tyvek witch is also taped against all the openings (windows, doors, vents and pipes etc.) to make it close to airtight. Add that to the tripple glazed windows and its nearly a passive hous. We also mostly use Rockwool or glassfibe insulation.
You are sealing and insulating your house. If you don't already have it, I suggest a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). My home has an HRV and I love having fresh air all the time, even during very cold or very hot weather when we keep the windows closed. An HRV brings in fresh air and dumps an equivalent volume of stale air from the home, and it runs the stale air and fresh air through a heat exchanger. So if it's below freezing outside, and your house is a lovely warm temperature, you aren't dumping all the heat outside when the system changes out some air. Same thing in reverse if it's really hot outside.
Hope youre doing the Farewell Spit tours from Collingwood! Awesome place. Worked as a Hammerhand on the school in collingwood for some time. anyway vapour barriers are good to stop the moist warm air from inside, condensating after it passed thru the insulation and reaches the colder outside air. But in sumer, the warm moist air from outside WILL condensate on your Gib, because itll be cooler inside. I would probably create another air gap of 20 mill. between the vapour barrier and inside Gib. That would give neat space for elektrical cables and telecom. Downside is ofcourse that you'll loose that space inside. Personally, beeing from europe, i would've liked to build my house in a Concrete, Brick and Timber symbiosis. But if i would've bought a house in NZ in that cottage light timber structure style, i'd renovate the Hell out of it too! Love your vids bro, inspirational for a Drafter and Hammerhand😎
I’m a tradesman painter from Australia and I’m really enjoying this channel, one of the great things is the snippets of Nelson that you show as well as the building work , planing a holiday there at some point , so getting a vibe of the place , keep it up , cheers.
yeah vapour barriers seem to be a bad idea. to my understanding, membranes/materials that air tight but vapour open are the one's to go for on exterior walls. I'm looking for exactly this principle for my renovation right now.
Really enjoyed this. Looking forward to seeing more. I’m doing similar work in an old home is Australia so looking forward to advice on floor and ceiling insulation for retrospective work to old homes!
Maybe using the PIR plates is a lot less time consuming? If you get the right thickness it saves you a lot of tinkering with the 20 mil air gap. I think you're doing a great job, save your wallet, save the environment! 👍🏻
Following this with great interest. One thing you should address: ventilation! Mechanical or in some other way. Most new windows here (Netherlands) have a ventilation grille in the top section that you can open/close. As said, I follow this with great interest. I'm not a pro but we (my wife and I) have restored more than a handful of houses. That is one of the reasons I came up with 'Rockwool' as an insulation material. For your roof insulation: use the same method you did with the walls. It looks tidy. Don't throw 'blankets of insulation' on your room's ceilings.
@Phil Heslop in the UK we call this type of ventilation 'trickle vents' which are usually installed as standard on modern upvc windows. They can also be retrofitted by drilling holes through the window casement and fitting the vent covers over the holes.
Many window companies in Australia and New Zealand offer vents that can go into windows commonly they open and close similar to Venetian blind there just not as common. There becoming more popular in newer homes.
Different rules in Canada . Even on west coast where it’s similar climate to yours when we rebuilt we aimed for R 50 in walls and ceilings . This was achieved with 6” vertical studs, no nogs, all bays filled with close cell spray foam, plywood siding covered with Tyvek breathable membrane, and solid cc foam 4” mounted on outside. Siding over foam with rain gap. Total 10” cc foam at ~5.5 R per inch . Triple glazed windows and glass doors. We use very little heat in winter and no cooling in summer. Moisture is controlled by heat recovery ventilator 24/7. Good luck, your work is meticulous and impressive. JG Vancouver
Use of 6" (150mm) studs here in NZ was recently suggested by someone in government so as to increase the insulation capabilities of the standard NZ houses. It was shot down by the Housing Minister with the assumption it would increase building costs at a time when costs are already skyrocketing. One of the large timber mill owners wrote an open letter in response saying he wished they'd ask the experts rather than assume. He said building with 6" (150mm) wall framing would actually use less wood than 4" because of the milling efficiencies combined with the wider stud spacing it enables. Fewer studs would also be faster construction.
I know I come late to the show regarding insulation but did you look into wood fiber and/or geotextile insulation and/or wool? Steico makes wood fiber. Geotextile i had from geopannel. And regarding wool: it's one of the best options I'm told. Also regarding insects and natural climate yadda yadda, and it should be available in NZ ;)
I'm most worried about the air leakage in the assembly here. In order, the priorities are water, air, vapor, thermal. It seems like there is no real air barrier between the exterior and interior, so the insulation won't add as much value as the R-value suggests. That said, air sealing from the inside is also questionable and seems quite difficult. (One other commenter suggested possibly taping all the seams, which might function but is very detailed work to complete.) When you eventually replace the siding, doing air sealing at that point should offer some notable comfort benefits (in addition to a reduction in heating/cooling bills), and it should be much easier to complete as well.
i agree with dosadoodle - the airtightness is super-important (factor 10 times more important than thermal insulation) say you have insulation, but the wind can blow through it.. then it takes all your heat with it... or if you use a hard panel, like PIR or PUR and the wind is able to blow between your wall and the panel... what use does it have then? it takes the air temperature with it...
@@LievenVB i agree, but your never going to get it air tight without demolishing the house. Even new houses here are not air tight. Keep in mind nz is about 40 years behind you guys in housing.
