Victorian and Edwardian Houses,

are they thermally efficient?

Free phone us on 0800 298 5424 for a chat about anything thermal!

We are Independent Surveyors who regularly carry out Building Surveys sometimes known as Structural Surveys. Over the years we have seen people become more and more interested with how thermally efficient their properties are and also how green their properties are.

Free phone 0800 298 5424

We are happy to talk about any property matters

We would reiterate we are happy to talk about any property matter whatsoever as we do not have any vested interest other than providing you with a good survey and report and giving good independent advice.

Please feel free to phone for a friendly chat. This is just a reminder about our Free phone 0800 298 5424 number.

Thermal problems in Victorian and Edwardian properties

The following article considers thermal problems that you could have with Victorian houses. We have also written articles on other eras of housing such as Tudor, Georgian and Regency, War years and Post War Years and Modern and New properties. So if Victorian or Edwardian is not the era of the house that you live in then please have a look at our other articles as we are sure to have written one that applies to you.

Thermal efficiency in Victorian and Edwardian Era housing

This series of articles considers the thermal efficiency of houses based upon the era they were built. This article looks at properties from the Victorian and Edwardian eras which are effectively from the 1830's to 1910. Although the majority of Victorian houses were built during the 1880's to 1890's the Victorian style continued into 1910 even after Queen Victoria had passed away.

What were the Victorians and Edwardians thinking about when they built their houses?

When houses were built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras little thought was given to thermal efficiency. The rooms were heated with both coal fires and wood fires and there would literally have been a fire in almost every room. A very common feature of Victorian properties is access to a coal storage area either via gates to the back of the property that give access to a coal shed or via coal chutes to the front of some properties.

Thinking about insulation started in the 1970's

It was many years before energy efficiency was really considered and we would say it wasn't fully considered until the oil and fuel crisis in the early 1970's. This resulted in thought being given to how we used our fuel and also on how to insulate our houses and commercial properties. The Building Regulations that came into existence nationally in 1948 were the method by which thermal efficiency factors were brought in.

General information on thermal efficiency

If you are looking for a more general article on thermal efficiency may be you would like to read one of the following articles:

Heat loss in a poorly insulated home

Energy efficiency, have we got it all wrong?

What makes Victorian and Edwardian houses different to a modern house?

When Victorian and Edwardian houses were built they concentrated on the basics of housing such as keeping everyone dry and warm. The latest mod-cons of the day were running water and good drainage. In fact with the coming of the industrial age everyone had a better standard of house to live in.

However, as we understand it, thermal efficiency certainly wasn't high on their list of things to consider.

What characteristics do Victorian and Edwardian properties have from a Thermal Efficiency point of view?

Victorian and Edwardian properties lose heat in a number of ways. The red circles on the adjoining photo of a Victorian property indicate where heat would be lost in a un-insulated Victorian house such as through the roof, the timber single glazed, sliding sash windows, the walls, the lintels and through a draughty suspended timber floor.

Let's look at sliding sash windows

Whilst we still marvel at the construction of sliding sash windows, as they were a major step forward at the time, anyone who has lived in a property with sliding sash windows will understand that they can be draughty and they can rattle and are not easily adjusted.

Let's take a second look at the thermal properties of a Victorian or Edwardian house

Today we find that most Victorian and Edwardian properties have had some form of thermal insulation which has helped improve the living environment. They are often a mixture of the original construction with newer elements such as insulation in the roof and where the building is not listed or in a conservation area it may well have double glazing as well. Also the original fireplaces may have been replaced with central heating. We can use the adjacent photo to show you the good thermal efficiency of the property.

All properties have their own characteristics such as this early large Victorian property

Here we have an early large Victorian property (the emphasis is on large) that is situated in a conservation area. This can mean several things:

1.  They cannot change the windows on the front of the property so they are still timber sliding sash windows. Some of the windows are very large which means that they are heat sapping.

2.  To the top of the property is a Mansard Roof (yellow oval). Unless this was built recently, and from when we carried out the survey we don't think it was, there is unlikely to be insulation in the roof or the walls of the Mansard. This means that heat loss can be great to that area.

