wet cavity wall installation

[vanfan]

I seem to have damp cavity wall installation, when i was doing interior decoration i found the wall to very damp. i cut out a brick a was horrified to find soaking wet cavity wall insulation. my question is how do i get this stuff dried or removed or will it dry through time. i have reroofed the the property.

 

[^woody^]

Have you tried a hair dryer through the air bricks?

Other than that, it will probably dry on its own

 

[mointainwalker]

Sealed in a cavity I really don't think that insulation will dry at all unless you somehow pump a lot of air through it.

Obviously you need to fix the cause of the water ingress. was it a leaky roof ?

 

[noseall]

Have you tried a hair dryer through the air bricks?

8)

 

[hotrod]

Have you tried a hair dryer through the air bricks?

It would have to be a wheeely small hair dryer to fit woods.

 

[vanfan]

Thanks for the advice, i have replaced the roof so hope that has stopped any water ingress, i am thinking of taking out bricks to let air into the cavity thats all i can think of..

 

[mointainwalker]

I seriously don't think " letting air in ' is enough. I think you need to force air through it to dry it out.

 

[vanfan]

Thanks i will look into getting air into the cavity or taking the insulation out
i was never a fan of this type of insulation....

 

[JohnD]

I find this puzzling. My own walls were filled with blown fibre, the fibres having been treated with a water-repellenst silicone. I swept up some of this and put it in the bin, where it got rained on. When I lifted it out of the rain-filled bin, the water just ran straight off it, the fibres were not wetted.

I reckon you have to treat it as if it was a wet wall; find the source of water, which might be penetrating rain through poor pointing, or might be water entering the cavity from a leaking roof or gutter for example; then leave the wall to dry out by the action of fresh air.

Even a wall made of lightweight concrete blocks, which can absorb a lot of water if exposed to rain during build, will dry out in a few months.

 

[vanfan]

Thanks i had to replace the roof slates as they were in poor condition. when i took a handfull of the insulation from inside the wall i could squeeze water from it!! I did think maybe the gable end needs reharled i will need to look at that.

 

[JohnD]

I live in an exposed coastal location, and my weather-facing wall is slate-hung. On a stormy day the water runs off it like a waterfall.

I can imagine this would wet an ordinary brick wall.

Is your wet wall badly exposed?

 

[vanfan]

Yes exposed gable wall i may have to get a builder to look at the rendering on the wall. more expence, houses who needs them... i suppose thats what i get for living in Scotland , this is a rental property i own so need to get it repaired/