Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David

Ours was done a couple of years back with some sort of blown fibre.

Previously had a house with granules that fell out all over the place.
Believe some now used stick together.

Foam did have a bad press because it did give off fumes which did cause
difficulties for some people. No idea whether this is still the case.

Choice may be affected by where you live. We are in a very dry part of
the country. If you live somewhere wetter the choice may be more
restricted.

Grants used to be available from councils or your power supplier.
Probably still the case.

Googling found me a lot of information.

"David J" wrote in message
...
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

The regs at the time it was enough to fit insulated light-weight blocks.
Not now. Worth getting done.

In the loft fit rockwool between the joists and rigid foam over the joists.
Boards on top and screws right through the two into the joists. Make sure
all cables and pipe running through the ceiling are sealed with silicon. Do
not forget the loft hatch and make it is insulated and sealed.

Invisible Man
wibbled on Saturday 07 November 2009 09:52


Ours was done a couple of years back with some sort of blown fibre.

Our bungalow has blown fibre. According to the neighbours, it may have been
done as much as 20 years ago.

Having bashed holes through the walls (new doorway) and having seen the top
of the cavity I would say that fibre is pretty good stuff. It all seemed to
still be in place, not slumped.

Previously had a house with granules that fell out all over the place.
Believe some now used stick together.

Yes - a decent version *should* use sticky balls to stop that "swiss
mountain avalanche" effect when knocking holes through.

Foam did have a bad press because it did give off fumes which did cause
difficulties for some people. No idea whether this is still the case.

Choice may be affected by where you live. We are in a very dry part of
the country. If you live somewhere wetter the choice may be more
restricted.

Grants used to be available from councils or your power supplier.
Probably still the case.

Googling found me a lot of information.

Definately worth investigating the grants options.

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

Doctor Drivel
wibbled on Saturday 07 November 2009 10:04


In the loft fit rockwool between the joists and rigid foam over the
joists.
Boards on top and screws right through the two into the joists. Make sure
all cables and pipe running through the ceiling are sealed with silicon.
Do not forget the loft hatch and make it is insulated and sealed.

I noticed in T Wells B&Q the other day some sandwich loft boarding - two
sheets of chip (or similar crap) with foam bonded in between, in loft chip
sized pieces. Cannot remember the price. Think it was about 75mm thick,
might have been 100mm.

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

"David J" wrote in message
...
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.


You may have partial insulation that doesn't completely fill the cavity -
but it leaves too narrow a cavity to allow the CWI to be blown in.

Our house (built 1983) had CWI installed about 12 months ago (and like you,
we've saved about 25% on gas heating, despite 2009 starting with a much
colder winter than 2008). A friend living in a similar house (same builder,
same design) built in the early 90's couldn't get a quote for CWI because
the cavity was too narrow.

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David

houses are still being built today without CWI - it's not required if the u
value of the walls can be achieved without it, that is to say, thermal
blocks can be used, coupled with internal drylining can be as efficient as
cavity insulation.

I'd get it insulated if it were mine - I used to install CWI for many years
and I can tell you that they use fibreglass now, and very occasionally,
polystyrene beads, but these have many drawbacks, not least when the house
comes to be demolished as they never disintegrate and also knocking holes
through creates huge voids higher up the wall, fibreglass tends to 'stick'
better on the rough surfaces of both brick and block.

There's grants available via energy suppliers and also it can be installed
for free if you or your spouse recieves any benefits

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:23:28 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David

houses are still being built today without CWI - it's not required if the u
value of the walls can be achieved without it, that is to say, thermal
blocks can be used, coupled with internal drylining can be as efficient as
cavity insulation.

I'd get it insulated if it were mine - I used to install CWI for many years
and I can tell you that they use fibreglass now, and very occasionally,
polystyrene beads, but these have many drawbacks, not least when the house
comes to be demolished as they never disintegrate and also knocking holes
through creates huge voids higher up the wall, fibreglass tends to 'stick'
better on the rough surfaces of both brick and block.

There's grants available via energy suppliers and also it can be installed
for free if you or your spouse recieves any benefits


Thanks for that info Phil. It probably explains a lot, since my house
exterior wall construction is as you stated:

standard facing brick + air cavity + 100mm thermal block + drywall
plasterboard. I have not seen the mu value for this construction, but
I presume it can only be improved the CWI.

I checked the 'free' CWI deals available, and it looks as if it
restricted to buildings constructed between 1924 and 1982. I'll check
further.

David

David J wrote:
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:23:28 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David
houses are still being built today without CWI - it's not required if the u
value of the walls can be achieved without it, that is to say, thermal
blocks can be used, coupled with internal drylining can be as efficient as
cavity insulation.

I'd get it insulated if it were mine - I used to install CWI for many years
and I can tell you that they use fibreglass now, and very occasionally,
polystyrene beads, but these have many drawbacks, not least when the house
comes to be demolished as they never disintegrate and also knocking holes
through creates huge voids higher up the wall, fibreglass tends to 'stick'
better on the rough surfaces of both brick and block.

