Breathable insulation for Bristol and Bath period homes
Two cities built almost entirely of solid-wall Georgian and Victorian housing, much of it listed, much of it cold.
Bristol and Bath between them hold an enormous stock of pre-1919 housing: Georgian and Regency townhouses, Bath stone terraces, Victorian bay-fronted terraces across Bedminster, Southville, Montpelier and Redland, and a great deal of it in conservation areas or listed. Bath's city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety.
The building stock here
Bath stone. A soft, highly absorbent oolitic limestone. It is beautiful and it is unforgiving — it needs to breathe, and sealants, cement and impermeable finishes damage it visibly within a few winters. In a World Heritage Site the external appearance is effectively fixed, which leaves internal insulation as the only route to a warmer house.
Bristol Victorian terraces. Typically 215 mm or 330 mm solid brick, often with rendered or pennant stone frontages. Large windows, generous ceiling heights and deep reveals mean both a lot of heat loss and a lot of detail worth preserving. These are the houses where a thin build-up matters most.
Multi-occupancy conversions. A high proportion of Bristol's period stock has been split into flats, which brings party wall junctions, shared freeholds and phased access into the picture. We have done this: twelve units in a single Victorian mansion block, worked around occupied flats.
Where we work
Bristol and Bath are around an hour from our base in Gloucestershire, and we work across both cities and the surrounding area regularly.
- Clifton
- Redland
- Montpelier
- Cotham
- Bedminster
- Southville
- Totterdown
- Bishopston
- Easton
- St Andrews
- Bath city centre
- Widcombe
- Larkhall
- Lansdown
- Keynsham
- Thornbury
- Chipping Sodbury
If your town is not listed, it does not mean we do not cover it — ask. We work across the UK and travel regularly.
Local project evidence
Mansion block, 12 units
Internal wall insulation across twelve flats with hygrothermal monitoring installed throughout the building and reviewed over three years.
- U-value: 0.19 W/m²K
- Energy bills down 71%
- Zero moisture failures at 36 months
Damp wall with no damp course
"Struggling for many years with a continually damp wall… BreatheTherm does what it says on the tin. Result has been a dry wall throughout recent downpours."
Evidence, not assertion
The Bristol block is the project we point conservation officers and building surveyors at, because it is the one with three years of instrumented data behind it rather than a claim.
What an assessment involves
- Visit and inspection. Wall construction, mortar type, existing moisture problems, available build-up depth, and the condition of rainwater goods and external ground levels.
- Written recommendation. A proposed build-up, the U-value it achieves, an indicative cost, and a note on hygrothermal risk.
- Consent support. If the property is listed, documentation to accompany a Listed Building Consent application to your local authority.
The assessment is free and carries no obligation. See what projects typically cost, or check grant eligibility first.
Contact
BreatheTherm
The Old Forge, Todenham
Gloucestershire GL56 9PF
Book a free property assessment
A specialist visits your property, assesses the wall construction, and produces a written build-up recommendation with indicative costs. No obligation, no hard sell.