Air Bricks Blocked

[Superflo]

I have a Bungalow with a suspended floor, built around early 2000's, I was getting a musty smell in my daughters bedroom, done some investigation and found that the air bricks outside where blocked internally, what I mean by that is that I went outside and poked a stick through the air brick , this would only go so far then hit something hard, I went under the floorboards and found concrete pretty much covering the vent on the inside, I then checked some of the other vents outside and found the same with more than half. Im planning to drill out any airbrick which is. blocked. This issue looks like its been intentional, to purposely block the inside, allowing some but a lot less circulation, the guy who originally built the house is a bricklayer, so you would think he would no what he is doing. Does anyone know why this would be done like this and would you suggest drilling them all out. many thanks C

 

[footprints]

Unless there is a risk of flooding around the house I reckon I would open them up.

 

[Superflo]

There is no risk of flooding, the only thing I thought it could be, would be for mice, as we are close to the woods.

 

[footprints]

If they are terracotta mice might get through if the holes are a bit uneven, modern plastic on the other hand should be mouse proof.

 

[bobasd]

air bricks are required about every 1.5m, and a good through ventilation is needed under the house from front to back.

dont drill from the outside - you will make it worse.
go back under the floor, and knock out the whats probably sand and cement mortar not concrete blockages.
go all around the house examining the air bricks.

to prevent vermin getting in you can fix close wire mesh over the outside of the air bricks.

examine the sub-area joists and woodwork for any signs of rot - look esp. under the bedroom you mentioned.

 

[John D v2.0]

If they are terracotta mice

I had to read that twice after switching on my brain, as I've never seen a terracotta mouse! That's like the "piano for lady with wooden legs" advert

 

[footprints]

The importance of inserting a comma!

 

[Superflo]

If they are terracotta mice might get through if the holes are a bit uneven, modern plastic on the other hand should be mouse proof.

They are terracotta. Cheers

 

[Superflo]

air bricks are required about every 1.5m, and a good through ventilation is needed under the house from front to back.

dont drill from the outside - you will make it worse.
go back under the floor, and knock out the whats probably sand and cement mortar not concrete blockages.
go all around the house examining the air bricks.

to prevent vermin getting in you can fix close wire mesh over the outside of the air bricks.

examine the sub-area joists and woodwork for any signs of rot - look esp. under the bedroom you mentioned.

Thanks, I have been under before, there were no signs of rot, although there were droplets of water on the joist, coming from poor ventilation, I assume.
I then opened up the Airbricks by using a drill, just for the bedroom. Is there no way, I could drill out the rest of the air bricks, as its a lot easier to access than going under the floorboards, I'm not the smallest . Also you are probably right, it's more like mortar. Is this by design you think, as around
50% of the vents are like this?. Im also assuming that the air bricks which are covered with mortar are also getting some level of air circulation?

thanks.

 

[John D v2.0]

I reckon the bricklayer knew the regs for air bricks but personally didn't want that many for whatever reason, perhaps thermal reasons or something, so decided to slap some mortar over half of them after the building regs inspection. So you could say it's by design but maybe not what you'd want now.

Dropl;ets of water on the joist are a bit worrying, there shouldn't really be any but with high humidity and fluctuating temperatures it's possible to get condensation.

 

[bobasd]

without pics i can't comment on your "design" question - i very much doubt its done by design, why insert air bricks and then block them off?
drilling from outside will open up the air brick to access by vermin but why the obsession with drilling from outside or inside? a thin steel chisel and a hammer will easily clear away any mortar.
all the mortar blockages must be removed.
it seems you caught the condensation soaked sub-area timber just in time - i've seen massive attacks of Dry Rot where ventilation had been blocked off/bricked up.

 

[Nige F]

If they are terracotta, mice might get through if the holes are a bit uneven, modern plastic on the other hand should be mouse proof.

And the plastic ones let in much more air.

 

[Superflo]

without pics i can't comment on your "design" question - i very much doubt its done by design, why insert air bricks and then block them off?
drilling from outside will open up the air brick to access by vermin but why the obsession with drilling from outside or inside? a thin steel chisel and a hammer will easily clear away any mortar.
all the mortar blockages must be removed.
it seems you caught the condensation soaked sub-area timber just in time - i've seen massive attacks of Dry Rot where ventilation had been blocked off/bricked up.

The reason I say design, is that there are a high number of the air bricks blocked on the inside, I could understand this happening to some due to bad workmanship, but not around 50% or so,
I will try and get some photos taken, I though the only way to open up the brick all the way through is by drilling, didn't realise you could simply use a chisel, will take your advice on that one.
Thanks for your help, really appreciate it.

 

[John D v2.0]

Regarding the chisel and sorry if it's obvious but make sure you get the right type, there are wood chisels which have a sharp blade for cutting timber, and there are masonry chisels which are just heavy and blunt for working on masonry.
You need the latter!