External wall insulation (the wrap) — Baumit system, our crews

Yes. In Ireland, “the wrap”, “house wrap”, “house wrap insulation”, “external insulation wrap”, and “wrap around insulation” are everyday homeowner terms for External Wall Insulation (EWI). It involves fixing a continuous envelope of rigid insulation boards (such as 100mm to 150mm Baumit EPS or openSystem mineral wool) to the outside of your exterior masonry walls, reinforcing with mesh, and finishing with a weatherproof, breathable silicone render.

Cavity wall pumping only fills the 50mm–100mm gap between inner and outer blocks, leaving concrete lintels, floor perimeters, and party walls uninsulated (thermal bridging). Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of homes built with 9-inch hollow blocks or solid mass concrete have no cavity to pump. External wall insulation wraps the entire building structure from the outside, keeping the masonry warm, eliminating all thermal bridges, and permanently preventing dampness and condensation.

Solid masonry walls and 9-inch hollow concrete blocks (widespread across Dublin and Leinster estates in Crumlin, Drimnagh, Cabra, Ballyfermot, Walkinstown, Artane, and Tallaght) lose enormous amounts of heat. Because they have no cavity, internal temperatures drop rapidly and moisture condenses on cold inner blockwork. Wrapping the exterior with Baumit EWI raises wall temperatures to room level and shifts the condensation dew point to the outside.

In 2026, the SEAI Better Energy Homes grant provides €8,000 for detached houses, €6,000 for semi-detached and end-of-terrace properties, €3,500 for mid-terrace houses, and €3,000 for apartments. To qualify, your property must have been built and occupied on or before 31 December 2010 (built before 2011). Under the second wall measure (from 2 March 2026), homes with prior cavity insulation grants can also claim the full EWI grant. As an SEAI registered contractor (#10423), Isotherm deducts the grant directly from your invoice.

Baumit is our standard specified system because it holds full NSAI Agrément certification, uses breathable openSystem technology, and features self-cleaning SilikonTop/NanoporTop silicone renders engineered specifically for Ireland's damp maritime climate and algae prevention. While budget acrylic renders like Ceresit can trap moisture in solid masonry walls, Baumit allows the structure to breathe freely. We also install Sto systems on request where architectural projects specifically specify them.

For most suburban and rural homes in Ireland, external insulation falls under exempted development. However, if your property is a Protected Structure or lies in a designated Architectural Conservation Area (ACA)—such as parts of Dublin 6, Dún Laoghaire, or historic town centres—changing a brick facade to a rendered finish requires planning permission. We review planning status during your on-site survey.

A standard 3-bedroom semi-detached house wrap takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks on site. This includes scaffolding setup, mechanical and adhesive board fixing, fibreglass reinforcing mesh embedding, primer application, and the final Baumit silicone render topcoat. All works take place outside with zero disruption inside your home.

Yes. Sound pebble dash and roughcast dash render are excellent substrates for external insulation. After pressure-washing loose stones, we apply high-adhesion polymer bonding contact mortar and long-reach mechanical hammer-in anchors directly through the pebble dash into the structural masonry without requiring messy wall hacking.

When wrapping adds 100mm to 150mm to your facade, ESB overhead service cables and external gas meter boxes must be repositioned. Our crews install certified standoff extension brackets for gas meter boxes and coordinate ESB unclip and remounting safely. We never bury gas valves or cover service access doors.