Wall cavity insulation - good, bad or ugly?

[nickldn]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone has an opinion on wall cavity insulation.

I live in an end of terrace house built in 1968, which has cavity walls and have been persuaded to have cavity wall insulation put in. A company called Miller Pattison is coming to do it next week.

Despite the government raving on about how great insulation is, I've got a few doubts in my mind:

* Would filling up the cavities with insulating foam (or whatever it is they use) lead to damp? After all houses are built with cavity walls for a reason - to keep out damp.

* What happens to the insulating foam after a long time? The house could still be standing after 100 years, but is the foam designed to last that long? What will happen to it after it reaches the end of its useful life?

I would appreciate any advice on this.

Nick

 

[JohnD]

It's good.

I hope you are using a reputable installer. You can usually get a subsidised price from your gas/electricity supplier, and they are very reliable companies who may also offer cheap finance.

 

[nickldn]

Hmmm...the more I read about it, the more doubts I have.

Here's a link to a page which does not recommend it:

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/cavity.html

It sounds like wall cavity insulation may sometimes cause problems. Not sure whether to believe it though.

 

[JohnD]

A very anecdotal article

it hasn't caused any trouble in my house. However it did make the house warmer for longer, and cut fuel usage.

It would be interesting to see the results of a scientific survey of a large number of houses, but that journalist doesn't provide one.

You can always find people who say "my feet started hurting after I had cavity wall insulation/I got headaches after buying a mobile phone therefore it must be the insulation/phone that caused it"

My house has blown glass fibre wool, which is trated to repel damp. If you put a handful in a bucket of water, it comes out dry - it simply doesn't get wet.

I believe most houses are now insulated with fibre, so it is to be expected that most unhappy people (and most happy ones) will have fibre insulation.

 

[stuart45]

Many of the problems with CWI come from poor workmanship or an inadequate survey of the property. Opinion amongst experts in the trade is divided, and Jeff Howell's is only his opinion. The CWI industry is relatively new and many of the original problems have now been corrected.
Everyone that I know who has had it done has been really pleased with it.