Meeting with David Lagrenet,
Manager of the company Davidée in Liedekerke
My name is David Lagrenet, I work in the building, a lot as roofer and I mainly work in the region of Flemish Brabant in Belgium.
Why were you interested in ALUTHERMO®?
It was four-five years ago when I first saw Aluthermo® at the construction trade fair «Batibouw» in Brussels. I had looked at the advantages and disadvantages, and I found the Aluthermo® thin reflective insulation very interesting, especially because there is only one working step. With Aluthermo® you insulate, you have a roof membrane and a vapour barrier. So everything in one single product.
How did ALUTHERMO® convince you?
I did a simple test: If you take a sample, hold a lighter underneath it and put your hand on the sample, you can stay like this for 10 minutes and it might get just a little warm. That says it all! The heat doesn’t get through.
Here’s another good example: We once worked in an attic that wasn’t heated at all and there was a trapdoor. The day we had installed everything and sealed the cornice, the ridge, the partition wall, we could already feel the heat through the small trapdoor, which had a few cracks.
This really convinced me to say that I will use this material.
Are there any other points that are really advantageous for you?
It rains a lot in Belgium, which means that we have to work quickly. You roll out the Aluthermo® thin insulation, place the counter battens and it is already watertight.
Whereas, if you have a vapour barrier, which you still have to cut and glue, then you install the insulation and the underlay, everything takes too long.
And in Belgium we are not on the Costa Brava, where it is clear and dry for three weeks in a row. So we really have to try to be fast. When we open the roof, we close it as fast as possible.
Does ALUTHERMO® offer more possibilities than other insulation materials?
For example, if we have roofs with dormers we don’t have much space on the side walls and we then do not have much flexibility – unless we change the roof structure. We then use the thin insulation Aluthermo® Quattro, which is only 1 cm thick. It allows us to insulate the sides, the weak points, without having to use insulation materials of 10, 12 or 15 cm, which would change the roof structure, the price, the quote, etc… and the duration of the work.
Is ALUTHERMO® sometimes the only option?
We do not always have a choice as space is often limited. Sometimes also, in the interior everything is already finished and you then can’t insulate from the inside.
Aluthermo® thin insulation is suitable for all situations, especially when you have no choice and when you cannot work with traditional insulation.
And in conclusion. What do you think about ALUTHERMO® ?
This insulation is the ideal «all in one» solution as it’s an insulation material, vapour barrier and roof membrane in one single working step. That’s what I call easy. If I have a choice, I use Aluthermo® without hesitation!