"External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) being added to a house in Tallaght, Dublin 24."
This case study is one of a series produced by www.wallinsulation.ie to illustrate aspect of external Wall Insulation projects.
ETICS and a choice of finishes
External Insulation is most often applied with a smooth render finish. This is the cheapest finish available from any of the NSAI approved ETICS systems today. In many cases these smooth render finishes are very suitable. In other cases either the householder does not care for the smooth finish or they do not fit in with the surrounds.
For people who are looking for something different we offer several different finishes. We have a brick finish with special insulated panels, and both wet and dry dash renders which suit traditional Irish homes.
External Wall Insulation over a wet dash finish
In the edge of Tallaght, where Dublin 24 gazes south to the Wicklow 
mountains we were approached to insulate a family home. In particular the gable wall has a very lump wet dash finish that the householder wanted to change to a smooth dry dash finish.
To smooth out the existing wet dash finish was a slow process. The very worst projections from the existing 
wall were knocked of using a traditional lump hammer and cold chisel approach. After that we had to smooth out the wall with an additional layer of adhesive, before applying any insulation. The purpose of this extra layer of adhesive cement behind the insulation was twofold.
Protecting against Thermal Looping
To eliminate any possibility of thermal looping behind the insulation and to ensure 
that the final facade was flat and sheer. If we apply insulation onto a very lumpy wall it is possible that channels are left behind the insulation where air could move freely. In the unlikely event of this happening, air will warm up in contact with the insulated masonry wall and rise up, drawing cold air in behind. If this was the case the thermal performance of the insulation would be severely degraded and the householder would not benefit.
The rest of the project continues as normally to apply insulation boards, along with mesh and adhesive to insulate and provide strength.
ETICS and a dry dash finish
By this stage we had constructed a level and insulated skin outside the original hollow block walls and tight to 
those walls.
The final stage was to apply the Dry Dash, which is the only thing that is still visible in Tallaght after the External Wall Insulation is applied.
Dry dash finishes are quite common in Ireland and are finished by throwing stone chippings to a “butter coat” of mortar. In this case the householder choose a Russet dry dash finish, so we used a red butter coat. The butter coat is applied to a few square meters of wall, before the dry dash is hurled into the carrier.
In this way the walls are fully covered with a traditional looking Dry Dash render that is really a modern high tech thermally insulated finish.
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If you would like to learn more about External Wall Insulation please contact us now to learn how your home can benefit.