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Why insulated plasterboard?


Moggaman

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Hi all

i wonder why people on new builds put insulated plasterboard on the inside of the external wall. I presume its because they do not want a wider cavity.... but if you want a certain u value shouldnt u widen the cavity to allow all the insulation to be put in there... also means you can plaster the inside wall to provide your simple finish,, am i missing something?

  • As an aside, if in a masonry build you put all your insulation in the cavity and you plaster and skim the internal wall, how do you make electrical sockets (for instance) airtight?
  • Also i note many masonry houses near me have 350mm cavity wall with 110mm xtratherm insulation inside...
    • I presume a full fill cavity with PIR board is a good option

Thanks

 

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I used insulated plasterboard on my external walls 

It’s quite uncommon to do this on a new build I’ve plastered thousands of new builds and haven’t been asked to do this 

As you say you can simply widen the cavity 

Sealing around the sockets is pretty much the same as normal 

I used 40 mil back boxes that left only PB showing on the inside of the box 

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13 hours ago, Moggaman said:

As an aside, if in a masonry build you put all your insulation in the cavity and you plaster and skim the internal wall, how do you make electrical sockets (for instance) airtight

Or keep the insulation airtight for that matter.

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14 hours ago, nod said:

I used insulated plasterboard on my external walls 

It’s quite uncommon to do this on a new build I’ve plastered thousands of new builds and haven’t been asked to do this 

As you say you can simply widen the cavity 

Sealing around the sockets is pretty much the same as normal 

I used 40 mil back boxes that left only PB showing on the inside of the box 

Thanks.I’m talking about behind the electrical boxes where it wouldn’t be plastered ? I presume the space for the box and cable are chased out... the cable part can be plastered over grand but behind the box can’t.just thinking in terms of airtightness 

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16 minutes ago, Moggaman said:

Thanks.I’m talking about behind the electrical boxes where it wouldn’t be plastered ? I presume the space for the box and cable are chased out... the cable part can be plastered over grand but behind the box can’t.just thinking in terms of airtightness 

The boxes are fixed directly to the wall 

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The modern way is you do NOT put your sockets into the wall, you create a battened service void that lets you run cables inside the building envelope without disturbing it's air tightness etc and fit sockets into the plasterboard that covers those battens.

 

So much easier to make alterations or add extra sockets.

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On 23/11/2020 at 21:27, ProDave said:

The modern way is you do NOT put your sockets into the wall, you create a battened service void that lets you run cables inside the building envelope without disturbing it's air tightness etc and fit sockets into the plasterboard that covers those battens.

 

So much easier to make alterations or add extra sockets.

Yes but I want to put all my insulation in the cavity and do a sand cement /skim render finish on the inside. The sand cement is my airtight layer..seems to me the service void is added cost. Where is the airtight layer in your design , a large coat.. couldn’t i parge coat the chases?

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28 minutes ago, Moggaman said:

Yes but I want to put all my insulation in the cavity and do a sand cement /skim render finish on the inside. The sand cement is my airtight layer..seems to me the service void is added cost. Where is the airtight layer in your design , a large coat.. couldn’t i parge coat the chases?

Mine is timber frame so different, but I would never want to go back to the old ways of plaster on the hard where you are committed to getting all your switches etc exactly right so early on and if you want to change or add something it's a messy horrible job.

 

It's one of the things I liked when I moved to Scotland where most houses are timber frame, and end to the task of chasing wires into a solid wall.

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On 22/11/2020 at 22:41, Moggaman said:

 

  • Also i note many masonry houses near me have 350mm cavity wall with 110mm xtratherm insulation inside...
  •  

 

It is a regional thing, best practice in the wetter parts of the UK is to maintain a cavity.

 

On 22/11/2020 at 22:41, Moggaman said:

 

  •  
    • I presume a full fill cavity with PIR board is a good option
    •  

 

Check that your brickies are ok with this. Mine wrinkled his nose at the firmer consistency of U32 cavity batts  and said "I will have to open the cavity another 5mm if you want those".

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