No cavity wall insulation in Bryant built property!!!

bobdabuilda · 6 Dec 2010

Should there be cavity wall insulation in a Bryant built house circa 1996? They have used aircon bricks for the inner skin but surely they aren't enough for decent insulation?

I have just removed the grill from a vent in the lounge and the cold air is whistling through the house!! Even the housing for the through wall vent is loose and removable so I have put a mirror in there and there is no cavity insulation whatsoever.... Would it be ok to seal around the housing with filler foam so that the vent just connects to the external wall vent rather than the entire cavity of the wall as it does now? It's making a dreadful mess of the wall with the dirt blowing in with the cold air.

There are air bricks just above the damp course externally so presumably retro - installing cavity wall insulation is a no no?

jeds · 6 Dec 2010

You would most likely have needed some cavity fill to comply with the 1995 standard but it is highly likely the house was built under the Pre-1995 reg when houses were commonly built with no additional insulation.

Why is cavity insulation a no-no?

bobdabuilda · 6 Dec 2010

jeds said:
Why is cavity insulation a no-no?

Won't it cause damp problems in such a case?

jeds · 6 Dec 2010

As long as your cavity is greater than about 50mm and reasonably clear it should not cause dampness. Personally I would recommend mineral wool or lambswool. Being highly breathable these are very stable and do not cause any problems. Your best bet is to get a quote and survey from a decent installer. If it's slightly dodgy they won't recommend it.

bobdabuilda · 6 Dec 2010

My other worry with having the cavity wall insulation is the number of ugly wall holes that they will drill. My brothers house was left like a swiss cheese and loads of ugly badly matched mortar filled holes.

bobdabuilda · 9 Dec 2010

So does retrofitting cavity wall insulation cause much problems with damp?

alittlerespect · 9 Dec 2010

Hi

Do a search on the discussion threads for cavity wall insulation and you will or at least you should find many a sorry tale! which should discourage you from installing cavity insulation, but there will likely be good and bad experiences and at the end of the day the choice is yours, but at least you will have been forewarned that there could be trouble ahead!

Regards

Robert9999 · 10 Dec 2010

I had mineral wool cavity wall insulation installed in my 1984-built bungalow 12 years ago. (It was called Rockwool - not sure if that's the product name or company name.) It has made the place much warmer and cut down on heating bills.

I was also bothered by the idea of unsightly holes in the brickwork. The company I used offered an option (at higher cost) of "microbore" installation. The holes for this are not much bigger than the width of mortar courses.

When the holes are sealed up with mortar of a matching colour they are difficult to detect. In fact you have to get quite close up to some of them to be sure that they are there.

There have been no problems with damp over the 12 years and I have never regretted having it done.

jeds · 10 Dec 2010

bobdabuilda said:
My other worry with having the cavity wall insulation is the number of ugly wall holes that they will drill. My brothers house was left like a swiss cheese and loads of ugly badly matched mortar filled holes.

I've had quite a number of buildings injected over the last 3 or 4 years and the results have mostly been very good. All the companys I've used carry colour matching mortars and the drills are about the size of the mortar joint so they are virtually invisible when made good.

There used to be problems in the olden days with dampness etc. but this is rare now. The rules are that the installer must not do the work without a survey and should not proceed if the cavity is not suitable - meaning sufficient width and reasonably clear. This sort of work in only viable with the grant money and installers that get continuous complaints run the risk of the grant being stopped, which would put an end to their business. There is plenty of work without doing the dodgy ones so all the installers I know do not take the risk.

I'm not saying it's impossible to get a bad one but if conditions are right the risk is so small it can reasonably be ignored.

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No cavity wall insulation in Bryant built property!!!

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