Cavity Wall Insulation

We've got it. From what I gather, that's why there's a great crack in my house.

Apart from great cracks, it seems good. We had two very cold winters in this house (2 out of the last 3), and just the gas fire in the living room was enough to keep the whole house comfortably warm.

 

Err I can confirm it is done for free, and it is supposed to be very effective up to saving 15% heat loss
I had the free roof insulation up to 30" provided free, it has made a big difference
Only problem was they advised me on Tuesday (at the time) that I could have it, then advised me they would do it on Friday, I had to work like a slave and hire two skips to clear the roof space :-)

As for cavity wall they insisted on doing that although I pointed out the walls were 24" solid granite :-)

The next thing is the constant sales calls
"Just checking that you have recieved the free Gov grant for all homes for insulation"
Yes I have thank you and to the full spec
Oh good, Now can our rep call and advise you on our Tarrifs for gas and electric, Who are you with at the moment

CLUNK

Jack McH

 

FC cavity walls are built for a very good reason, to stop damp jumping from the outer to the inner wall, if the cavity is filled it creates a bridge between the two walls therefore it can allow damp through, the cavity is there also to let the house breath. It can also create dry rot. A friend of ours moved house a few years back to an older property that had insulation in it. Five months later they discovered the whole house was riddled with dry rot due to it and it cost them £75,000 to have the insulation removed and the house put right.

Think carefully before you go down this road.

 

I'd have cavity wall insulation like a shot if my house had any cavities. The solid brick walls leak heat like a sieve.

 

The companies offering free Cavity wall insulation etc. are actually on a Government funded scheme where they get paid for every house they actually complete - they aren't doing it solely for your benefit!
With regard to the Loft insulation I would consider carefully before you agree to it.
I had about 6" before they started. I had to remove everything from the loft (30 years of junk)
On completion I discovered that the regulation stipulated 14" of insulation to be installed.
It was placed ON TOP of the existing layer and I found it impractial then to use the loft for storage.
I've laid a couple of boards down to store suitcases, decs. etc. but I have to fight the insulation.
If the whole loft is boarded, would the insulation be as effective when compressed into a 5" spacebelow the beam level?
Also will there be pressure on the ceiling below - will the ceiling fall in?

 

FC I have had cavity wall insulation in my abodes since the 1980'S , it does make a difference. Plus if it is free fit its a no brainer. With GCC on the loft insulation , the new 14" regulation can make the loft a no go area if you have a job to do up there.

 

Afraid you have to give up the use of your loft for storage and leave the insulation at full height or it will not work

Jack McH

 

Mr Kandy had an email come through at his work place offering the chance to have free cavity wall insulation so as he was busy i rang the number he gave me and two weeks later had a phone call from the surveyor to make an appointment to come and have a chat which he did two weeks ago.

I explained to him that our house is always cold even with radiators and fire on in the depths of winter He asked us if anyone else in the village had had cavity wall insulation done and i said yes,four house across the way had it done a couple of years ago.The surveyour then asked if he could have a look in our electricty meter where he shone a torch in a hole in there and declared that we have no insulation at all in the cavitywhich is what i had always thought was the case Evidently some builders get away with not fitting it by using first a brick layer,then a thermal block,then there is the air gap in the cavity, the walls are then are dry lined so the air gap is supposed to work to keep the house warm,but when the wind blows a certain way we feel it.

Anyway,the criterier to get the work done was that no one in the house is over 70 and not on benefits so we signed the yellow form and he said we would get a letter in the coming weeks

We got the letter and the company are coming on November 28th to do the work so hopefully we will see a difference this winter

We had our walls done in the bungalow where we used to live with no damp problems and loads of family and friends have had the work done years ago without any damp or rot problems but that is just the people we know.

From what i have been told lots of energy companies are offering the work as part of the goverments green issues.

We can't have the roof done as our joists would have to have other joists fitted on top to take the extra inches and because Mr Kandy has boarded our loft it would be too much hassel

Good luck with whatever you decide to do FC and let us konw how you get on

 

We did our loft insulation this year and put a floor on top. What we did was raise the beams by screawing 2x2 ontop of the existing ones. It did compress the floor and you still get a space for storage.

We can't get cavity walls insulated as my house only has one wall worth doing. All the companies say we would have to pay £179 just to do this wall and OH said it wasn't worth it.

To the original poster, stay away from Energy Care UK, or whatever they are calling themselves now. They are cowboys, then again a lot of them are. Seem to remember the chap from Energy Care UK drilling a hole in our only cavity wall and then sticking a pencil through it to test its depth. Seems fair enough we thought until we had a chap from British gas round when they offered to do our insulation and used some special camera by comparison.

Both messed us around anyway, British gas saying they would do it on Good Friday, with the instance of the sales people they would do it and didn't show up. The third company we got in then said we only had one wall which was a cavity anyway. Our house was built in the mid 50's, so I would be concerned if your house if of that age.

 

I finally had mine done last February after years of trying to get someone to do it.
The house is concrete and most were done years ago by the council, unfortunately I had already bought mine, thanks to Maggie, so missed out.

Miller Patterson sent round a really nasty bloke who obviously did not want to do the job when he found out it was concrete, so he said he could smell gas, he said the cavity was open where it joined next-door, he said he couldn't gain access above the conservatory, in fact he used every excuse not to do the job, that was 2 yrs ago.

Prior to that Homewarm seemed very keen until I pointed out it was concrete.

Eventually I got it done, the name of the company escapes me just now, (funny how you only remember the bad guys), and I noticed an immediate difference being it was done during a cold snap in Feb.

I've had concerns about damp, but not noticed any, I think you need to have existing problems regarding damp, for it to be a problem, if that is the case, I can see how it could make the problem worse.

Am I right in thinking the building regs wont allow you to put up a house without it these days

 

Its not important if the insulation is in the cavity or not, as long as its there.

Mine was done in excess of current building regs, some of it is sheepswool & some cellotex, one inch of which is equivalent to 2 inches of rockwool.

Inch wise i've got 16 inches in the loft, 8 inches in the walls & 6 inches in the floor.

When they did the Energy performance certificate though, they won't accept modern materials are better than rockwool so they marked it down

 

So where do you suggest its put Zigs, on the outside of the wall or the inside?

Surely the outside is no go, and the inside would be a major refurb. job.

So the cavity is the ideal place for it, is it not???