Yes – Insulmax is Certified to insulate the walls of older New Zealand homes! The Insulmax Retrofit Wall Insulation Method is CodeMark certified. CodeMark Certification is administered by the New Zealand Government and is the highest form of product assurance in New Zealand. External auditing by AssureQuality ensures that our high levels of quality are always met. Providing the product is used within the limitations of the certificate, legislation requires that building consent authorities (usually councils) must accept a CodeMark certificate as evidence of compliance with the building code. Building owners and designers can have increased confidence in the Insulmax product and method and be assured of a smoother compliance pathway. CodeMark is the highest form of certification in New Zealand and is an unchallengeable form of product assurance. The Insulmax Retrofit Wall Insulation Method is CodeMark certified to be used in all existing (not new) buildings in New Zealand of any construction type or style. Learn more about CodeMark Certification
My house doesn't have building paper - is Insulmax® suitable?YES – Insulmax insulation can be installed in wall structures with or without building paper. Insulmax insulation is highly resistant to absorbing or wicking liquid water so it does not require the additional protection from water that conventional insulation products require. Conventional insulation products are manufactured to be protected from water by building paper systems because they readily absorb liquid water. Insulmax is manufactured with an inert water repellent additive so that it is highly resistant to the absorption of liquid water. Ask your representative for a sample of Insulmax and test it for yourself. We guarantee you’ll get tired of watching it float in a glass of water for MONTHS! There is some confusion about building paper since new build homes have building paper. Therefore it’s perceived every house should have building paper. However, a new build also has a drained ventilated cavity which cannot be cost effectively replicated in the renovation of an older home. This new build need for building paper has been “adapted” to older homes by the “accepted” practice of retro fitting conventional segment insulation into the walls of older homes by removing interior wall linings and placing building paper pockets in the exposed cavities. The purpose of the paper is to protect the segmented insulation from the entry of wind driven rain which may enter the wall cavity during weather events. Conventional fiberglass insulation is hydroscopic and readily absorbs and wicks liquid water. The paper is placed against the interior face of the exterior cladding and wraps around the exposed studs and dwangs fully encapsulating each segment of insulation on five sides. The photos below show what paper pockets look like after a year when further renovations meant the exterior cladding had to be removed. As shown below, viewed from the outside, paper pocket/segment insulation systems can be difficult to properly install. The paper has no ability to protect the structural timbers since the exterior cladding is not removed and therefore building paper cannot be present between the exterior cladding and the structural timbers. Any water that enters via wind driven rain becomes trapped between the paper and the exterior cladding or trapped between the exterior cladding and a structural timber which is semi wrapped in building paper. Trapped water under gravity moves down the paper/cladding interface until it encounters a horizontal timber e.g. dwang or bottom plate. If water enters a conventional paper pocket retro fit application, it is channelled towards horizontal structural timbers. These timbers have a reduced ability to dissipate the water via evaporation because they are semi wrapped in building paper, which has reduced ability to transmit water vapour. Or, they are wrapped in a building membrane system which is designed to restrict water vapour transfer from its external surface to its internal surface. Insulmax insulation as an E.U rating of negligible resistance to the movement of water vapour and is highly resistant to absorbing liquid water. It will not absorb or wick water since during manufacture it is treated with an inert water repellent additive and so does not require the protection of building paper. It therefore functions and is able to manage wind driven rain at least as well as building paper pockets / segment insulation. Below are images of external cladding removed, to show Insulmax blown fibre insulation filling all the available space.
How do you find all the cavities/timbers?The vast majority of homes in N.Z are composed of vertical, horizontal and diagonal timber framing called studs, nogs/dwangs and bracing. We use a variety of techniques to find the cavities formed by these timbers, including high resolution thermal imaging which some customers compare to an X-ray of their walls. Below are real images we’ve taken during installs.
How do you know the wall is full?Our installation machinery is designed to fill wall cavities and works in a similar way as a petrol pump turning off when your fuel tank is full.In addition, as part of our quality assurance process, we fill a sample wall during each install of Insulmax. After a confirmation check that the sample wall is completely filled we commence insulating the walls of your property. We also use thermal imaging cameras as a final check to assure that no cold areas of wall have been left uninsulated. As a final check, high resolution thermal imaging cameras are used to ensure that all areas of the wall have been correctly filled. Cold areas of walls that are not insulated are very clear to infra red technology and appear as a distinctive darker colour.
Can you insulate brick homes?YES – the vast majority of brick homes are built as a masonry cladding over a conventional timber framing although some are a double brick construction. We are able to insulate masonry clad homes through small holes made in the “T” joint of the exterior brick cladding. Alternatively by customer request, we can install via the internal lining, which works well if the plan is to redecorate. Due to the drafty 150mm deep cavity found in most brick homes, they are one of the thermally least efficient wall structures in New Zealand. Before we install, some of our customers struggled to keep more than one room of their home at an adequate temperature. Customers with brick homes experience the greatest improvement in their property as the 150mm drafty cavity is converted to a wall structure containing insulation with a thermal rating of R – 4.2. New build walls typically contain insulation with a rating of R – 2.2.
Will Insulmax® settle or shrink over time?NO – Insulmax mineral fibre insulation is installed under slight pressure and is packed into the wall cavity so it cannot slump, settle or shrink. The product has an E.U. Standard rating of S1 in relation to settling. This rating corresponds to settling measured below 1% or unmeasurable. The installed density of Insulmax is over 50% denser than most conventional segmented fiberglass insulation products which contributes to it’s stability and high thermal and acoustic insulation properties. Insulmax is not a water based foam injected insulation.