Terraced House in Brighton
Our client has a 1870-80’s Victorian terraced house in the very heart of Brighton near Brighton Train Station. Of course this is a conservation area, protecting the character of the area, however it comes to improving the thermal efficiency of a property this presents its own difficulties and limitations.
With our Architect and Sustainable Building Consultant and one of our comprehensive home energy reports, the client was able to first analyse where her house was leaking energy. What improvements could be made to tie in with her own aspirations, and which of the myriad of alternatives on the market would suit this exact situation.
By demonstrating all of the options available and talking them over in detail a long term plan was devised so that all of the improvements that could be made to the house will be completed in a suitable timeframe, to a high standard and produce the sort of results that were expected from them
A priority was to improve the ramshackle garage (and invaluable off street parking), and at the same time to reduce the heat lost into this ‘external’ space. So we had the contractor – LT Carpentry & Building Services insulate all of the internal walls with 100mm PIR insulation between studs, and insulate the ceiling (floor of the living room above) to the underside with SuperQuilt – a multifoil insulation that is an excellent insulator in places where space is extremely tight.
Then a new platform was built making the most of the available space above the car for storage and a new set of stairs and a new garage door to finish off this area.
Then upstairs in the living room we removed all of the wall lining to expose what we expected – a solid brick wall with no insulation at all! So – following our instructions and with a couple of meetings to explain the significance – once again with the trusty PIR & multifoil – Jason from LT insulated the internal surface of the wall – redoing all of the window reveals, cills etc.. relined and redecorated… this i will make a fantastic difference to this once freezing space.
Next – we coordinated the installation of a wood burning stove – including all of the Building Regulations issues (a big deal for Fire Regs and a possible stumbling block for the inexperienced), getting the chimney swept – a new chimney pot fitted and a lining, not to mention the hard work needed on the hearth itself.
But I think anyone would agree – the final effect is beautiful – and just in time for Christmas.
This year we plan on cork external wall insulation and replace the windows to the rear of the property – we’ll keep you updated.