Bringing a 17th century
farmhouse to modern
standards of energy
efficiency and comfort
Houlston Manor is an unlisted mainly 17th
century box framed farmhouse, which
has been substantially added to and
altered since it was first built. Originally
a single storey building, the building has
expanded over the years to include a
second storey, double depth bays and a
substantial chimney stack. The house was
also ‘gentrified’ according to the fashion of
the early 19th century when the timberframed front wall was replaced with brick
to create a unified exterior.
Owned by the same family for generations,
the current owner was born in the house
in the mid 1950s and has lived there ever
since. His long family connection with
Houlston reaches back to his paternal
grandmother, whose uncle was a tenant of
the Manor in the mid 19th century – they
even have a very early photograph of him
sitting in front of the house!
The Requirement
While the basic structure of the house was
in good condition, including the roofs
(which had been stripped and re-slated
in the recent past), the windows were in a
worsening state of disrepair. In addition,
the southern gable end had been letting
in wind driven rain through failed pointing
and, despite having central heating
(installed in the 1990s) and insulating the
attic spaces, the house was not a warm
one.
The owner’s aims were threefold: to
replace the rotten and draughty windows
with new; to insulate the walls, and, finally;
to improve the aesthetic appearance of the
house by reintroducing the 19th Century
symmetry. Lime Green's Warmshell
insulation system is able to bring an
old building constructed of traditional
materials up to modern energy efficiency
standards, and to do so sustainably.
The solution
After choosing timber casement windows
to replace the rotten sashes, a number of
wall insulation solutions were considered.
The owner decided that external insulation
would help resolve the aesthetics issue
and deal with both the threat of failing
pointing and general poor weatherproofing of the building. Houlston
Manor is of solid-walled construction
and without a damp-proof course - the
risk of moisture condensation within the
walls was considered to be of paramount
importance. The use of breathable
materials, which would allow vapour
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