 

 

 

3.  Whilst the property does have radiators it also had two boiler systems (from memory). The sheer size of the old Victorian rooms and ceiling height means it requires a lot of heat to warm it.

 

 

 

 

 

Areas that people forget to insulate

Things that you need to check if you are buying a Victorian or Edwardian property (or make sure your Surveyor checks) is that with Victorian and Edwardian properties sometimes we find that the bay window area within the roof has not been insulated. We can only imagine this is because it is difficult and fiddly to do and also it's unlikely the owner who has had the insulation carried out will check there. Unfortunately the bay window rooms are often used as the master bedrooms which mean they have a fair amount of heat in them and so heat loss is important.

 

 

 

Thermal and cold bridging in a Victorian or Edwardian property

An interesting problem that we are coming across more frequently is Thermal and Cold Bridging in Victorian properties. We can only see this becoming a bigger problem as there seems to be a lack of understanding of how old buildings work. This is unfortunately made worse when insulation is added without any thought being given to it.

 

 

 

 

 

Properties that have thermal and cold bridging tend to be properties where there is a fair amount of humidity in the property. This is drawn through the colder elements of the property such as lintels which in a Victorian or Edwardian property could be brick or timber and could have been replaced with concrete and metal over the years.

Also if you are washing and drying clothes in a property, particularly in the winter months if you are drying the washing inside on the radiators, then you need to make sure the areas are well ventilated as humidity travels around the buildings looking for the cold bridging areas to cause damp and mould.

 

 

 

 

 

Chartered Surveyors with thermal imaging cameras?

Now let's have a look at a Victorian house through a thermal imager. Yes we do have thermal imagers and yes it can be dangerous Chartered Surveyors using thermal imagers if they do not have enough experience working with them. We have developed knowledge of thermal image cameras over the many years we have now worked with them. We have even given lectures about them at some universities.

Please see our articles on our website about thermal imaging.

You may also be interested in these other articles on our website:

Energy Surveys or Energy Condition Reports -v- Thermal Imaging

Dampness in buildings, the basics

Victorian and Edwardian properties and their common problems

Boilers and Light Bulbs

Most properties today, we find, have a boiler and a water heated radiator system. These can be of various ages and the efficiency of the boiler being the key factor. We are not sure whether the modern boilers are more cost effective as having spoken to maintenance people over the years we are generally finding that modern boilers do not last as long and require more maintenance. This is not a scientific study! It is just comments that we have heard.

We have also included light bulbs in this section as old incandescent light bulbs are not as efficient, we are advised, as LED light bulbs. LED light bulbs are said to have a life of 20,000 hours which is approximately 20 years. This is a lot longer than a standard light bulb but, we don't know about you, we can never remember when we last changed a light bulb.

Victorian and Edwardian houses that have been extended and altered

Many people, rather than move, have decided to extend their Victorian or Edwardian property. A common extension is a rear extension but we are finding that roof extensions and alterations are also being considered. This section of the article looks at how extending a property can affect the thermal performance.

Rear Extensions

The two typical rear extensions that we see on Victorian and Edwardian properties are:

Victorian Just Build it Extensions

Here in the photo you can see a combination of different roofs. These are what we call a ‘just build it' extension where people become frustrated with the lack of space and just want to add something on the rear with the roof being added anyway it can. Here you can see a polycarbonate roof that will let heat out.

 

 

 

 

Roof extensions and alterations

Roof windows  

There are many types of roof extensions and alterations. These conversions range from the adding of a roof window, often known by its trade name of a Velux window or a roof light, which tend to follow the line of the roof and which are often not official Building Regulation conversions. You need to check with the Chartered Surveyor who is carrying out your structural survey that everything is in order with the roof and it may also be necessary to check with the Local Authority about Planning Permission and Building Regulation approvals.

Dormer roof extension, small or large

Sometimes the roof extensions are much larger and incorporate a dormer roof.

This can be in the form of a small dormer with a pitched roof as can be seen in the sketch or a large dormer with a flat roof.