An honest question and not being facetious, what kind of real world gains would you see with that level of attention? Oftentimes professionals will recommend the best practice suitable for insulating the space shuttle. If the method used here is less efficient to a minor degree, then who cares?
@@yeahgoood air sealing solves a lot of problems and more importantly allows the opportunity for other things to be done better. now that you have control, you can do efficient ventilation, so you can have higher ventilation levels without the heat/moisture penalty you would normal have, which means a healthier more comfortable home. pretty common to have good air tight homes have double the ventilation rate. you can have better moisture management because your no longer pulling random amounts of moisture in from outside. especially in colder or humid climates it can increase durability by not having condensation/frost form in the walls/roof. for me, keeping the pollen, dust and bugs out is a major plus.
You mentioned PIR I deal with allot of that, yes it does have pretty good R value, In Kiwi terms best calc is 1 R per 25mm, So it can be better than Batts but only by a moderate margin. It is harder to work with for your situation because its very rigid, we use it for warm roofs so laid out in whole sheets on sometime thousands of square M. Yes Vapour barrier is a trap for moisture. the difference between a true vapour barrier and building wrap is breathability. I like your technique on the wall I was watching thinking its so complicated it must have been designed by BRANZ and sure enough.......... I will try it though, I have done allot of walls like that where I have replaced the plasterboard or cladding and just smooshed in as much glass wool as I can and so far its all been fine.
Maybe NZ doesn't have this, but here in UK we would have used insulated plasterboard, no battens, higher R value for thickness and better air seal. I like the airgap between weatherboards and rockwall.
I think this video shows that there needs to be a better interior lining board, something that provides better insulation and moisture resistance...especially for the renovation market...
Another exciting episode mate. Just out of curiosity, did you have to get this exterior insulation covered with consent or just get into it. My 1950s house here in chch needs better insulation but I don't want to upset the council! Chur.
@Phil Heslop Retrospective consents are NOT a thing. External wall insulation requires building consent. Building consent authorities (councils) have the ability to grant permission to do it without consent, but you'd have to wake up that sleeping dog.
Get an IR camera, if you try a different insulation method on the next exterior wall take a look at both walls with an IR camera. Visually it should make for an interesting YT video.
I so use my FLIR camera for detecting where insulation is necessary, even for electrical faults (faulty electrics are usually hotter than normal)
Sounds expensive
This book is a comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to build a second unit on their property. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxzaRUJNcbypw-fRBDbqqz43ULIa-1EGP- It showcases various types of houses, such as garage apartments, with photos, videos, and floor plans. The book provides the square footage and the dimensions of each house, as well as the option to order the plans or customize them according to your preferences. You can choose from a range of styles, from ultra modern to cottages and A frame lake houses. The book also offers suggestions for sheds, pool houses, and office studio buildings. This book is an ideal resource for the aspiring home designer.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but a suggestion from me would be to pull some data cables through the walls while you have the plasterboard off. More and more home devices are trending towards being "smart" or network connected and some will always perform better via a cable rather than Wifi.
It may not be as useful in a bedroom, but in the living spaces and office space data cable could be extremely helpful.
It can also just be left in the wall instead of presented if you don't immediately have a use for it.
Love the videos, keep it up.
Marc.
Wifi works great since the AC standard so ethernet cables are obsolete unless you need to connect a small server park. Wouldn't bother in a wooden/plasterboard house anyway. Here in Europe we live in houses with 30cm rebarred concrete walls, and HR++ glass. They actually limit your WiFi, but these types of builds do not.
Or even conduit
Everything wireless router you don’t need cabling any longer that’s in the past
Excellent idea. Purchase bulk Cat 6a cable and run a couple lines to each room now. Anyone who says you won't ever need cables is ignorant. Modern wifi still isn't capable of serving even a fraction of the bandwidth. You can route all cables to a central location where you now have an abundance of new network options. Even if you don't need a whole server, you could setup a simple data backup system that you can now transfer media to at data center level speeds. Not to mention being able to utilize the full speed of fiber internet.
@@GatorBird22 Suit yourself. You do know that modern WiFi has higher speeds than 1G (1000 Mbit/s) cable right?
The only thing to consider would be to run 10G lines through the house. You will need a 10G workstation, CAT6a cable, 10G switches, 10G server / synology... ánd a disk array that can actually keep up with higher speeds. Leave one component out of that chain and WiFi is just as fast. I edit a lot of video and I work on a local SSD, then synology just mirrors the files to the server on it's own pace. I have a full 10G network and a very fast disk array.... but it's still too slow to work on it directly. And although the mirroring is obviously faster over 10G, 1G would do just fine as you don't have a constant stream of changes during the whole day. I find 10G expensive for the benefits you reap, and by the time it will get cheaper, then WiFi-6 and 802.11ax have taken off and will still about match the 10G corded solution.
So yeah, I don't see the use for corded as it would only make sense in a datacenter/server on which multiple people are working on simultaneously. I get the sentiment though. I used to be the same. And each to his own: if you have a better feeling with a cable, please go for it. Just don't say it's far superior to wifi, since it's not.
R15 with 2x4 walls is standard recommended in zone 4 in the USA. In countries where the SI system is generally in use, the R-values will also normally be given in SI units. This includes the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. I-P values are commonly given in the United States and Canada, though in Canada normally both I-P and RSI values are listed.
International System of Units (SI) while those in the US (based on measurements in Fahrenheit as opposed to Celsius) are approximately 5.71 times those measured using SI.
So if that is true R15 in the USA = R2.62 in NZ
That's great thanks.
