Insulation
Walls + Ceiling + D.G. Windows
Keeper’s Cabin
We counted 121 rooms across 9 of our building projects at a snapshot in time: mid 2023. More by luck than design did we start including high-specification insulation within the Schedule of Works for each of our projects. Then the electricity prices rocketed upwards. Thank goodness we insulated all buildings and started the community electricity eco-generation projects (here). This page is to illustrate what the insulation effort physically looks like. Also to clarify why we have become dedicated exponents of insulation and EPC certification. The example building chosen is Keeper’s Cabin at our Noss Head Lighthouse Station...
^^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
Noss Head Lighthouse Station, Wick, KW1 4QT
Our architect has presented a fine set of drawings to Highland Council in respect of the Planning Permission + Building Control + (HES) Listed Building matters. The last part of our efforts for this specific renovation is the EPC Survey & Report. We trust the following will be of assistance…
^^ Keeper’s Cabin: Left Side of Semi-Detached
Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage: Right Side ^^
For clarity, the next floor-plan is an earlier drawing from around 2001 showing our building, Keeper’s Cabin on the left hand side (we own Keeper’s Cabin outright and it is held in a specific holding company: “Noss Head Lighthouse Station Ltd”. The Keeper’s Cabin is shown here on the left hand side of the red line…
^^ Keeper’s Cabin: Left Side of Semi-Detached
Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage: Right Side ^^
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Larger drawing, specifically of Keeper’s Cabin, prepared by Knight & McDonald Architects early in 2023…
^^ Keeper’s Cabin: Floorplan Layout ^^
Showing Insulation
& Related Elements Within The Building
The next drawing by our architect is a sectional elevation showing the original cavity insulation between the double masonry walls (blank white shading), with the newer additional insulation (shaded purple), being all internal Walls (where they have an external elevation).
Also, ALL internal suspended Ceilings above and beyond exiting insulation materials (apparently RWA45 from the 1997 restoration) have a suspended framework with Celotex PIR thermal insulation panels. The 2017 renovation added a brand new interior stud framing with Celotex 50mm panels (shaded purple). Normally we would deploy 100mm thickness PIR panels throughout. Unfortunately, Keeper’s cabin is quite a diminutive building and as this was additional insulation. So a 50mm wall insulation thickness was utilised to ensure everything would fit properly…
^^ Sectional Plan Drawing ^^
^^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
Noss Head Lighthouse Station, Wick, KW1 4QT
As a matter of routine, when building product pricing becomes very competitive without loss of quality, our company backfills our storage facilities with articulated trailers full of building staples such as CLS timber, plasterboard (standard and also fire-retardant + moisture resistant) and RWA45 insulation…
^^ RWA45 From Our Regular Supplier ^^
^^ A Special At £19.95 Per Bale! ^^
The Old Wallet Got Unpadlocked
For Insulating Buildings.
We would recommend to small and medium sized property renovators to backfill your builder’s yard given the harsh trading conditions of 2023/2024.
It i a useful thing to actually welcome visiting sales personnel as they usually have an incentive or deal up their sleeve. any site managers actively chase these folk away. That can be a little thoughtless and may lose some folk a small fortune. The video above? That was three articulated trailer loads and helped 4 empty shops + 2 hotels and a lighthouse station with 6 of our buildings on it!
Of exceptional interest on your radar should be PIR (polyisocyanurate) panels. The staples in this range are 2.4m x 1.2m sheets of Celotex and Ecotherm etc. We tend to deploy a minimal 100mm thickness, but Keeper’s Cabin was already a diminutive building and so we utilised 50mm PIR thermal sheeting.
^^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
Celotex Insulation Installation
Instructions were given for 100mm Celotex to be used in the Ceiling, but by this time our Project Manager had been injured aboard the MV Caledonian Isles ferry from our Isle of Arran Sannox Hotel project. Unfortunately, that injury progressed into a TBI (i) here; (ii) here; (iii) here, and subsequent stroke. This meant a lot of the work progress was via remote video link during Covid due to underlying health issue management mid-pandemic.
