ECOBuilder-Specifiers Journal spring2018

BRINGING A 17TH CENTURY
FARMHOUSE TO MODERN
STANDARDS OF ENERGY
EFFICIENCY AND COMFORT
Houlston Manor is an unlisted
mainly 17th century box-framed
farmhouse, which has been
substantially added to and altered
over the years. In the early 19th
century, the house was also
‘gentrified’ according to the fashion
of the day when the timber framed
front wall was replaced with brick
to create a unified exterior.
The owner’s aims were threefold:
to replace the rotten and draughty
windows with new; to insulate
the walls, and; to improve the
appearance of the house by
re-introducing the 19th Century
symmetry. After choosing timber
casement windows to replace
the rotten sashes, a number of
wall insulation solutions were
considered. The owner decided
that external insulation would
help resolve the aesthetics issue
and deal with both the threat of
failing pointing and general poor
weather-proofing.
Houlston Manor is solid-walled and
without a dampproof course and
the risk of moisture condensation
within the walls was considered
to be of paramount importance.
The use of breathable materials,
which would allow vapour transfer
through the insulating layer, was
essential and the Lime Green
Warmshell system, which uses
wood fibre board as the wall
insulation system and lime render
as a weather-proofer, was judged
to fit the bill. The sustainable
Warmshell wall insulation system
is flexible and perfect for bringing
an old traditionally constructed
building up to modern energy
efficiency standards.
To install the Warmshell wall
insulation system at Houlston
Manor, wood fibre insulation
boards were fixed directly to the
external brickwork after excavating
down around the sides of the
house at ground level –