Solid rubble stone walls, a room that had been cold for a century, and a breathable wood fibre system fitted by a joiner so the wall can still dry. Here's every stage.
A traditional croft house on Skye: rubble stone walls the best part of a metre thick, tongue-and-groove ceilings, timber floors and a cast iron fireplace. No cavity, so nothing to inject, and no way to insulate the outside without changing the look of the building. Off the gas grid, so every degree lost through the walls was oil money.
The owners wanted the room warm without wrapping the stone in something that would trap moisture. That rules out foil-backed boards sealed tight against a wet-climate rubble wall. It needed a breathable build-up.
Old linings off, wall exposed and checked for moisture and loose stone. Fireplace and skirtings removed and set aside for refitting.
A vapour-open membrane and a timber frame off the stone, leaving a cavity behind so the wall can breathe and any moisture can move.
Rigid wood fibre insulation boards fixed through the frame with thermal fixings. Wood fibre is breathable, stores moisture without losing performance, and is the right material for old stone.
Service battens over the boards for cables and sockets, then ready for plasterboard and skim. Fireplace reveal formed back, skirtings to follow.
Stone walls in the west of Scotland get wet and need to dry inward as well as outward. Sealing them behind foil or plastic is how you end up with rot in the timbers. Wood fibre lets the wall breathe, adds real thermal mass, and quietens the room. It costs more than PIR and it's the right call on a house like this.
We batch island work so travel doesn't inflate the quote, and Skye and Lochalsh addresses qualify for the island uplift on Scottish Government funding. See our Skye page or internal wall insulation on Skye.
Tenement, cottage, croft, villa: if the walls are solid, this is the job that makes it warm. Free survey, moisture check first, written quote room by room. Call 0800 069 9339.
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