How to achieve airtightness in retrofits ? Its a common question asked of us here at Partel. Until now there were only 2 options available to us – Thanks to an Innovative new product from AMPACK we have a third possible solution. Read about the unique AMPACK LDA membrane here
The system many have become accustomed to is the easy one – where we have full and unobstructed access internally - in this situation its possible to install and test without any issues – Here we use either AMPACK VARIANO – Moisture variable airtight membrane or AMPACK DB90 – Fixed sd airtight membrane.
Option 1 Renovation from the inside – The easy option ?!
Airtightness Layer Ampatex® DB90 or Variano
This is undoubtedly the preferred option for installers and one that is easily tested – inspected, specified but unfortunately for the home-owner by far the most invasive. In fact its often the case that airtightness is deemed as unachievable due to the disruption caused to achieve this – If you want an easier option – keep reading…
Option 2 – Renovation from the outside
Airtightness Layer Resano (Ampatex® Variano)
From the photos below its clear that this method is somewhat invasive and would require a suitable support system – something that is not common in the UK and Ireland – In fact while the solution is possible it would be rare to find suitable properties for this system.
Option 3 -Renovation from the outside using Ampatex® LDA 0.02
This new solution from Ampack allows us to keep the existing in roof insulation – change the existing roof membrane to AMPACKS LDA 0.02 to give an airtight seal – from here we install approximately 80mm of woodfibre insulation – the thickness of insulation, the type (SCHNEIDER woodfibre) and the unique properties of the membrane combine to achieve a technically safe solution. This solution is explained in greater detail in our next blog post. As always if you have technical queries let us know.
Author: Hugh
Hugh is the founder of Partel, an engineer with 20 years of low energy construction experience. He is a certified passive house designer with genuine passive house construction experience, a detailed knowledge of ventilation, natural insulation and thermal bridging. Hugh is a long time user and advocate of WUFI.
