cavity wall insulated - can I remove airbricks?

[masamune]

I bought a 1930's semi-detached house and the cavity between external/internal wall has been insulated. Although I cannot be sure how well the job has been done i.e no paperwork from previous owner, it generally looks like a dry house and have not found signs of damp or condensation. This view may change during winter...

One of the bedrooms has an airbrick high up on the wall going through the external wall. My decorator suggested to remove it and close the wall.

The house has new type double glazing mostly but this room is old type, loft insulation and CH. None of the windows seem to have trickle vents.

Can I close the airbrick high up on the wall? Any potential problems?

This brings us to next question, the small bed used to have an airbrick which was sealed apparently by the cavity wall installer. As above, no trickle vents are present, it's modern type double glazing. Any potential issues there?

 

[JohnD]

Your house needs ventilation. You say it has no trickle vents. Don't block the airbricks. You can put a neat plastic grille on the inside if you want.

The old chimneys should also be ventilated top and bottom of each flue.

 

[masamune]

Your house needs ventilation. You say it has no trickle vents. Don't block the airbricks. You can put a neat plastic grille on the inside if you want.

The old chimneys should also be ventilated top and bottom of each flue.

Thanks. The small bedroom seems to have a cemented airbrick on the outside and after removing the internal vent I can see the cavity insulation (I think mineral wool).

That will probably need a sleeve to isolate the cavity from the inner/outter walls and then a new nice looking vent. What should I do and what cost am I looking at for this?

Can I check with CIGA if the cavity work was registered or could it be a cowboy job?

 

[JohnD]

you can get a plastic airbrick with a telescoping sleeve, but I have never used them. If the old airbricks went straight into the cavity, you might like to use expanding foam (otherwise the fill will get blown about) to seal the gap between the bricks, then you can use a knife to cut out the hole you need. I have only used 110mm round plastic duct.

 

[masamune]

That expanding foam around the gap sounds like a really good idea.

 

[masamune]

you can get a plastic airbrick with a telescoping sleeve, but I have never used them. If the old airbricks went straight into the cavity, you might like to use expanding foam (otherwise the fill will get blown about) to seal the gap between the bricks, then you can use a knife to cut out the hole you need. I have only used 110mm round plastic duct.

I was just thinking about this again. What a poor job, the guy who did this didn't bother to fill around the space between the airbricks, instead he closed the airbrick on the external wall....