I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.


NT

I block the vents every winter to help prevent heat loss and have had no
problems. Must remove them again in spring.
Possible risk of radon gas coming up from ground but that depends on rock
strata. When we lived in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire it was a definite
risk as rock base was granite.




"NT" wrote in message
...
I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.


NT

On 02/02/2012 10:40 AM, NT wrote:
I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.




" leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation"

ahhh ..... Cavities are not there as insulation, the function of
cavities is to prevent penetrating damp without having to build 24"
stone walls !

At least with standard post war building techniques.

They should be left open, as in winter you are more likely to get damp
issues.
Also if you have any flame devices they will be used to provide the
fresh air.
People have died as a result of CO poisoning by blocking cavities.


If you are unhappy with heat loss then get cavities filled with agrement
approved materials.

On Feb 2, 10:08*pm, NT wrote:
On Feb 2, 10:00*pm, Rick wrote:





On 02/02/2012 10:40 AM, NT wrote:

I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.

" leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation"

ahhh ..... *Cavities are not there as insulation, the function of
cavities is to prevent penetrating damp without having to build 24"
stone walls !

they do both

At least with standard post war building techniques.

They should be left open, as in winter you are more likely to get damp
issues.
Also if you have any flame devices they will be used to provide the
fresh air.
People have died as a result of CO poisoning by blocking cavities.

If you are unhappy with heat loss then get cavities filled with agrement
approved materials.

But that would block them, and render the vent inoperative. In this
case I dont think cwi is an option at basement level, the total loss
of ventilation would cause a big damp ingress problem. The above
ground stories could be done if the cwi were prevented from going down
below ground. But how to get the necessary brushes into position I
cant work out.

NT- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Installers of cavity wall insulation will keep the vents etc clear
You may be eligable for a grant to get this done BTW

Brushes???

On Feb 3, 7:36*am, harry wrote:
On Feb 2, 10:08*pm, NT wrote:



On Feb 2, 10:00*pm, Rick wrote:

On 02/02/2012 10:40 AM, NT wrote:

I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.

" leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation"

ahhh ..... *Cavities are not there as insulation, the function of
cavities is to prevent penetrating damp without having to build 24"
stone walls !

they do both

At least with standard post war building techniques.

They should be left open, as in winter you are more likely to get damp
issues.
Also if you have any flame devices they will be used to provide the
fresh air.
People have died as a result of CO poisoning by blocking cavities.

If you are unhappy with heat loss then get cavities filled with agrement
approved materials.

But that would block them, and render the vent inoperative. In this
case I dont think cwi is an option at basement level, the total loss
of ventilation would cause a big damp ingress problem. The above
ground stories could be done if the cwi were prevented from going down
below ground. But how to get the necessary brushes into position I
cant work out.

NT- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Installers of cavity wall insulation will keep the vents etc clear

Looks like you misread the op. Its the cavity thats vented, not the
interior room.

You may be eligable for a grant to get this done BTW

it doesnt meet the requirements

Brushes???

Yes, to keep the insulation to above ground level only. Is there
another way?


NT

On Feb 3, 8:37*am, NT wrote:
On Feb 3, 7:36*am, harry wrote:





On Feb 2, 10:08*pm, NT wrote:

On Feb 2, 10:00*pm, Rick wrote:

On 02/02/2012 10:40 AM, NT wrote:

I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.

On Feb 3, 5:25*pm, harry wrote:
On Feb 3, 8:37*am, NT wrote:



On Feb 3, 7:36*am, harry wrote:

On Feb 2, 10:08*pm, NT wrote:

On Feb 2, 10:00*pm, Rick wrote:

On 02/02/2012 10:40 AM, NT wrote:

I'm getting complaints about heat loss from what looks like a poor
piece of house design. Its 2 stories above ground, plus basement. I'm
fairly sure no dpm or dpc was used anywhere in the construction, and
it has cavity walls. Damp ingress through the outer leaf of the
basement wall has been dealt with by having vents from the cavity to
the outside, leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation.
I'm inclined to think it would be ok to block the vents, on the
grounds that the inevitable damp ingress would migrate out through the
outer leaf of the above ground 2 storeys. Would I be right in thinking
this would work acceptably? The walls are brick.

" leaving the cavities not very effective as insulation"

ahhh ..... *Cavities are not there as insulation, the function of
cavities is to prevent penetrating damp without having to build 24"
stone walls !

they do both

At least with standard post war building techniques.

They should be left open, as in winter you are more likely to get damp
issues.
Also if you have any flame devices they will be used to provide the
fresh air.
People have died as a result of CO poisoning by blocking cavities..

If you are unhappy with heat loss then get cavities filled with agrement
approved materials.

But that would block them, and render the vent inoperative. In this
case I dont think cwi is an option at basement level, the total loss
of ventilation would cause a big damp ingress problem. The above
ground stories could be done if the cwi were prevented from going down
below ground. But how to get the necessary brushes into position I
cant work out.

NT- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Installers of cavity wall insulation will keep the vents etc clear

Looks like you misread the op. Its the cavity thats vented, not the
interior room.

You may be eligable for a grant to get this done BTW

it doesnt meet the requirements

Brushes???

Yes, to keep the insulation to above ground level only. Is there
another way?

NT- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I hadn't heard of brushes in this context.


Maybe the original question is one no-one can answer. I'm inclined to
block the vents and monitor RH and temp in the cavity. In case anyone
gets excited, there's no room ventilation or gas appliance air feed
involved.


NT