How Do I Fix Thermal Bridging?

A thermal bridge — or cold bridge — is a localised area where heat flows more easily than through the surrounding structure, creating a cold internal surface. Concrete columns, beams, lintels, steelwork and junctions are all common thermal bridges. Because these elements cool below the dew point, they condense moisture and produce localised damp and mould.

To fix thermal bridging you need to treat the bridge directly — raise the surface temperature of the cold element above the dew point. Rigid insulation boards are often impractical for this: they are hard to form around columns and beams, and they consume internal space. A spray-applied natural cork thermal coating applied directly to the bridging element adds a thin thermal layer that improves its surface temperature.

By improving the thermal behaviour of the bridging element, an appropriate VIPEQ thermal coating can help raise its internal surface temperature and reduce the condensation and mould that form on the bridge — without significant space loss or the difficulty of forming rigid boards around complex geometries.