Consequently e cannot guarantee the ceiling has 100mm Celotex and so, for the record, the Celotex our site personnel have photographed should be regarded as 50mm in the ceilings of Keeper’s Cabin.
Since normality ended when the pandemic started with a bonus of trampolining energy prices, the cost of building materials requires close watching….
=> Aug 2019: Celotex 2.4m x 1.2m x 50mm (Less that £19 per sheet).
=> Sept 2021: Celotex 2.4m x 1.2m x 50mm (£22.52) Click Here.
=> Aug 2023: Celotex 2.4m x 1.2m x 50mm Aug 2023 (£19.53) Click Here.
Returning to the main focus of this page: Keeper’s Cabin at Noss head Lighthouse Station, herewith a sequence of “before,” “during,” and “after” renovations photographs. The old addage of each one narrating a thousand words should help the reader skim through hthe content a little faster to the points that are of interest…
^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
Noss Head Lighthouse Station
Wick, Caithness, KW1 4QT.
The widow of the previous owner was kind enough to send us their old photograph albums. Included therein are pictures of what used to be known as “The Bothy.” This is when the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) owned the buildings at Noss Head Lighthouse Station, up until the 1990s. The Bothy was temporarily joined to the adjacent premises and more recently returned to the original two dwelling/semi-detached layout as per this current and up-to-date floorplan…
The word “Bothy” is interchangeable with “Keeper’s Cabin.”
^^ The Old Bothy. ^^
Noss Head Lighthouse Station, Wick, KW1 4QT.
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Keeper’s Cabin
The old detritus and bunk-beds cleared to the rubbish tip…
The Old Bedsit Bothy. ^^
Originally a single bedroom for cooking, sleeping ~ everything.
It was damp, cold and draughty.
The footprint of this single leaky and draughty “Bothy” room followed that of several other lighthouse stations. A shared utility room was assigned to the use of this property. Thereby making the area habitable and not substandard (curing the damp and insulating the ceiling and walls also helped ~ a lot).
A “historic” wooden (oak) lintel was removed and a regulation purpose designed concrete lintel was inserted above the door. This may only be a single-storey building with minimal loading above the door, but it is still important to deploy materials that were and are up to to the required standard. Fortunately, the author of this important part of the building (which is now behind plasterboard and other completed building materials) was astute enough to make sure a photograph was taken to evidence the fact that this door now has an up to date lintel properly embedded within the structure.
^^^ The Old PLK Store ~ Now “KC Lounge” ^^^
This old store was an utter waste of space in a magnificent and beautiful location. This could have been turned into valuable real estate decades ago. If folk need to store clutter, rent a storage unit in town with no view. The Keeper’s Cabin will make the eventual buyer of this house a very nice home or a particularly useful rental income. Next door at Principal Keeper’s House (here), that beautifully located sister building has been booked solid in Dr and Mrs Makins’ first year as a holiday letting property.
Staying with Keeper’s Cabin, there are six rooms in this building. All have been fully renovated.
^^ Breathable Membrane ^^
Before the window void was cut and fitted. Then Celotex PIR thermal insulation…
High Specification Insulation + Vent + DPC (Damp Proof Course)
Here is the Old Bothy Bedroom being transformed and renovated after the damp-proof-course and interstitial ventilation was effected at the outer wall and a new inner wall with substantial insulation in the walls and ceiling formed part of the renovations. A comparison to the earlier photo in this segment may prove useful
First Fix: Electrical & Plumbing Installed. Then Plasterboarded
Insulation With TV Mount Support Panels
The proximity of this can be seen by the midwall plug socket (left wall)…
Plastered & Painted
The New Walls + Windows + Ceilings
New television fitted to the wall mounts (left hand side)
Some Spare IKEA Furniture Has Been Located Free of Charge.
This next photo is the room pretty much completed a_ underlay + carpet + furniture.
No more having to climb over a toilet seat to get to a claustrophobic shower.
Carpets + Furniture + Bed
The kitchen is completely rewired, and replumbed.
