ARC Building Solutions is responding to the demand for damp and mould solutions in housing stock with its newest innovation: The Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator.
It is engineered to enhance the thermal efficiency of existing buildings by addressing heat loss at the eaves junction. Its design ensures continuous insulation over the wall plate into the soffit, significantly reducing heat loss and thermal bridging while maintaining ventilation.
As it stands, an estimated six million homes in England – roughly a quarter of the country’s housing – report problems with condensation, damp or mould. These issues often result from poor insulation at the eaves junction and can lead to energy inefficiency, structural damage, uncomfortable living conditions, and even health risks.
Designed for all common rafter spacings, the Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator provides landlords and housing managers with an indispensable solution to improve property conditions by tackling insulation and ventilation at the eaves. Awaab’s Law will be coming into force this October, meaning social landlords will face strict new deadlines to tackle dangerous damp and mould – or risk footing the bill for alternative accommodation if homes cannot be made safe in time. Additionally, the Renters’ Rights Act, once enacted, is set to extend Awaab’s Law into the private sector, meaning private landlords will face the same strict standards and scrutiny.
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Neil Weeks, Managing Director of ARC Building Solutions, explains, “The eaves junction has always been tricky to insulate properly because of the tight space. In the past, people would often stuff in mineral or glass wool, which can block ventilation and cause moisture-laden air in the loft to condense. This can lead to mould, potentially damaging tenant belongings and causing costly and disruptive rafter rot. To ensure adequate ventilation, insulation is sometimes not fitted right up to the eaves junction to allow an air gap, but this can create thermal bridging and cold spots – creating the perfect environment for damp and mould to fester. Our Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator is designed to tackle both of these issues head-on.”
Made from glass mineral wool, the Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator keeps the airflow moving with a built-in ventilation tray to maintain the vital 10,000 mm2 ventilation area required to prevent moisture build up, and makes it easier for housing providers to meet PAS 2035 requirements.
The launch of this cutting-edge solution builds on ARC’s first product for the retrofit market, the award-winning Retrofit Eaves Insulator, which debuted in 2024. The Retrofit Eaves Insulator is similar to the
Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator but is specifically suited for existing buildings with pitched roofs, eaves spaces, and soffit or eaves ventilation, where wall cavity access is limited. Since its launch, it has been deployed in properties up and down the country and delivered measurable benefits such as helping reduce their PSI value by 97% and temperature factor by 56%, when used as part of continuous insulation.
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Neil Weeks continued: “The launch of our Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator reflects our ongoing commitment to pioneering innovation solutions, as it allows even more homes to benefit from quality retrofit insulation and ventilation. Its design means it can also be used in sloped ceilings which have historically been a difficult detail to retrofit, and can be installed where it is possible to pass insulation over the wall plate, ensuring the loft roll becomes continuous with wall or soffit insulation.
“With the Retrofit Eaves Insulator and now our new Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator, we ensure that dwellings with any roof type can be protected and that we have an insulation solution for any type of cold loft. By working closely with housing providers, we’re making retrofit projects more effective and accessible than ever before.”
For more information on the Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator, please visit Retrofit Wall Plate Insulator – ARC Building Solutions, and to learn more about retrofitting for warmer, safer homes, visit retrofit for warm safe homes – ARC Building Solutions.
