Urea Formaldehyde Cavity Wall Insulation

[Chainsawcharlie]

Hi all,

New to this great forum, been reading it for a while, and thought it good to join.

Was wondering what to do about my house which has Urea Formaldehyde Cavity Wall insulation, the one that looks like white shaving foam.

We bought our 1960's link detached Bungalow 27 years ago, and we knew at the time it had foam insulation in the cavity.
We were not able to speak to the actual owners at the time as the lady who owned had passed.
We estimate the insulation was added about 30 years ago from now, no guarantees were ever found.

At the time This type of insulation didn't seem to have any negativity, so we went ahead and bought the house.
The house is in Cheshire, and situated with walls which are sheltered from driving rain, by neighbouring properties

We must be one of the lucky ones because we've never had damp on the walls in all this time, but now I am starting to hear stories on the Internet from people saying it does cause damp, premature rusting of Wall ties and health concerns over Formaldehyde etc etc..

Apparently there were health concerns in the past, but have now been discounted, as any gassing from Formaldehyde occurs up to 5 years after its been installed.

I also believe contractors should ensure there is no rubble in the bottom of the cavity before injecting the CWI ...yeah right, thats going to happen

I phoned 2 local estate agents to ask if they ever heard of house sales being affected due to this CWI, both said not.

I cant help thinking any negativity about this form of CWI is generated by the many firms which have appeared offering to vacuum out this foam.

What are your views on Urea Formaldehyde Insulation please.

Should I have it removed?

Or as I'm not having any issues in 27 years, then why worry?

Would it cause damage inside the cavity while being removed, Wall ties etc..

Is it even possible to remove it anyway, or is this just bull from these companies who do it?

Maybe some of you kind folk may have first hand experience of this
In my opinion I don't reckon this insulation does much to keep the house any warmer be honest

Would appreciate your views guys, thanks for reading

 

[^woody^]

Higher risk of efflorescence in exposed walls, that's it.

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

Higher risk of efflorescence in exposed walls, that's it.

Thanks Woody, so that's all that's wrong with it in the walls or after its removed?

 

[^woody^]

Efflorescence is a risk while it's installed.

Is it possible to remove?
Does removing it release more residual gas/ smell?

Fundamentally though, does it need to be removed? If it's not causing a problem, then no.

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

Thanks again Woody, I suppose my reason for wanting to remove it was a fear it maybe causing damage not yet witnessed.
Such as premature wall tie rusting.

Am I right the insulation is unlikely to be holding any water, given my external walls aren't unduly exposed to driving rain, and importantly no signs of damp on internal walls anywhere?

 

[^woody^]

My understanding is that this insulation expands to form a solid mass of light foam and so there should be no voids to cause paths for moisture and no voids for condensation either.

The risk to ties should be insignificant and not really a factor to be considered

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

Thanks again.
Very reassuring to hear.
To be honest its quite difficult when there are all these companies out there trying to put fear into peoples minds over cavity wall insulation.
I wouldn't be surprised if half of these firms which offer to remove it with the vacuums, are actually the same firms under a different name, who installed it years ago.

What an industry the insulation removal firm is no lose, they hook up a vacuum, then say they've removed it, and unless you watched them every minute you will never know, then they ask for their £3,000 or whatever, and drive off laughing.
Or they just say, sorry it wasn't loose enough so couldn't get it all out, but they would still want paying, like I said no lose situation for them.

I'm getting sick of the ever growing number of cowboys in the U.K.

Thanks again Woody.

 

[cdbe]

Personally I think the BBA or whoever they are these days have a bit to answer for - stuff like this, cladding and now hospital roofs built from breeze blocks falling down - with the NHS apparently having to pay for this.

 

[JohnD]

If it isn't causing a problem, you haven't got a problem.

Many millions of homeowners are in the same position.

None of them write to the papers about it.