restored stone cottage-advice needed!

[mbrowne]

We are looking at a stone cottage which has been restored and extended. The original part of the building is made of solid stone walls- there isn't a cavity - we are worried that it may be impossible to heat and although dampness isn't visible, this too is a major concern- any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. mb

[Karl]

When renovating an old building, most people would install a dry lining incorporating insulation, attached to the inside of the external walls. This is covered with plaster slab, plastered and decorated. To find out if or to what extent or quality it was done is the $64000 question. If there was no such work done, you will know by the solidity of the surface by knocking on it. If it sounds hollow, similar to knocking on a door, it tells you the wall was plaster slabbed, which means there was some work done, but does not tell you how much insulation is gone in. To find out, you would have to see a cross section of the wall, which in a fully decorated house is not easy to do. However, there may be equipment available to test the insulation value of the house. See Sustainable Energy Ireland website.
Best of Luck.