Having good insulation in your home is very important. After all, it ensures that you don’t lose too much heat from your rooms, and that draughts don’t get in.
Good insulation will reduce your energy bills and keep your home comfortable. If you need insulation installed, you may be wondering whether a plasterer can do the job for you.
Here, we take a closer look at whether this is something a plasterer could do.
A plasterer can install insulation while they’re working on your home. However, this may not be the best option for you.
Adding insulation to your home is an unskilled job. Given that plasterers are skilled tradesmen, this will potentially mean, they charge more for their services than you need to pay.
If your plasterer is working on hourly rates, this may not be the best use of time or money. In some cases, though, it may be worth getting your plasterer to install insulation for you. This may be the case if it is a smaller job.
Do Plaster Walls Need Insulation?
If you have an old home with plastered walls, they may benefit from being insulated. Older properties especially can be draughty as air can get into the property through cracks and gaps in the walls.
Insulation can prevent draughts from getting in and warm air from escaping to the outside. Adding insulation to plaster walls helps to regulate the temperature inside your home. This will decrease the cost of your energy bills.
Solid walls can be internally insulated in two ways:
- Rigid insulation boards
- Stud walls
Rigid insulation boards are thinner than stud wall insulation. On the other hand, stud walls reduce room size, but they’re stronger and can hold up heavy fittings like radiators and kitchen units.
If you choose to use insulation boards, fixings will be required to go through them into the wall. If the wall is uneven, it must be levelled out prior to fitting the boards. Therefore, if the walls have an uneven surface, a stud wall could be the best option.
Rigid insulation boards are plasterboard which have been backed with insulation. These can be fitted and fixed directly to the walls’ interior.
Stud walls are wooden or metal studwork frames which are attached to a wall. Mineral wool fibre is then used to fill in the frame.
Sometimes, rigid insulation boards can be used to cover the studwork frame. This offers even better insulation within properties.
If the plaster wall is an external cavity wall, it may not need any further insulation on the inside. In some circumstances, cavity walls already contain insulation.
Is Insulated Plasterboard Any Good?
Insulated plasterboard isn’t a particularly eco-friendly option however it is quite affordable. It’s also a good way of preventing heat from getting out of your home.
Insulated plasterboard is distinct from regular plasterboard. Therefore, you need to be sure you’ve chosen the correct type.
Rockwool vs Kingspan – Which Is Best For Insulating Stud Walls?
Two popular types of insulation for stud walls are rockwool and Kingspan.
Rockwool, also known as mineral wool, is frequently used for this insulating. This is because it offers excellent breathability, allowing moisture to effectively travel across walls, which will prevent damp more effectively.
Furthermore, rockwool isn’t combustible and therefore protects properties from fire damage. It is also known to offer soundproofing for properties.
Of course, it also has outstanding thermal insulation properties. However, there are a few downsides to using this insulation material.
Rockwool boards are quite heavy and are therefore more difficult to move and use. Therefore, a more powerful adhesive also needs to be used to stick it.
Rockwool also doesn’t have as high a thermal efficiency as Kingspan. So, more of it is needed to achieve the same level of insulation.
Kingspan is one of the top manufacturers of rigid insulation. It boasts truly impressive thermal performance that is better than that offered by rockwool. However, it is the more expensive of the two.
Less Kingspan is required to achieve the same level of insulation. This is why it’s a perfect choice for jobs in which space isCould A Labourer Add Insulation?
Adding insulation to a property is an unskilled job. Even boarding is only a semi-skilled job. Therefore, an unskilled labourer can usually manage to add insulation to a property without any difficulty. This may also be the most affordable option.
Plastering is a skilled trade. So, this means that they are paid at a higher rate. Although plasterers can add insulation to a property, it’s rarely cost-effective to ask them to do this.
They would be doing unskilled work at the same rate of pay as they would receive for a skilled job. It’s usually a poor use of their time and will give you poor value for your money.
It’s usually best to hire a labourer to add insulation to your home, rather than asking plasterers to do it. Alternatively, it may be a straight forward job, so it may be more beneficial to try do it yourself.
Conclusion
Although a plasterer can add insulation to your home, it’s not the most cost-effective option. Adding insulation is an unskilled job, it’s best to leave this task to a labourer, or to try do it yourself.
Labourers charge a lower hourly rate per hour than a plasterer. Therefore, you can save money by going for this option rather than paying a higher rate to your plasterer. On the other hand, if its not to difficult you could try do it yourself and save even more money.