Thank you, I was feeling very very cold looking at my R20 walls when Scott seemed very pleased with R3.
The pdf here shows R 20 as the wall value for US Zone 4. insulationinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IL-2012.pdf
Canada would be the same Rvalues as the States. Our code in Ontario (some of the most strict building codes) requires a minimum of R22 in above grade walls, R20 in below grade walls, R31 in cathedral or flat ceilings and R60 in traditional attic ceilings. This equates to RSI of 3.87, 3.52, 5.46, and 10.56 in order.
I would argue though, that the way Scott has installed it isn't a true R2 in the first method, as he didn't install behind the 'noggs? Thus leaving a cold space. Not condemning that, he always does the best work possible. The next layer on top covered that, but the whole system wouldn't be effectively rated to his quoted, R3 I think he said. And yes, I know he's renovating and that's different. Here in Ontario, our corners are framed open too, so you can always get insulation into the corners and we would install 6Mil Vapour barrier before drywall (gyp board, plaster board) too.
Love these videos
And the Oscar goes to Jesse’s dad. What a performance. Hands in the pockets, perfect delivery, genuinely seemed interested, all the right questions, what a professional.
Thanks for this video - really helpful! I'm renovating an old Japanese house and have a very similar situation in parts of my walls. I'm going to use your method of inserting the sheets into the cavity before the insulation. We have rockwool here readily available. Cheers.
Looking forward to the video 👀
I adore your house and setup. The detached garage is so nice for you, the garden space is wonderful for Jess. Your home is a perfect size to live in and do nice renovations without them becoming huge projects. It's really heart warming to see you go from your apt and a storage container, to now having your own home with a garage : ) I love you
Definitely was not expecting to see THE awesomest possum here! 2 elbow claps!
Hello, @Zimri! Fancy seeing you here, but I guess it makes perfect sense. [triple claps]
Living in California, we remodeled our old 450 sqft cottage and added another 500sq ft. It didn't have exterior wall insulation in the old part. We ended up removing all the old redwood siding (along with all the lead paint) and doing osb shear wall, tyvek wrap, hardie plank (cement board) siding and pink insulation in the wall cavity. The combination of lead paint, straighening out some out of plumb walls and matching the addition siding; made it make sense to reside the house. Also spray foam insulation was prohibitively expensive.
Its a very clever system you have come up with! Looks to be very economical too!
Also, just an observation: It looks like your citrus tree in the intro could use a bit of fertilizer. The yellow leaves with green veins is chlorosis, usually indicating iron or magnesium deficiency. Any all purpose or citrus fert will fix it right up. Here in CA, we have to fertilize 2-4 times a year (depending on soil conditions) to keep citrus happy and productive.
Enjoy your vids! Cheers!
This seems like a good system to give better conductive insulation while maintaining drying potential! It’s not perfect but as Hemingway said “Now is no time to think of what you do not have.
Think of what you can do with that there is”
Scott, do not forget about the convection heat losses. In a old house like this the wind can render the conductive heat resistance useless if all the heat gets blown out of the house by a breeze. Different researchers arrive at different numbers but a conservative estimate seems to be that 30% of the energy used for heating and cooling come from air-loss.
The best way to reduce convective heat losses in your climate and house is to use drywall as an air-control layer. If the walls and ceilings are drywalled with an airtight connection it’ll greatly improve the comfort of the house. Make sure that all the electrical boxes and heating ducts get’s seals to the drywall and are airtight. It can occur great air-losses from electrical boxes and plumbing.
Use expandable foam (in a can) to seal the internal wall cavity from inside the attic space. Also, check gaps and holes in cavity sliding door pockets from above. Internal wall sliding doors can contribute to significant air leakage.
The trickiest connection to make airtight in your house is between the floor and wall. The easiest method is to use Spray Polyurethane Foam to seal and insulate under the floorboards. This is not a DIY job. Furthermore the framing and drywall should get caulked to the floor boards, then you should have a good system.
Just don’t forget that a house needs ventilation. But this should preferably be handled by mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.
The essence of what I am trying to communicate is the with not a lot of economical investment you can greatly improve the performance of your house. It’s about paying attention to the details of how every penetration and connection gets handled. There is an Australian company called Efficiency Matrix that also has a youtube channel that have a lot of great information applicable for you and the details you should implement.
I've been insulating/renovating my 100+ year old house in NZ for some time now, here is what I've found.
Insulation improves things a lot but will not work anywhere near its full potential if air gaps in the house are not dealt with. The Insulation stops heat migrating through ceilings and walls but does not stop that warm air escaping through gaps. Even small gaps move a huge amount of air in my experience. The worst areas are behind window/door reveals, around skirting boards, and especially around the perimeter of lowered ceilings. Pay particular attention to previously renovated areas that were not finished well. The other issue (in my case) was hollow walls that had timber sarking both sides and no dwangs. The ceilings were lowered but the walls are hollow well above the lowered ceiling and they act like big heat radiators in the roof space. My solution was to pull off a few sarking boards just above ceiling height in the roof space and tightly fit pink batts atleast 400mm down the wall cavity, further if possible. This made a huge difference.
Expanding foam has also been very useful in many areas.
Wall cavity moisture in exterior walls is a concern after insulation, I'm going to reclad my house on the worst weather wall and use a cavity batten to separate the cladding from the wall cavity. Your idea for a 20mm air gap is a good one in my opinion, if the insulation gets wet it will become a big problem, so it makes a lot of sense.
It can be tricky renovating old houses but can be very rewarding work turning something old into something new again.
