Cavity Wall Insulation Questions / Concerns

[steveoelliott]

Hi all,

I had cavity wall insulation installed in my end of terrace property today. Now I have the following resulting after the works are complete.

1) Slight fumy smell / dustiness in the hallway / kitchen which I am told is normal and the result of small holes in the cavity. This should clear with time I imagine.
2) My kitchen extractor no longer works (is jammed). Upon opening it up I can see the fan mechanism is full of beads. In fairness my kitchen extractor seems to be the kind which blows into the cavity and then the cavity itself is vented through 2 openings near the extractor.
3) The cavity vents I mentioned in (2) are leaking balls (stopped now and just a few) but I am told this will stop once the glue sets.
4) On checking the loft space (the installer did this and advised me) it seems there is around a large carrier bag full of these balls which have ended up on top of my insulation (not on gable ends).

Should I be concerned about any of this? I will of course have to get a new extractor but am planning on a new kitchen this year anyway.

Thanks....

 

[^woody^]

my kitchen extractor seems to be the kind which blows into the cavity

LOL. Is there such a kind? There aren't any in the brochures.

All those points suggest holes in the cavity wall which need to be sealed. Probably not installer issues though.

You need to know what chemicals were used, to know what vapours you are inhaling. Ask for the COSHH sheets. Some products may be hazardous in concentrations.

 

[steveoelliott]

Well actually it is just my assumption as how else could it fill with the balls... There is also a plastic air brick style vent roughly where the extractor is located and initially I thought it might have ducting around it but then on the adjacent wall there is also a vent.

 

[steveoelliott]

They came back and upon removing the plastic airbrick they advised the extractor just vents the air to the cavity and then air brick vents the cavity. It seems the builders who built our home bodged this somewhat as it should really be ducted ideally.

Anyway, they cleared all the balls out and then the fan worked and cleared the remaining leftovers. They installed some brushing to stop further balls falling into the area.

When I change my kitchen later this year, I'll go for a recirculating one or consider getting it ducted properly.

 

[JohnD]

A recirculator makes an attractive kitchen ornament, but fulfils no useful purpose.

 

[wessex101]

They came back and upon removing the plastic airbrick they advised the extractor just vents the air to the cavity and then air brick vents the cavity. It seems the builders who built our home bodged this somewhat as it should really be ducted ideally.

Anyway, they cleared all the balls out and then the fan worked and cleared the remaining leftovers. They installed some brushing to stop further balls falling into the area.

When I change my kitchen later this year, I'll go for a recirculating one or consider getting it ducted properly.

It sounds to me that the only people doing a bodge job are the insulation installers. They should have checked that all vents were sleeved, most aren't if the cavity is uninsulated so should have installed sleeves. Just hope they haven't blocked any vents that provide combustion air for a boiler or open fire. I bet they didn't check the cavities were clean and cavity trays fitted above openings etc. etc. No wonder so many people have problems with all these unskilled cowboy installers out there.

As JohnD said, recirculation kitchen fan not a good idea.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

They should have sealed the tops of the cavities with glass fibre. Its a lot cheaper then blowing cubic metres of beads into the loft. Mine did!
The chemical smell is the PVA glue they use, it will disapear over a couple of days.
Frank