^^ Now A Fully Functional Kitchen ^^
^^ Originally This Room Was A Coal Bunker ^^
Then it became the “site-office” for the whole lighthouse station whilst the other buildings were being renovated.
^^ Temporarily An Office ^^
Now the final transformation has been completed and this is a very useful kitchen.
Hot water supplied by efficient, instantaneous under-sink systems…
Retruning through to the bedroom from earlier photos supplied…S.
^^ Keeper’s Cabin Bedroom ^^
From atop the lighthouse can be seen the full lighthouse compound with commanding views available from each window at Keeper’s Cabin…
Noss Head Lighthouse Station.
Showing The Peninsula & Distant Boundary Wall
Photo Taken From The Lighthouse Tower
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Old Photos Just Arrived
Yet To Be Annotated…
This Is The Old Bothy Bedroom.
But first, a small segment to see what can happen if the endeavours narrated and illustrated on this page are not completed…
Preventing Ruination
It may be helpful to other lighthouse station owners to see how this small “Lighthouse Bothy” building was improved in a way that makes it possible to earn its own keep: to be able to provide a proper, warm and dry home, or a very useful and productive investment property income. Either way, we have seen far too many lighthouse ruins. Here is Ailsa Craig Island and its lighthouses…
^^ Ailsa Craig Island Lighthouse Ruins ^^
When we owned the Ailsa Craig Island Lighthouse Station between 1999 and 2001 these buildings were habitable. Our MD was working as a Harbourmaster on the mainland in Argyll (to the West) at the time and it was a 36 mile round trip from his vessel’s home to the Ailsa Craig Pier. Sadly it became unfeasible to renovate from such a long distance with weather that was more lively “Atlantic Ocean” than calm “River Clyde!
Conversely, Ailsa Craig Island is only 8 nautical miles (here) to the East from mainland Girvan Harbour.
^^ Ailsa Craig Island Lighthouses ^^
Consequently the difficult decision was taken in 2001 to sell the Ailsa Craig lighthouse buildings to someone from the east side mainland who would be able to commute to the island regularly and renovate the buildings. 22 years later, our MD’s heart is broken at the state of the place and he has been endeavouring to buy the buildings back so as to complete the renovation.
=> During the intervening 22 years, 14 other lighthouse buildings have been renovated (36 since we started in 1987). This page illustrates just one of these restorations.
We have been very fortunate. Especially with matters such as hyper-insulation efforts. Long before the electricity and gas bills started rocketing, it was policy to make sure all of our buildings were insulated to the maximum (and where Listed Building Consent allows) each lighthouse property is double glazed.
=> The substantial savings in heating bills can be deployed in that vital budget-head: maintenance. Please, please do not skim on annual maintenance.
All buildings, especially lighthouse structures do no like having maintenance matters missed.
Ailsa Craig Island Lighthouses (Here)
Now to the main feature of this page…
Noss Head Lighthouse Station
Keeper’s Cabin Renovation
This is a large lighthouse station covering approximately 39 acres (35 after charity matters were settled).
The bulk of the estate at Noss Head included 7 lighthouse buildings. The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) still retain the lighthouse tower. We bought the rest of the site on 23rd May 2017 (here) three years after the founding charity trustee had passed away in 2014.
^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station ^^
It is important to note that…
=> The Clan Sinclair Trust and Trustees (click here) were helpful to us in ways that meant the Noss Head lighthouse buildings were saved from a similar fate than that which had sadly befallen the Ailsa Craig Lighthouse Station.
Even with the best of efforts by the Trustees and Patron (plus a Herculean endeavour by the late Ian Sinclair’s bereaved partner), the very thing that makes lighthouses so picturesque is the precise cause that is the author of so much collateral damage and near-misses…
^^ La Jument Lighthouse ^^
Photographer: Jean Guichard
Maybe Treat Yourself To A Picture
That matter which haunts lighthouses are the upper echelons of the Beaufort Scale (here).
=> The best remedy for lighthouse building preservation is for them to be inhabited. To make this so, it is crucial to insulate the buildings and keep them in good order.
