Stud Wall Insulation

What is a Stud Wall?

Stud walls are internal walls supported by a wooden frame applied against a solid wall. They are easy to set up and can be used as a partition wall as well. Stud wall insulation is an effective way to insulate solid walls while keeping it low cost. These walls are essentially a stud (timber) frame with plasterboard nailed over the top and are one of the most common ways to divide the internal areas in British homes as it is a quick and easy way to set-up while hiding pipes and electric cables.

Stud wall gained popularity by providing a cost-effective way to divide the available space and offer a separate room entirely. Stud walls can also be built DIY so if you are considering building a stud wall below is a video of how to build a stud wall.

Just before you close the stud wall with plasterboard you shouldn’t forget to fill in the insulation as it will help muffle the sound from inside or outside of the room and also retain the heat or coolness to keep the room temperature steady. It is relatively easy to insulate a stud wall.

Most of the homes nowadays have the necessary insulation according to the building regulations still a lot of people are insulating their interior walls, as there are plenty of reasons why?

• Energy efficient

In today’s world where the natural resources are gradually decreasing and the requirement of energy is continuously increasing, a wide range of programs are adopted to ensure efficient use of energy. Thermal insulation is one of the most used tools for energy saving.

The application of thermal insulation can be considered as an additional cost in terms of initial investment but however, you can expect a lower electricity bill every month which will save you a lot of money in the coming future.

• Sound dampening

Insulation works the best when it comes to decreasing noise pollution. The most important purpose of stud wall insulation is to make a sound barrier to decrease the sound transfer and this can be very useful in apartments to decrease the sound from one room to another or from outside the house.

Eliminating unnecessary noise will help reduce stress levels as if a person can’t clearly hear what’s going on around them are less likely to get irritated due to the inability to understand what’s being said.

• Insulating old walls

The insulation levels are less in older properties as the technology was not much developed. Stud wall insulation is a great way to reduce the energy bills and the level of noise coming from outside of the house. Another benefit of planning a stud wall insulation is that it can be done room by room so the cost of insulation can be divided over a period.

Difference between thermal and sound insulation

One of the main elements of building’s design is insulation which is designed for two main reasons for internal walls and intermediate floors are for acoustic reasons and for external walls and ground floors are for thermal reasons.

Whereas in some places when a stud wall is built to make a storage area or guest room where heat or conditioning is not required all year long, stud wall insulation will reduce the amount of heat transfer to such areas it is advised to use thermal insulation as it will reduce the cost of energy.

Find out more about the importance of sound insulation in buildings.

Stud wall insulation types

• Rigid foam boards

One of the best insulation as compared to other available insulations is rigid foam boards (Celotex or Kingspan) as they are thin and occupy less space. They also have a vapour barrier, but in case of stud walls to complete the vapour barrier it is advised to tape or foam seal all the edges.

• Cellulose, foam and fiberglass batts

Specifically, for thermal, acoustic and fire insulation Rockwool and Knauf have introduced these high standard semi-rigid, flexible resin boded slab and Earthwool Omnifit slab respectively.

Mineral wool installation is easy and is much quicker than rigid foam boards as you require accurate cutting and efficiency to install foam boards.

• Natural Materials

Natural materials like sheep wool, wood fiber, and Flax and hemp are the green alternative to synthetic insulation. Natural materials have many advantages over synthetic or conventional material as they are fully biodegradable and renewable and can be recycled. They are allergy-free and non-toxic.

Sadly, all the natural materials available are 3-4 times expensive than conventional materials making it one of the main reasons why it is not used by builders and developers. Even Though the prices of natural material is high they are energy efficient and sustainable choice of customers for better indoor and outdoor environment.

• Thin wall insulation

When you are planning to work and insulate an area inside the house where there is not much room to lose internal space that’s where you can you thin wall insulation. Thin internal wall insulation helps in a lot of as it is cheaper, easy to apply and takes less space.

How to install stud wall insulation?