You are 100% correct. Stopping air flow is the number one priority when insulating. Many insulation products, like glass wool, lose their r value when air passes through it. The same is true with water.
Yup.. airflow matters much more than people realise..
A lot of the facade work (metal cladding)I do these days specifies taped seams/penos.
After spending a year doing a renovation of a 100+ vila. I would agree that getting the moisture release is very important.
I’ve tried a few different approaches. But think my new strategy of pulling off the weatherboard. Putting on rigid air board with taped joints, then cavity battens, then massive R value insulation and new gib is great. But better is RAB board and insulated plasterboard.
Its not a precise science though. Whatever works in terms of cost, time and effort
At the same time houses without a heat exchanger can be too tight…”sick building syndrome”. Does he plan to install one? If not I wouldn’t worry about a little fresh air migration.
@@ztifbob The decision to install one is based entirely on how leaky the house is.
In the UK, a timber framed building would have the cavity filled with a PIR insulation with the best practice being it fitted with a product like gapotape. Then externally you would have a breathable membrane, then counter battened to allow airflow, then your cladding.
Exactly the same in Ireland with vapor barrier inside, also if using fiberglass insulation vapor barrier keeps fiberglass insulation particles from interning the building.
What I have gathered from being in the industry for over 20 years(mostly home renovation in the north east UnitedStates) and watching building channels from around the world is that vapor barrier, and insulation detail are very climate dependent. Methods that work in dry climates aren't the answer for wet climates, which may not be the answer for a cold climate or a mild climate. Your best resource would be from local builders. Typically high end builders will be a better source of info because they with the budgets to implement latest technologies and methods. Maybe also look to see if there are building organizations/groups/clubs. They maybe able to point you in a good direction and offer good localized information. Matt risinger is a good source of starting information, but he based out of Texas, which is a hot dry climate. He methods may not transfer to well or be as effective in the south island's mild climate.
yeap, everything related to insulation and barriers is, and more, the structure also, the materials and so on. Where I live the the state agency in charge of the building domain, will regularly publish standards for everything, that contain all the coefficients needed for the builders to calculate their wall loads, girder loads, roof loads, wall thickness and so on, so that a minimum is reached in all concerns, since we are in an earthquake prone area, as well as snow and winds, so there's a lot of shits to take into consideration, hence only in the past 15 years the modular wood or metal building actually came into the market.
Vapor drive - nature always finds a balance. Here in SW Florida we have wicked high humidity year round, so the vapor barrier is on the outside.
Parts of Texas are very humid. Austin is on the boundary between the dry part and the wet part so in the same week it can be as humid as Houston some days and bone dry a few days later.
@@bobloblaw10001 Risinger 'The Build Show' there in the Austin area is a very big proponent of building NRG efficient homes. He is a big proponent of the zip system, which keeps the moisture out, and then uses air purifying/humidity controlling equipment on the inside. He gets grief in comments that the products and materials are too expensive for the average consumer, but he is a good source of information if your goal is to build an NRG efficient home.
@@doug.ritson Yes, I'm familiar with Matt Risinger. Point is that Austin can get humid.
R is expressed in Watt and square meter. So I guess the American system is different since they measure everything in body parts.
Apparently countries like US and Canada (as opposed to Europe, New Zealand and most others) does not use RSI, but an imperial variant:
R-value (in I-P) ≈ RSI-value (in SI) × 5.678263
RSI-value (in SI) ≈ R-value (in I-P) × 0.1761102
From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)
Hi ya Scott and Jess. We are renovating a 1905 house in Oamaru and especially this episode is absolutely gold for us. Thank you guys sooo much for such a great channel and all your hard work. Kind regards David & Brenda
That segue was absolutely mint, what a natural 🤣 Takes some balls to get your Father-in-law plugging your sponsors 👏
Those islands at Whareriki Beach are called the Archway Islands and a photo of them is the default lock screen image for Windows 10.
What an interesting video. I live in Ontario, Canada and watching this video, and then reading comments bringing building code from all over the world makes me realize how strict our building code is here. Im a builder in Ontario and we wouldn't be able to do what Scott has done here, even in a reno. Not knocking the work by any means, just interesting how different it is. Our building code and the research I have done shows how important vapour barrier is. A few things, though. It HAS to be on the 'warm side.' Meaning when heating your home, its cold outside, warm inside, so it is installed on your studs before drywall (plaster board). It CANNOT go on the cold side, behind your cladding, because that allows moisture into your wall cavity, insulation, etc and will breed mold and decay. Also you can't have 2 vapour barriers, inside and outside, this traps moisture within the wall cavity and makes a mess. When Ontario brought in mandatory 1" (R5) exterior insulation a few years ago, people onstalled it without enough knowledge and some used a product that had an outside vapour barrier. This then created the double vapour barrier and ruined a lot of homes. The exterior wrap or 1" insulation board needs to breath, we use Tyvek, similar to the product Scott used before installing the first round of insulation.
Most importantly, we treat the home as an envelope and believe that the tighter that envelope (the least amount of air movement from inside to out), the better. And the tighter envelope is more important than all the insulation in the world. Small holes/gaps allow air exchange and renders the insulation almost invaluable (to an extent, obviously). We hen have HRV's (heat recovery ventilators) to breathe for our homes mechanically, as you need air movement, but in a controlled manner.
... sorry, that was a lot. Love the videos and the different perspectives!
As a guy living in nordic country I am impressed how thorough you made your insulation. Nice! IMHO despite of climate any building should have good insulation.
