External insulation

@grumpyoldbird

I think insulation just gets lumped in with all the other renovation tasks. But maybe insulation deserves a topic all to itself. :-)

Coming from the UK, insulation has been talked about for years. But it's a very costly upgrade, and the payback period is very long in most cases. Even when you renovate a UK property, it's very common to ignore the insulation issue due to its cost. Certainly none of my UK property were insulated. I took that mindset with me abroad, and I did complete renovations in Cyprus and Spain where I ignored the insulation issue. In hindsight, a mistake, and I've had some enormous cooling and heating bills. But even there, insulation is not a standard renovation item and my construction workers didn't mention it or seem puzzled by its absence.

Similarly, there are plenty of Bulgarian houses with no insulation. You can still find a way to make it livable. However, what is very noticeable is that almost without exception, if a Bulgarian property gets renovated, it gets insulated. And if it's a new construction (flats or houses) it definitely has significant insulation.

And I can assure you that it works in terms of keep your heating/cooling bills manageable (but lower cost of electricity and wood in Bulgaria also helps).

I tend to figure that if my neighbours do it, it's good enough for me. :-) In our village, every renovated house includes the following: change the windows to UPVC double-glazing, renew/renovate the roof (maybe new beams, all/most/some new tiles, waterproofing and insulation), external insulation and rendering. For folks that buy village houses on Ebay, this can be a shock to the system, as these renovations will likely cost more than the house! :-) So the cost is the main issue to consider, and whether or not you can afford to do it.

If you prefer, you can consider internal insulation. For house renovation, I think it's easier to just do the outside in one go, and I think this is what will be recommended to you. Inside means doing new framing and plasterboard (with insulation under) in every room. But perhaps this can be cheaper, if you just do it in the living room and bedroom.

I am not seeing issues with breathability and hidden damp (under the insulation/render), or excess internal condensation and mould. And it's not just my neighbours doing it this way, it's pretty much all of Bulgaria. :-) So I think it's pretty safe to follow the way that everyone else does it. A departure is probably only worth considering if you have a period property (Bulgarian Revival type in Nessebar or Plovdiv or downtown VT) or a converted barn (or other house) with a structural wooden frame.

@gwynj thank you. I know that the costs would be different for every house, but could you give me a ball park figure?