There's grants available via energy suppliers and also it can be installed
for free if you or your spouse recieves any benefits


Thanks for that info Phil. It probably explains a lot, since my house
exterior wall construction is as you stated:

standard facing brick + air cavity + 100mm thermal block + drywall
plasterboard. I have not seen the mu value for this construction, but
I presume it can only be improved the CWI.

I checked the 'free' CWI deals available, and it looks as if it
restricted to buildings constructed between 1924 and 1982. I'll check
further.

David
i bought a thermometer gun from maplins,
you point it at a wall
and it tells you the temperature.
useful for showing where insulation is worth doing,
in my case the top few feet of the walls seems to leak heat through the
edge of the roof.

And the air leaks

[g]

"george" wrote in message
...
David J wrote:
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:23:28 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David
houses are still being built today without CWI - it's not required if
the u value of the walls can be achieved without it, that is to say,
thermal blocks can be used, coupled with internal drylining can be as
efficient as cavity insulation.

I'd get it insulated if it were mine - I used to install CWI for many
years and I can tell you that they use fibreglass now, and very
occasionally, polystyrene beads, but these have many drawbacks, not
least when the house comes to be demolished as they never disintegrate
and also knocking holes through creates huge voids higher up the wall,
fibreglass tends to 'stick' better on the rough surfaces of both brick
and block.

There's grants available via energy suppliers and also it can be
installed for free if you or your spouse recieves any benefits


Thanks for that info Phil. It probably explains a lot, since my house
exterior wall construction is as you stated: standard facing brick + air
cavity + 100mm thermal block + drywall
plasterboard. I have not seen the mu value for this construction, but
I presume it can only be improved the CWI.

I checked the 'free' CWI deals available, and it looks as if it
restricted to buildings constructed between 1924 and 1982. I'll check
further.

David
i bought a thermometer gun from maplins,
you point it at a wall
and it tells you the temperature.
useful for showing where insulation is worth doing,
in my case the top few feet of the walls seems to leak heat through the
edge of the roof.

The most common point of cold bridging - where walls meet each other, roofs
and the ground.

On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:40:48 +0000, george
wrote:

David J wrote:
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:23:28 GMT, "Phil L"
wrote:

David J wrote:
Not quite diy, but does anyone have a view (positive or negative) on
modern cavity wall insulation with foam or granules.

I had a previous house done with insulation foam in the 1970s and I
had no problems at all - apart from giving myself a problem later when
trying to drop a TV cable between floors via the cavity. The foam
insulation reduced my annual heating bill by 25%, and soon paid for
itself.

At the time I remember a brief cancer scare in the newspapers about
homes treated with this foam - but that ultimately came to nothing.

I had assumed that my current house, built in 1997, would have had the
wall cavities filled with insulation slabs at the time of building -
but some recent drilling through the exterior walls confirms that I
was wrong about that. Maybe the current building regulations for
insulation were not in place in 1997.

David
houses are still being built today without CWI - it's not required if the u
value of the walls can be achieved without it, that is to say, thermal
blocks can be used, coupled with internal drylining can be as efficient as
cavity insulation.

I'd get it insulated if it were mine - I used to install CWI for many years
and I can tell you that they use fibreglass now, and very occasionally,
polystyrene beads, but these have many drawbacks, not least when the house
comes to be demolished as they never disintegrate and also knocking holes
through creates huge voids higher up the wall, fibreglass tends to 'stick'
better on the rough surfaces of both brick and block.

There's grants available via energy suppliers and also it can be installed
for free if you or your spouse recieves any benefits


Thanks for that info Phil. It probably explains a lot, since my house
exterior wall construction is as you stated:

standard facing brick + air cavity + 100mm thermal block + drywall
plasterboard. I have not seen the mu value for this construction, but
I presume it can only be improved the CWI.

I checked the 'free' CWI deals available, and it looks as if it
restricted to buildings constructed between 1924 and 1982. I'll check
further.

David
i bought a thermometer gun from maplins,
you point it at a wall
and it tells you the temperature.
useful for showing where insulation is worth doing,
in my case the top few feet of the walls seems to leak heat through the
edge of the roof.

And the air leaks

[g]

Brilliant suggestion! Why didn't I use such lateral thinking..?

Of course, the surface temperature of the inner wall is all I need to
know. You can forget all this mu value nonsense.

They have one for £29.99 that would do the trick I reckon.

David

george wrote:
i bought a thermometer gun from maplins,
you point it at a wall
and it tells you the temperature.
useful for showing where insulation is worth doing,
in my case the top few feet of the walls seems to leak heat through the
edge of the roof.

Might be worth investigating how your cavity walls are closed at the
top: originally this was done with brick which creates a cold bridge
that is difficult to elimate. You sometimes can see this from outside as
a course of brick "ends" just below the soffits.