Awesome stuff. Most people will chuck in R2.2 and call it a day but the extra effort to layer it for R3.0 is a great idea.
Completely bamboozled by that sponsor segway!
That lead in to the square space plug was classic
Your should check out Kingspan insulation. Solid foam with great insulation value for the thickness (roughly double that of glass wool and Rockwool).
Plus, their Quadcore formulation now achieves the same thermal performance for the next thickness down i.e. 80mm now gives you the same as the old 100mm.
Hey buddy, I’m a long time fan, I’ve learnt a lot from you. The reason for my comment is, I believe you are one of the few creators that can seamlessly transition into commercials , unlike other channels it doesn’t seem intrusive at all.
It shows you actually have an awareness, keep up the great work my friend✌🏻
There's imperial R ratings as well, but there's no easy calculation between the two. R3.0 in the walls, and R6+ in the ceiling and underfloor will make you super cosy and that heat pump will hardly have to work to keep your place warm. I'm in Canberra where it get's down to -5C and now that I've managed to get everything (except the walls, currently R1.5) upgraded, our heat pumps are only set on 18C and we are comfortable year round.
With Canberra is that the preferred combo? I think I've got r2 in the walls and r3 in the ceiling.
I'm looking to upgrade and was interested in which r values you'd use for the 40 to -6 temperature ranges we get?
R-value (US customary) ≈ RSI-value (SI) × 5.68
Interested to see how you’re going to solve the issue of your window reveals. Seen as you’ve effectively created a service cavity but the windows obviously weren’t set up for that initially. Maybe a two piece architrave that wraps into the reveal as well? Would be hard to make it look nice though, with quirks etc.
It isn’t too difficult to pack them out. But all this work is probably uneconomic in an old house like this if he wasn’t doing it himself.
Loving your videos Scott! Always learn so much every time you post a video!
Mold between the plasterboard and vapour barrier can manifest only if enough moisture can form in that particular spot. And that can happen only if the insulation thickness is insufficient. Warm air from the room meets cold vapour barrier surface and water steam transforms into condensate.
Mineral type insulations (glass wool, rock wool) require vapour barrier because of their poor capabilities to diffuse moisture (they soak up water very good, but drying out is a pita), plus every percent of soaked up moisture drops their R or U values dramatically.
Oh, sneaky. Get the Dad to do the daughter's work. "So, who're you going to get to build your website?"
Hey Scott, how about using sheep's wool insulation? It has an R-value of approximately 3.5 to 3.8 per inch of material thickness and there must be plenty of that in NZ???
100% - we used it in our house, great stuff
I love the idea of making it the best version of the house it can be. We have a 1940s weatherboard and have done a similar method with the paper internally with a gap then earthwool 2.7s. It’s such a big improvement! And 100% on expanding foaming all the gaps! Less bugs can get into!
100% would use celotex foam insulation and insulated backed plasterboard this would reduce thermal bridging and for the same thicknesses would be R5.2
Celotex isn't vapor permeable, so the moisture would be trapped.
For wood buildings you need permeable insulation.
Scott, get some wool insulation in the ceilings, best R value and supports NZ wool industry. Our wool insulation has been fantastic.
Glad you're getting into Matt Resinger's videos. He's great. I think all the horizontal blocking is just in your way. What is the purpose of that?
Nice going! Love the content! I built a new house here in Sweden 2017, I have 35cm insulation in the walls, 30cm insulation in below the concrete pad and 60cm insulation in the roof! But we need it in winter time :)
Best regards
David
That's crazy... Sweden does get cold!
Great video as always. But that SquareSpace hook gets me every time! SO GOOD
I like the comment about making the house the best version of itself, not the best house. Comments for example on having the building wrap on the outside of the framing are all well and good for a new house, but you are not going to achieve that here without ripping the cladding off. It is about improving an old house, within reason. Can you tell us if the external wall insulation was covered by the consent process?
risking repeating what others may have already mentioned, have you considered hempcrete (mixture of hemp fibre aggregate bonded with lime)... hemp being well insulating yet pervious hence regulates humidity i.e. no vapour barrier needed & lime being anti-fungal protects the existing woodwork/framing. Perhaps hemp products/systems aren't available on your side of the planet but if at hand I'd highly recommend this 100% natural/sustainable & nontoxic material! Come to think of it, potential down side for your specific renovation is wall thickness could be inadequate... Anyways, well enjoy your channel & manner... brilliant & informative entertainment doesn't congest this platform, thanks for being an exception that confirms the rule!
that's way too much trouble
Hey Scott. I work in building physics research, so can help answer a few of your questions...
- Yes, in the US they use imperial R-values (ft2 F h / BTU), whereas we use metric R-values (m2 K / W) almost everywhere else
- You are right about vapour barriers too. They are typically only a good idea in regions with harsh winters and very mild summers. The general rule of thumb is to place the most resistance to vapour transfer on the warm side of the insulation - this avoids condensation. So in cold climates, a vapour barrier can be installed on the indoor side of the wall, but in more temperate and/or variable climates like we have in NZ and Aus., it's better to allow the wall to dry in both directions.
- I don't see any value in installing the strips of building wrap on the indoor side of the frame either - if it was me I wouldn't bother.
- If it were me, I probably wouldn't bother installing the membrane between frame members, or establishing the 20 mm cavity, either. The membrane is unlikely to be very effective as an air barrier, vapour control layer, or back-up waterproof layer when it is so discontinuous. If it's standard practice in NZ it's probably worth doing though - maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks for all the great videos! I'm slowly renovating a house of similar vintage myself - I'm always interested to see how you're tackling each challenge.