You just need to spend a few minutes on the internet Air B&B etc., to see how popular and fully booked former lighthouse keeper accommodation becomes. This is a virtuous circle. It ensures the buildings really do earn their keep. That helps keep them in tip-top condition.
Also, from a lifetime living in lighthouse buildings, our managing director can assure our readers that the weather is much more akin to the next photograph than the “lively” La Jument lighthouse pictured above.
^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station ^^
This loch was made larger so as to provide coolant for the electricity generating system in the Lighthouse Engine House.
After 36 lighthouse buildings, we have no hesitation in spending the funds to ensure this work is completed and as a consequence, each lighthouse building so renovated, will last for many decades and provide inspiration and beguiling accommodation for those fortunate enough to own one of these rare items, or to spend a holiday at a lighthouse station.
We are happy to present one of the six buildings that we managed to recover from being “tired” and heading towards a state of dilapidation. This and many other renovated lighthouse buildings are our atonement for what happened to the Ailsa Craig lighthouse station after we sold it 22 years ago in 2001.
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More Photos of
Noss Head Lighthouse Station
Just In
The Driveway is a 1/2 mile round trip to take the bins out.
The van above is doing just that ~ towing a wheelie bin!
There is around 1.2 miles of private road owned by UPS27.
Noss Head Lighthouse Tower
Sometimes the sheer beauty of this place makes you catch your breath and stop. Several times a year there is an amazing murmuration of starlings.
The first time I ever saw this, was gifted the sight, was at Noss Head whilst sitting with a cup of tea by the loch. Seriously, there are somethings that really do stop you in your tracks. Strangely, a lot of these awesome events have been up at the lighthouse station. I didn’t have a video camera that evening, but here is what you may well have as a treat by the loch…
The display I was lucky enough to see lasted 45 minutes until the sun was ready to set. It can capture your attention totally and completely. Well in as much as can happen when the lighthouse loch is a picturesque sight too…
The Loch & Pier Are Owned By UPS27
The summers at the far north are unlike the rainy west coast. The air is windy but dry. Russ has caught sunstroke up here twice. The place is a well kept secret, or at least it was until the North Coast 500 tourist trail opened up.
Conversely the winters can be a tad dramatic and dark. But sometimes you get lucky. Here is the same loch.
The Old Bothy Bedsit.
Noss Head Lighthouse Station. The Site Can Be Closed In Force Majeure Events.
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EPC
^^ EPC Building Regulations ^^
We actually have TWO exemptions (i): Listed Buildings and those within the environs of Listed Building (here). There are FOUR x Grade A Listed Buildings at Noss Head Lighthouse Station.
Exemption (ii) is that the EPC can be held in abeyance pending the building renovation being “completed” (the construction not the sale) as per the excerpt of statute above.
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Keeper’s Cabin
Occasional Lighthouse Keeper’s Bothy…
^^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
As it was when just an old damp, cold “Bothy” and now when we have a warm and economical to heat dwelling in a spectacular location.
Walk-Through Video…
^^ Keeper’s Cabin Video ^^
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^^ Keeper’s Cabin ^^
After ALL rooms were fully insulated, they were rewired + replumbed and then plaster-boarded (with fire-retardant plasterboard between the two semi-detached buildings).
^^ Principal Keeper’s Cottage ^^
The directors of Noss Head Lighthouse Station Ltd., have both served in uniform. One a firefighter and the other a police officer. There duties have included both attending at fatal fires. Russ McLean has had to attend post mortem of children who have perished in house fires. This information is disclosed to make it clear why both of this company’s directors have a preference to “over-engineer” fire protection precautions. Including the opening up of a second doorway between Keeper’s Cabin and Principal Keeper’s Cottage to make absolutely sure that the old doorway was brought right up to date with it’s fire regulations.
In this case there is a TRIPLE protection of “pink” fire-retardant plasterboard on the Keeper’s Cabin side and a DOUBLE protection of “pink” fire-retardant plasterboard on the Principal Keeper’s cottage side.
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Highland Council Evidence Document of
Separation from One Dwelling Into Two Dwellings
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