Replies

1. 
   walta100 | May 19, 2025 03:31pm | #1

   Sound like a very expensive project in fact I think it is almost certainly so expensive that it would never recover the high cost for the small savings it is likely to deliver.

   Most likely the existing wall has at least R13 in place. While R13 is not ideal it is pretty good stopping 92.3% of the energy.

   Not knowing how big the house is but if the windows and doors also get upgraded with the insulation and exterior finish. My wild guess is that this is almost 100K if a contractor is doing the work. Also doing away with the brick seems likely to cost you another 100K in resale value if not more.

   Note, you will find a well vented inch wide gap behind the bricks if your new exterior finish should fail to block the air flow thru this void the cold outside air will bypass your new insulation making it useless.

   Walta

   
2. 
   jhwehrli | May 19, 2025 04:27pm | #2

   The firm I work for currently does alot of historic masonry passivehouse retrofits and we almost always recommend insulating to the inside. You will need less insulation to do so and you will have better drying potential to the outside and repairability as the brick continues to weather. unless the brick is really in bad shape you might consider that approach.

   https://475.supply/pages/masonry-retrofit?srsltid=AfmBOoqPfPmnvavIM274kXivQydYk9aGq2BToyNC-YdoGEEbomLw8RKU

   475 high performance supply has a historic masonry retrofit guide you can read and download here.

3. Expert Member
   Akos | May 20, 2025 08:50pm | #3

   House that new will have brick veneer, not solid brick. If that is the case, the simplest is to remove the brick and insulate.

   Keeping the brick veneer will be a challenge as the cavity behind the brick is vented, so the exterior rigid won't do much.