Hey Alan, what would you recommend if insulating between studs in a subtropical area such as Brisbane? Seems to be a distinct lack of info on insulating old weatherboard etc houses other than just pulling all the external cladding off.
Roping Patrick in for that sponsor spot, so smooth!
Great video Scott, I especially love the Square Space link. It had me laughing out loud!
bahahaha I can't believe you got Jess's Dad involved in your square space adds, Stay safe
In the Netherlands we use the saying: insulating means ventilation. Which means that if you close all the gaps you need an other way to get fresh air in your house. We have heat recovery ventilation here that uses the warm air to pre heat the cold air from outside. 👍🏻
Ha...sponsorship via in-laws. Still doesn't beat Rich's "square space" segue, but awfully sporting nonetheless
Your golden bay reminds me more of the Oregon coast in the US. Cheers.
Learned a lot, I would have stuffed it into the wall
Currently doing a 1930s Bungalow in the UK. We’ve built a stud frame 100mm in from the existing wall. We’ve then wedged a 100mm layer of insulation in between that and the frame so that we have no thermal bridges and then packed the frame out with insulation. You are right to be concerned about moisture when insulating internally. Definitely want to use a vapour open construction like you have so moisture can escape to inside and out. We’ve used Steico Flex wood fibre insulation, not sure if it’s available in NZ? But it’s great!
1. It’s not itchy to install
2. You can just cut it with a normal saw
3. It has thermal mass so takes longer to heat up in summer, insulating better from the heat
4. It’s denser than most insulation so has really good sound proofing properties
Another alternative we looked at was sheep’s wool however that was a little more expensive and didn’t have as much going for it.
Also using a wood wool plasterboard and lime plaster on the wall to keep things vapour open. Has meant we haven’t needed any vapour control layers etc
If you can't remove the exterior cladding, this seems like a good solution. The only thing I would have done differently is to tape over the studs to seal the housewrap sections between the studs to each other so that I had a continuous air barrier. It seems like it might be less work than applying the stripping over each stud too.
I’m going down the re-cladding route. Will be a more air tight system in the end.
@@GWHAWK87 removing the exterior cladding and adding continuous foam insulation over the sheathing and water barrier before reinstalling cladding is the ideal solution
Tourism New Zealand thanks Scott Brown… Beautiful scenery!
Side note. After finding this channel a few weeks back, I finally finished watching the entire back catalogue - all caught up. I learn interesting things in just about every exciting episode. I'm not a builder - I just make and refinish stuff in the home workshop, as well as home remodeling work. Build all my home office furnishings (cabinets, tables, shelves), as well as Marcia's office furnishings (cabinets, counter tops, and hutches). Old connection to NZ, family friends (from Wellington) my folks met on their delayed honeymoon while I was a pre-natal passenger. Never been, hope to some post-covid day... Be well!
I would say , stick to getting advice from those who are of a similar climate. Here in California of the u.s.a, our energy buildings is not even close to yours. We have wild swings in temps and extreme heating and cooling is needed. But where you are I imagine not so much. And most definitely not even close to Texas, where Matt is from.
Rockwool is being manufactured in The Netherlands but the factory has to slow down production as a result of gas shortage due to the war in Ukraine.
Hi been watching you since you started. I am a bricklayer by trade but like you can put my hand to everything.
You have some very good ideas. I always try and yours celotex insulation instead of fiber glass in england as you know we are bit colder we have snow. Lol
Hahaha, the square space intro caught me offguard, very creative.
I didn't quite get how you sorted the windows.....were they the original frame/reveal? with the extra insul would have thought they would need to be extended.
North West Scotland here. Just finished a timber frame extension to an old stone built cottage. !50mm timber studs with the bays filled with 120mm PIR foam panels, 25mm foil faced PIR foam over the face of the studs internally with joints taped and another 25mm over the outside before strapping and timber cladding for a total of 170mm depth of PIR insulation.
Roof has 200mm rafters with the rafter bays filled with 150mm PIR, 35mm foil faced sheets internally across the rafters with another 35mm externally before battening, sarking and slating for a total of 220mm of PIR insulation.
I love the Segway's too you're sponsor, makes me laugh every time,
Mean Scott Mean
In France, for certifying a renovated house, R value for external walls is at 3,7 minima and roofs (empty attics) at 4,5 minima. (R value is expressed in m2 Kelvin par Watt (m2. K/W)
Closed cell spray foam will give you the US equivalent of R-22 on a 6" stud. That would be R-4 in NZ.
Wall insulation is not worthy as most of the heat escape from ceiling and windows. You should just use an efficient heatpump.
Lead into Squarespace Segway was perfect. Jess has competition :)
I hope you haven't been affected by the floods.
I’m a carpenter working in Auckland, the Rockwool is a common insulation, I used it in almost every projects, of course it’s not available in Bunnings, but not hard to get.
Here in Denmark we also have R value, but its most common calculated to U-value. Both is an expression of how much heat escapes through 1 m²(cubic meter) of the construction at a temperature difference of 1 degree between the exterior and interior of the construction part (W/m²K). Where as R is higher the better, U-value is better the lower. We also have some pretty high isolation standards in our building regulations. Currently for a newly build Class 2022 house, you need at least: 455mm isolation in the roof, 335-300mm in the walls depending on it being bricks or wood or another "light" material and 300mm in the floor. It wasn't that fun being an apprentice, cause you would do all the isolation where I was an apprentice.
