{"id":325,"date":"2017-07-24T13:09:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T13:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vl-architects.co.uk\/?p=325"},"modified":"2024-02-13T09:51:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T09:51:02","slug":"are-solid-walls-making-a-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vl-architects.co.uk\/news\/are-solid-walls-making-a-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Are solid walls making a comeback?"},"content":{"rendered":"

House construction techniques have developed from historic solid wall methods.\u00a0\u00a0 Go back over 200 years and solid walls were made from local stone inner and outer faces with rubble, stone and earth between forming a dense and thick mass that held itself together.\u00a0\u00a0 Due to its thickness rain rarely penetrated the width of the wall.\u00a0\u00a0 Airtightness did not exist, in fact, the walls were naturally breathable.\u00a0\u00a0 Thermal properties worked differently from today\u2019s high insulation techniques aided by the thickness of the wall and the fact that the inner stone would have been warmed internally by open fires.<\/p>\n

As bricks were developed in the 19th<\/sup>\u00a0century the ability to build thinner walls, affording more internal floor area, became apparent.\u00a0\u00a0 Taller buildings used the method of thickening the masonry at lower levels and thinning out as floors rose.\u00a0\u00a0 Typically, a three storey brick built solid wall construction might see ground floor thicknesses at three bricks thick, first floor at two bricks and single skin for the top floor.\u00a0\u00a0 This method helped reduce weight as the building went up.<\/p>\n

Thinner walls began to see rain penetrate to the inner face presenting all sorts of problems.\u00a0 \u00a0Thus, the cavity wall was born; using two separate skins of brickwork, the outer skin kept the rain out and being separated from the inner skin prevented the transition of moisture to the inner skin.\u00a0\u00a0 Later, insulation was added to the cavity, an ideal place to locate and protect a soft product, to improve thermal performance.\u00a0\u00a0 So today, with relatively high performing insulation products, the understanding of how airtightness improves thermal performance* and other efficiencies in material fabrication, today\u2019s cavity wall is a high performer.<\/p>\n

So, why go back to a solid wall, even with modern insulation products?\u00a0\u00a0 Where is the benefit over cavity wall techniques?<\/p>\n

Wall thickness can be one benefit.\u00a0\u00a0 With insulation demand increasing, cavity walls are getting thicker, often over 300mm to meet today\u2019s requirements.\u00a0\u00a0 A solid wall method, using single skin masonry (100mm), can be less than 300mm including rain screen cladding.\u00a0\u00a0 Placing the insulation on the outside enables the inner skin of masonry to act as a thermal mass, much like historic methods achieved, reducing the output of heating systems.\u00a0\u00a0 Thicker inner skins, perhaps using block laid flat (215mm), will improve thermal mass.<\/p>\n

Remember, in a cavity wall, the outer skin of brickwork is not load bearing.\u00a0\u00a0 It is merely a rainscreen intended to keep the weather out.\u00a0\u00a0 Therefore, by replacing what is a relatively expensive product to buy and high labour intensity to build with something cheaper, sustainable and thinner whilst maintaining the inner masonry load bearing wall and, then outer insulation layer results in modern solid wall construction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re building a new home, extending or renovating, we understand it\u2019s all about the little details.<\/em>
\nV&L Architects in Hampshire<\/a> will help your dream home come to life.<\/em>
\nContact us<\/a> and secure your FREE consultation today!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House construction techniques have developed from historic solid wall methods.\u00a0\u00a0 Go back over 200 years and solid walls were made from local stone inner and outer faces with rubble, stone and earth between forming a dense and thick mass that held itself together.\u00a0\u00a0 Due to its thickness rain rarely penetrated the width of the wall.\u00a0\u00a0 Airtightness did not exist, in fact, the walls were naturally breathable.\u00a0\u00a0 Thermal properties worked differently from today\u2019s high insulation techniques aided by the thickness of the wall and the fact that the inner stone would have been warmed internally by open fires. As bricks were developed in the 19th\u00a0century the ability to build thinner walls, affording more internal floor area, became apparent.\u00a0\u00a0 Taller buildings used the method of thickening the masonry at lower levels and thinning out as floors rose.\u00a0\u00a0 Typically, a three storey brick …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre Solid Walls Making a Comeback? - V&L Architects<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are solid walls making a comeback? House construction techniques have developed a lot. 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