Islington is one of London's most period-rich boroughs. Georgian and Victorian terraces, many in conservation areas, the great majority built with solid walls and no cavity.
In Islington the question is usually not whether a house would benefit from insulation, but which walls can take it. The borough's Georgian and early Victorian terraces are almost all solid brick, and a lot of them are protected. The rear is often a different matter: closet wings, back walls and later extensions carry a big share of the heat loss and are usually out of sight of the street.
So an Islington job is often a partial one, done well. We would rather insulate the rear and closet wing properly than propose something for the front that will not get permission or that the house would be worse for.
On the rear, the system wraps the closet wing and back wall, returns into the window reveals and finishes cleanly under the parapet or eaves. Older Islington brick is soft and laid in lime mortar, so the insulation has to let the wall breathe, which is why we specify vapour-open systems here.
Where the house has a basement and a rear lightwell, the lower walls are often the dampest in the building, and they are checked before anything is fixed to them. Insulation goes onto a dry, sound wall or not at all.
We don't quote specific savings figures. Your surveyor explains what results are realistic for your property.
A surveyor checks the planning position for your address first, then the wall build-up, damp and access. Rear access on Islington terraces is usually through the house, and we plan protection for floors and stairs as part of the quote. Scaffold on the pavement needs a licence from Islington Council, and a skip or van often needs a parking bay suspension, both of which we arrange.
You get an itemised written quote that makes clear which elevations are included and why. The job ends with inspection, sign-off and warranty paperwork.
Roughly half of Islington sits within conservation areas, and the flat-fronted Georgian and early Victorian brick terraces they protect are usually not candidates for insulation on the street elevation. We say that plainly, because the rear tells a different story: closet wings, rear walls and later extensions carry a large share of the heat loss and can usually be insulated without touching the protected face.
Age matters on these walls too. Islington's older brickwork is laid in lime mortar and needs to breathe, so we specify vapour-open systems, typically mineral wool finished with a mineral or silicone render, rather than sealing old masonry behind an impermeable skin.
Sometimes, but it depends on the property and local planning rules. We assess this at survey and will tell you plainly whether EWI is appropriate or whether another approach is better.
We do, with the caution period homes deserve. Breathability and detailing matter on older masonry, and we specify systems accordingly rather than applying a one-size-fits-all finish.
Often, yes. On a Georgian or Victorian terrace the rear and closet-wing walls are big heat losers, and insulating them changes how the house holds warmth even with the front left original.
We specialise in solid-wall and period homes across London and surrounding areas, including:
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