Same with the U-Value in Switzerland. Almost a half a meter of insulation for the roof is impressive! I think new builds here have to be U 1.6 or so, that makes about 200 mills of styrofoam on the outside walls (Usually still a classic plastered styrofoam on brick build, which isnt my favorit, but the cheapest unfortunatly)
U 1.6 is a very poor result for a new built house. That can't be truth.
Check out Patons Rock Beach Villas for your next trip away over the hill.
The same method for trying to minimize cold areas are used here in Sweden as well. I did my garage with 195 mm and 45 mm of insultation. Since Im particular about what I put in my walls I use wooden fibre instead of glasfibre/rockwoll. About the same U-value as glasfibre. And we dont use R-value.
Scott, can you look at natural building material substitutes? Hemp, lime etc.
Using the knog depth as spacer for airgap was clever. Loving these deep-dives into concepts as you go, thanks Scott!
I saw a video of you doing this for someone else’s house a while back Scott, thought it was brilliant and when we did our kitchen reno recently we did the external walls just like this (but 2.2, we’re in Melb & don’t need the extra). Thanks to your great idea, we can stand to be in our kitchen in winter 🙏😃 Cheers to you.
Toasty as. Probably worth the hassle of packing out those reveals right?
So weird to watch this from Alaska. When I learned houses had no insulation in parts of the world, my head exploded
This is a good resource for vapor barriers, from AUS so perhaps more relevant than other countries (product is German though). Matt's content is great, I love learning from his team, very knowledgeable in the way he applies the systems, it is hard to transfer that to AUS as yes most of the products are not available.
Its fun to see the different standards and codes around the world:) The "Tek17" codes we use here in Norway now calls for 20cm insulation in the walls, and about 40cm in the roof. We also use the vaporbarrier and outside windbreak/Tyvek witch is also taped against all the openings (windows, doors, vents and pipes etc.) to make it close to airtight. Add that to the tripple glazed windows and its nearly a passive hous. We also mostly use Rockwool or glassfibe insulation.
Getting the in-laws in on the ads, nice. Miss seeing the old van around Auckland but still enjoying the content, mate.
You are sealing and insulating your house. If you don't already have it, I suggest a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). My home has an HRV and I love having fresh air all the time, even during very cold or very hot weather when we keep the windows closed. An HRV brings in fresh air and dumps an equivalent volume of stale air from the home, and it runs the stale air and fresh air through a heat exchanger. So if it's below freezing outside, and your house is a lovely warm temperature, you aren't dumping all the heat outside when the system changes out some air. Same thing in reverse if it's really hot outside.
Not to be that person but... You need to do more present packaging. When you do corners like that ;)
Hope youre doing the Farewell Spit tours from Collingwood! Awesome place. Worked as a Hammerhand on the school in collingwood for some time. anyway vapour barriers are good to stop the moist warm air from inside, condensating after it passed thru the insulation and reaches the colder outside air. But in sumer, the warm moist air from outside WILL condensate on your Gib, because itll be cooler inside. I would probably create another air gap of 20 mill. between the vapour barrier and inside Gib. That would give neat space for elektrical cables and telecom. Downside is ofcourse that you'll loose that space inside. Personally, beeing from europe, i would've liked to build my house in a Concrete, Brick and Timber symbiosis. But if i would've bought a house in NZ in that cottage light timber structure style, i'd renovate the Hell out of it too! Love your vids bro, inspirational for a Drafter and Hammerhand😎
Scott this is so cool loving you vids man
I like this new style of video, like iphone documentary
My new passive house uses the Proclima system which is a sealed envelope.
So is building consent required to insulate exterior walls?
I’m a tradesman painter from Australia and I’m really enjoying this channel, one of the great things is the snippets of Nelson that you show as well as the building work , planing a holiday there at some point , so getting a vibe of the place , keep it up , cheers.
yeah vapour barriers seem to be a bad idea. to my understanding, membranes/materials that air tight but vapour open are the one's to go for on exterior walls. I'm looking for exactly this principle for my renovation right now.
Absolutely. Highly recommend watching the Home Performance channel.
that beach wasn't for me.. too many people ;) such a beautiful place!
Really enjoyed this. Looking forward to seeing more. I’m doing similar work in an old home is Australia so looking forward to advice on floor and ceiling insulation for retrospective work to old homes!
I'd love to see an ep on your heat pump! How it works, why this turned out to be a good option etc. Love your content, thanks Scott and Jess :)
Oh Good drills using the Father in Law to intro the Squarespace. Well done sir.
Maybe using the PIR plates is a lot less time consuming? If you get the right thickness it saves you a lot of tinkering with the 20 mil air gap. I think you're doing a great job, save your wallet, save the environment! 👍🏻
It's brilliant Scott. Its the video I have been looking and waiting for!!!!! My house is older with the same problem. YAY!!!
Following this with great interest. One thing you should address: ventilation! Mechanical or in some other way. Most new windows here (Netherlands) have a ventilation grille in the top section that you can open/close. As said, I follow this with great interest. I'm not a pro but we (my wife and I) have restored more than a handful of houses. That is one of the reasons I came up with 'Rockwool' as an insulation material. For your roof insulation: use the same method you did with the walls. It looks tidy. Don't throw 'blankets of insulation' on your room's ceilings.
@Phil Heslop in the UK we call this type of ventilation 'trickle vents' which are usually installed as standard on modern upvc windows. They can also be retrofitted by drilling holes through the window casement and fitting the vent covers over the holes.
