Airbrick Sleeves

[dmdm272]

Hi,

I'm replacing my old unsleeved airbricks with sleeved ones to try to improve ventilation to help with damp. I'm placing three underfloor and one (double one) at just below ceiling height.

I've read up on it a fair bit and the consensus seems to be that it is within my basic diy capabilities and overkill to hire a pro for this job.

Since the underfloor ones are below the level of the dpm i don't think I need to also retrofit cavity trays above them.

My problem is that the sleeves are supposed to angle downwards from inner to outer leaf to guide any water that gets on them to the outer wall to evaporate off over time. However the bricks do not line up in such a way as to achieve this and the sleeve would be lower on the inside - a definite no no!

What can I do about this? Is there a diy solution? Is it ok to cut into the bricks so that I can get space to slope the sleeve the right way or would this weaken them? Many thanks for any advice.

 

[ree]

There's a bit of confusion in your post.

What is the "damp" that you refer to?

Can you post pics of the "damp" area(s) and the in-place vents and air bricks - high up and below DPC level?

 

[dmdm272]

Hi, really my question was "how do I get the cavity sleeve to slope downwards to the outer leaf if the bricks don't line up that way?"

And a sort of side question of "do I need to try to retrofit cavity trays/weep vents or will they be ok without?"

Sorry if this was unclear, I'm not in a position to take photos at the moment I'm afraid. ..

 

[ree]

Why not google pics of telescopic air bricks (some come with a clip-on cavity tray fin) and see if any suit your purpose?

 

[dmdm272]

Cool thanks will do. However the ones I've seen look complex to retrofit. I just need to get a slight downward slope (down towards the outer leaf - at the moment the slope is slightly the wrong way round).

Options could be to chip out half a brick or take out an extra brick and replace it with a thinner one so that the hole on the inner leaf of the cavity is a bit higher than the one on the outer leaf

I've been told that trying to chip the brick is a bad idea though....what is the correct method?

 

[dmdm272]

Hi, does anyone know about this or if not can suggest a place to ask/look for a solution? The two holes are just an inch or two out of alignment. I need to get this sorted before winter weather. Thanks.