Brick or EWI
Hi, I’ve been living in my bisf house house for about 2 year now im looking to update the exterior I’ve had a quote for external wall insulation but I’ve seen some homes that have had brick built around them instead i was wondering if any one knew how much much it would be roughly to have it bricked and how long it would take?
Many thanks
Hi and welcome Redsnooker. Definitely EWI all the way! Not only will it be a lot simpler and cheaper but it will of course cut heat loss a lot better than bricks, which are a poor insulator (pre-industrial revolution technology!). I’m not sure what the point of building a brick shell around a BISF house would be – all the work of building a load-bearing wall without actually needing to carry any load.
The only issue I can see will be the ventilated cavity inside the original structure. EWI is usually applied to older (pre-1930s) buildings that were built with solid (non-cavity) walls. As the ventilated cavity will be inside the EWI, it may bypass the insulation is nothing is done, so I would make sure your EWI installer is familiar with BISF construction.
Ed
Hi sorry only now getting back many thanks for your speedy reply we got quoted 13k for the EWI so i think thats the way ill go. The company i went to said i may be able to get some funding through the green deal government grant when they get the new funding in April. If anyone else is thinking of having EWI may be worth a look
Hello Redsnooker
Great to have you with us!
Prices for an external brick skin can differ hugely depending on a number of factors including the builders own labour rates.
Some builders remove the existing steel cladding sheets to aid with the application of insulation inside the new cavity and others do not. Some build the brick skin around the existing steel window frame whilst others install new windows, so here are just two small examples that can affect the price.
Back in 1990 we had one of our properties brick skinned at a cost of around 19K including a new single storey garage extension. Around 5 years ago we obtained another quote for a similar property without the extension but the price had risen dramatically to an estimate of around 40K and this was with the same builder we had user before.
Now I’m not stating that this is what it will cost today, as we do feel that our quote was significantly over priced.
I would however expect a cost of between 25 – 35k today. Remember that in order to build a brick skin, deep foundations need to be laid and the brick needs to be tied into the existing structure correctly. Building regulators also like to keep a very close eye on the work to ensure that it is carried out to a safe level.
I will stress that this is only a guesstimate and other members may have more up to date quotes.
It may also be worth considering a brick render or brick slips that can be applied direct to EWI. Some of the finishes that I have seen to date look identical to real brick.
Out of interest what were you quoted for EWI?