Our ducted heatpump has a ventilation unit attached. They could probably add one to theirs if it doesn't
Many window companies in Australia and New Zealand offer vents that can go into windows commonly they open and close similar to Venetian blind there just not as common. There becoming more popular in newer homes.
LMAO!!! LOVE THE SUPER SNEAKY ADD SPOT TRANSITION!! Keep them coming.
Different rules in Canada . Even on west coast where it’s similar climate to yours when we rebuilt we aimed for R 50 in walls and ceilings . This was achieved with 6” vertical studs, no nogs, all bays filled with close cell spray foam, plywood siding covered with Tyvek breathable membrane, and solid cc foam 4” mounted on outside. Siding over foam with rain gap. Total 10” cc foam at ~5.5 R per inch . Triple glazed windows and glass doors. We use very little heat in winter and no cooling in summer. Moisture is controlled by heat recovery ventilator 24/7. Good luck, your work is meticulous and impressive. JG Vancouver
He's using RSI (metric), so it's actually equivalent to an R-value of 17.
Use of 6" (150mm) studs here in NZ was recently suggested by someone in government so as to increase the insulation capabilities of the standard NZ houses. It was shot down by the Housing Minister with the assumption it would increase building costs at a time when costs are already skyrocketing. One of the large timber mill owners wrote an open letter in response saying he wished they'd ask the experts rather than assume. He said building with 6" (150mm) wall framing would actually use less wood than 4" because of the milling efficiencies combined with the wider stud spacing it enables. Fewer studs would also be faster construction.
@@bladee_enjoyer540 R-50 = RSI-8.8
Jeez! Now the in-laws are doing the links.
I see where Jess gets her talent now. 😂
I literally laughed out loud with your father in law asked you who would make your website!!
I know I come late to the show regarding insulation but did you look into wood fiber and/or geotextile insulation and/or wool?
Steico makes wood fiber. Geotextile i had from geopannel. And regarding wool: it's one of the best options I'm told. Also regarding insects and natural climate yadda yadda, and it should be available in NZ ;)
Hi Scott, me and my partner love your videos, just want to thank you for sharing.
Don't use that spray foam insulation in your attic. If you get a leak down the road, the foam will hide the deterioration.
I'm most worried about the air leakage in the assembly here. In order, the priorities are water, air, vapor, thermal. It seems like there is no real air barrier between the exterior and interior, so the insulation won't add as much value as the R-value suggests. That said, air sealing from the inside is also questionable and seems quite difficult. (One other commenter suggested possibly taping all the seams, which might function but is very detailed work to complete.)
When you eventually replace the siding, doing air sealing at that point should offer some notable comfort benefits (in addition to a reduction in heating/cooling bills), and it should be much easier to complete as well.
Kiwis don't do air sealing. How air tight the gib is is what you get. Nz housing is very low standard.
i agree with dosadoodle - the airtightness is super-important (factor 10 times more important than thermal insulation) say you have insulation, but the wind can blow through it.. then it takes all your heat with it... or if you use a hard panel, like PIR or PUR and the wind is able to blow between your wall and the panel... what use does it have then? it takes the air temperature with it...
@@LievenVB i agree, but your never going to get it air tight without demolishing the house. Even new houses here are not air tight. Keep in mind nz is about 40 years behind you guys in housing.
An honest question and not being facetious, what kind of real world gains would you see with that level of attention? Oftentimes professionals will recommend the best practice suitable for insulating the space shuttle. If the method used here is less efficient to a minor degree, then who cares?
@@yeahgoood air sealing solves a lot of problems and more importantly allows the opportunity for other things to be done better. now that you have control, you can do efficient ventilation, so you can have higher ventilation levels without the heat/moisture penalty you would normal have, which means a healthier more comfortable home. pretty common to have good air tight homes have double the ventilation rate.
you can have better moisture management because your no longer pulling random amounts of moisture in from outside.
especially in colder or humid climates it can increase durability by not having condensation/frost form in the walls/roof.
for me, keeping the pollen, dust and bugs out is a major plus.
You mentioned PIR I deal with allot of that, yes it does have pretty good R value, In Kiwi terms best calc is 1 R per 25mm, So it can be better than Batts but only by a moderate margin. It is harder to work with for your situation because its very rigid, we use it for warm roofs so laid out in whole sheets on sometime thousands of square M.
Yes Vapour barrier is a trap for moisture. the difference between a true vapour barrier and building wrap is breathability.
I like your technique on the wall I was watching thinking its so complicated it must have been designed by BRANZ and sure enough.......... I will try it though, I have done allot of walls like that where I have replaced the plasterboard or cladding and just smooshed in as much glass wool as I can and so far its all been fine.
Maybe NZ doesn't have this, but here in UK we would have used insulated plasterboard, no battens, higher R value for thickness and better air seal.
I like the airgap between weatherboards and rockwall.
I think this video shows that there needs to be a better interior lining board, something that provides better insulation and moisture resistance...especially for the renovation market...
Another exciting episode mate. Just out of curiosity, did you have to get this exterior insulation covered with consent or just get into it. My 1950s house here in chch needs better insulation but I don't want to upset the council! Chur.
@Phil Heslop thanks for the insight. I suppose scott may very well be using this video as his evidence!
@Phil Heslop Retrospective consents are NOT a thing. External wall insulation requires building consent. Building consent authorities (councils) have the ability to grant permission to do it without consent, but you'd have to wake up that sleeping dog.