Why choose an eco paint?
or or Paint is often seen as the gateway into eco products so it is really important to understand and appreciate, but what makes a paint ‘eco’ and why should we choose them over the more conventional options? There are a …
Tag: breathing structure
Lime – that’s less than half the problem!
Sustainable and historical bodies talk about the need for lime renders and mortars in pre-1919 solid walled buildings and rightly so. Lime is a porous material and will allow moisture to pass through it. This allows the walls to ‘breathe’ …
Home Grown Hemp is back
Hemp insulation is a fine alternative for the more commonly known sheep’s wool insulation, but in the past it has had some issues. The main one being that it was manufactured in France. So the UK grown hemp was being …
A permanent damp solution?
The history of my drive way next to the house has been a voyage of discovery thanks to my neighbour. I live at an end terrace and there is a shared driveway between it and next door. It is a …
New washable Eco-paint – It’s Lush!
Earthborn have been busy. Thanks to a request from the Lush chain of shops, they pulls sleeves up, dug deep etc and have come up with a new washable eco-emulsion. Based on their excellent EcoPro range, the new formulation has …
Tips for French Drains
Drying out your home starts at the foundations Moisture is always on the move in solid walled buildings. We are constantly asking our houses to cope with water from cooking, breathing, rainfall, soil etc. Using nature to help us cope …
Internal Wall Insulation on Solid Walls
This is a typical industry standard way of insulating solid walls internally (IWI). Use a high performance insulation board (or between stud) with a vapour control layer. This appears to give a great new U value (better insulation) for the …
CADW’s Heritage Cottage
This is great find for Wales – an almost untouched period terrace from 1854. CADW have purchased the house and are doing a lot of research on the property that will help inform how we should all look after our …
What are breathable walls?
From http://www.ewht.org.uk I have come across a few people who when talking about breathable house structures state that they keep their windows open a bit and the chimney helps. The term breathability / breathable does conjour up images of lungs …
Damp and lots of important numbers
At present the Standard BS 5250:2011 is used almost exclusively as the sole test of moisture risk for buildings. This Standard provides advice on the avoidance of internal surface and interstitial condensation caused by the movement of water vapour by …