Insulating waterproof interior panels?

[Angilion]

My house is an old terrace house with two extensions. The second extension is the bathroom. It's a simple room with a flat roof and I think it's just single brick.

The main problem is that it's cold. There isn't much in the way of insulation, so heating it is inefficient (and therefore expensive).

I had some junkmail that might not be complete junk today - a company selling interior PVC panels. Cut, clip and glue stuff, should be fine for DIY. They claim insulating properties. I don't know enough to be able to evaluate them.

Prompted by the leaflet, I had a quick look online and found numerous similar products claiming various things.

So...does anyone here know anything about this sort of thing? Specifically:

i) Do they actually have much in the way of an insulating effect?

ii) My bathroom walls are painted with waterproof paint. If I put waterproof panels on the walls, is that going to be a problem? There will inevitably be some water in the air, so it would be trapped between two waterproof surfaces.

Disconcertingly, none of the sites I looked at gave prices and the leaflet didn't give any either. That implies that these products are expensive.

 

[Zuma]

the problem with insulating your bathroom, is that there is no way of doing it without making the room slightly smaller. this will mean you will probably have to move your bath, basin and toilet, and radiator if you have one.

if those pvc panels don't have at least an inch of insulating material on the back of them then they will probably be pretty useless. especially if you are placing them in direct contact with the wall.

 

[NickXX]

Also depends how long you intend to live in the house. If it's only for a few more years, it'd be cheaper to run more heating in the bathroom rather than insulate it properly.

 

[Angilion]

I intend to live in the house another 30 years or so, until I'm dead in the house, so that isn't a problem.

The insulating material is sandwiched between two PVC panels, but the whole thing is half an inch thick at most.

Oh well, I was optimistic enough to hope that someone would reply "I fitted some panels and they had a noticeable insulating effect", but I didn't really think so.

 

[malfunkshun]

best way, imo, clear the room, stud the walls with 2*2" battons, fill in between with wall insulation (the foil covered rigid stuff is easiest and cleanest to use, but also more expensive), then plasterboard over the top, the water resistant type is worth the money! Probably excluding the plastering, you could easily do the work yourself if you know how to use basic tools. You will lose some space though.

The other way is to do something similar to the outside of the walls, if you cant afford the loss of space inside.

 

[Mark A]

Can you post a link up so we can see the product you are talking about?. malfunkshun's idea is probably best but will be fair expensive if you factor in the plastering etc.

There is a PVC product available that Ive fit that look very smart and is a great alternative to tiles. Its got 2 layers of PVC and is about 1/2" thick but has no insulation in between. If you were to use this then you would have to stud the wall and insulate, then use this instead of plasterboard giving you a finished job. The plastic is also warm to the touch so you don't get as much condensation as you do with tiles.

http://www.plastivan.co.uk/ this is the stuff ive used, it looks just like tiles and works out cheaper.

If your planning to live there all your life then id spend whatever it takes to make it comfortable. Theres nothing worse than getting out of a bath in winter .

HTH

 

[malfunkshun]

Can you post a link up so we can see the product you are talking about?. malfunkshun's idea is probably best but will be fair expensive if you factor in the plastering etc.

HTH

Depends on the size of the room tbh, I would estimate £200 ex plastering in an average bathroom, quite possibly less. But it entirely depends on size.

 

[Angilion]

Can you post a link up so we can see the product you are talking about?. malfunkshun's idea is probably best but will be fair expensive if you factor in the plastering etc.

www.ukwallpanels.co.uk

Anything of any significant thickness on the interior isn't really an option because the room is very small. It's about a 2m cube. So unless there's a cheap material with quite extraordinary thermal insulation properties, I'm out of luck regarding interior insulation.

 

[Mark A]

That looks just like the stuff i was talking about. I wouldn't of thought using just that on its own would make any sort of insulation gain. Its basically 1-2mm thick PVC walls with empty space in-between. Its good stuff as a replacement for tiling as its much easier to fit and is warm to the touch which means less condensation.

 

[SB118]

That stuff looks like boggo standard pvc shuttering (didn't see any insulation) that you'd buy at B&Q.

 

[malfunkshun]

www.ukwallpanels.co.uk

Anything of any significant thickness on the interior isn't really an option because the room is very small. It's about a 2m cube. So unless there's a cheap material with quite extraordinary thermal insulation properties, I'm out of luck regarding interior insulation.

What about outside? If the bathroom extension doesn't have the same finish as the rest of the house perhaps you could clad that? (same as before, but outside and using treated battons, felt/liner then PVC clad-boards instead of plaster)

In fact, any chance of a piccie? actually two, one of a window opening, if there is one, and one from the outside? (you can email them if you'd prefer malfunkshun at god - clan dot co dot uk)