The smaller pitched roofed ones tend to be the older style roof extensions with the larger dormer style tending to be the newer ones. As such the newer ones can have insulation particularly if they have been built in the last ten years. However, this does need to be checked as without insulation in a roof extension you can get thermal gain during the summer months and heat loss during the winter.

Thermal gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter

Un-insulated roof extensions result in poor quality rooms due to the temperatures where you get heat gain in the summer and heat loss during the winter that make them almost unusable.

 

A few questions and answers on the thermal properties of Victorian and Edwardian properties

1.  Where do we most find thermal efficiency problems?

With particular reference to thermal and cold bridging our thoughts on this have very much changed as we used to say that thermal and cold bridging was typically found in properties from the 1960's/1970's. However we are increasingly finding it in a broader range of properties, particularly Victorian and Edwardian properties but also in earlier Georgian properties and in War Years and Post War properties.

 

 

 

We feel the common factors are where people are trying to live to modern standards of heating and insulation without understanding that the older properties need to breathe and be treated differently to newer properties. This is understandable after all they look pretty much the same. By the same we mean the basics, they have a roof, walls and windows.

We are also finding a lot of problems with thermal and cold bridging where extensions have been added in the form of rear, side or even roof extensions. These are often built to a different standard and so problems can occur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Why do we have condensation problems in the winter but in the summer we don't?

The different seasons mean that the building reacts differently. Anyone who has lived in an old property will know that windows and doors particularly sash windows will swell during the winter months.

There can be similar issues with a property where, regardless of your lifestyle, during some of the different seasons, for example the winter or a wet spring, taking a shower can relate in condensation even with extract fans running (although this is far less likely).

It also depends on what the humidity level is outside as this can be greater than inside. The moisture / humidity will then seek out colder rooms such as spare bedrooms and the corners of cupboards. When you open these at a later date you will be surprised to find black mould.

 

 

4.  What is this black mould that we see in the house?

The dust and dirt in the environment including skin particles gets drawn towards thermal and cold bridging areas typically in lintel areas or areas that are not used as much such as cupboards. These can look unsightly and no matter how many times you clean the area the mould keeps coming back. This is because you are dealing with the effect of the problem by cleaning the mould rather than the cause.

5.  Is the lifestyle of the person in the building a factor in thermal and cold bridging?

This is often a contentious issue and a difficult question to ask, as no one likes to be told they are not living correctly. There can often be disagreements between landlords and tenants as to whether the tenants are using the building appropriately. In our experience the major factors that need to be looked into are the size of the family living in the property, especially large families with lots of young children which in turn mean lots of washing and cleaning to be done. It can also be attributed to how the property is being used i.e. are showers being taken morning and evening everyday?

6.  Expert witness case, what is an expert witness?

Some people are finding the problems caused by thermal and cold bridging to be so life changing that they will go to court over it. We have carried out expert witness reports in quite a few cases and it is where a Chartered Surveyor (it can be other professionals) is employed as a specialist within a field to comment independently on problems with condensation within a property. We have been involved in several court cases as expert witnesses where either the landlord or tenant have decided that the problems with the property have become so bad that they feel court action is the only redress.

Independent Chartered Surveyors

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a chartered building surveyor, and many of us are also chartered builders, we are happy to carry out valuations, building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, engineer's reports, specific defects reports, home buyers reports or any other property matters. Please contact 0800 298 5424 to have a free of charge friendly chat with one of our chartered surveyors.

We feel our surveys are quite unique, as they are written by our chartered surveyors to your level of knowledge. The surveys include photos and sketches and definitions. The survey will also include an action required section and an estimate of costs in the executive summary. Our chartered surveyors are more than happy to meet you at the property whilst carrying out the survey to discuss any specific issues you may have or have a general chat about what we have found at the end of the survey.

Commercial Property

We do come across from time to time commercial properties that have been built with a timber frame, particularly on older shops. If you are looking for commercial property, whether it is freehold or leasehold, we would recommend a survey as this will prevent dilapidations claims in the long run. You may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com , both of which we have been advised are very helpful!

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then we would be pleased to hear from you.

The contents of the website are for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision.

All rights are reserved the contents of the website are not to be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or part without the express written permission of www.1stAssociated.co.uk