[GarySFBCN]

In anticipation of eventually purchasing a flat in Barcelona, I am wondering about insulation. The few flats I am considering have exterior walls and ceilings. Here in the US, we install insulation, usually foam, between the exterior walls and the interior wall to keep things cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

My questions are:

1. Is this something that is done in Spain?
2. Does it work on brick structures as well as it does on wooden houses here in the US?
3. Is it is cost effective?
4. About how much does it cost?
5. How much space does the actual insulation require?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I think that it would be a miracle if a place in Spain had insulation? Or else it would have to have been built by a non Spanish or very high quality builder?

So many people visit in May/June and think it’s fantastic but then don’t get to freeze in December/January or boil in August!

I would check on the air-con systems as well as i’ve heard of a few people who switch them on and it starts raining indoors due to the pipes having been left dangling within the wall structure.

I would take a guess from the number of places i’ve seen that it’ll be a single block wall. If you have neighbours on either side ask what rooms…. a bedroom backing onto a living room can be annoying when you have to listen to their tv blaring at night.

It’s good to ask as it’s the norm in the UK as well, but here?? Maybe someone else has experienced places with insulation? Self-builds probably? Brico Depot shops sell roc wool insulation as i’ve seen it in their publicity material, so it is available.

[Anonymous]

@GarySFBCN wrote:

In anticipation of eventually purchasing a flat in Barcelona, I am wondering about insulation. The few flats I am considering have exterior walls and ceilings. Here in the US, we install insulation, usually foam, between the exterior walls and the interior wall to keep things cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

My questions are:

1. Is this something that is done in Spain?
2. Does it work on brick structures as well as it does on wooden houses here in the US?
3. Is it is cost effective?
4. About how much does it cost?
5. How much space does the actual insulation require?

Thanks!

Don’t know how much about how they build up there but further south they never use insulation. Had a norwegian couple that built a house and they imported the insulation from Germany but I don’t know if that was necessary or not. I would expect that they use it further up in the country.

[Chopera]

I believe the newer flats in Madrid have insulation – in fact there might even be a law that forces new builds to have insulation (they have to have solar water heaters). Before buying any flat you must check with the Administrador – and they should be able to tell you. They will also tell you of any other issues regarding the building, and if the flat you are interested in owes any money to the comunidad de vecinos. We (thankfully) pulled out of a purchase once when the Administrador told us that they had to spend money each year to fill in cracks that kept appearing on the building.

[Chopera]

I believe the newer flats in Madrid have insulation – in fact there might even be a law that forces new builds to have insulation (they have to have solar water heaters). Before buying any flat you must check with the Administrador – and they should be able to tell you. They will also tell you of any other issues regarding the building, and if the flat you are interested in owes any money to the comunidad de vecinos. We (thankfully) pulled out of a purchase once when the Administrador told us that they had to spend money each year to fill in cracks that kept appearing on the building.

[Anonymous]

if it doesn’t have it and your rooms are big enough you could always batten the wall place insulation inbetween and board over.I had very noisy neighbours in my first house and i did this it was effective at suppressing the sound as well as making the room maintain its heat better

[Anonymous]

if it doesn’t have it and your rooms are big enough you could always batten the wall place insulation inbetween and board over.I had very noisy neighbours in my first house and i did this it was effective at suppressing the sound as well as making the room maintain its heat better

[Author]

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