My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

On 30/12/2017 14:29, AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

Expanding foam cavity fill can be added to cavities with rusting cavity
ties to hold the two skins together.

Mike

AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these
government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression
that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.

--

Roger Hayter

In article , AlanC
wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of
these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

It keeps elephants out

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 30/12/17 14:53, Roger Hayter wrote:
AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these
government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression
that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.


Depends on the house etc.

Some houses, including ours, were build with it as standard. We've not
had a problem.

The issues Roger refer to relate to the 'injected' stuff which, if not
correctly done, can cause problems related to damp.

If it was done correctly, then there should be an issue. If not, there
may be. The uncertainly is knowing if it was done correctly. I
suspect this sometimes comes down to the reputation of the company if
there hasn't been an issue. Obviously, if there are signs of problems,
there will be queries re the quality of the work.

Interestingly, cavity insulation has been around longer than some people
think. I recall seeing some houses built over 50 years back and one of
the foreman explaining to my father how they placed the insulation in
the cavity. It was polystyrene sheet.

Well if it is working then its fine I imagine. I suspect they have a legacy
thing going on. In the beginning they used chemicals that could cause
headaches and funny smells and some installers did not really know what they
were doing and made damp issues worse by bridging cavities with 'stuff'.
I've not heard any really scary stories recently though.
I'd love to have cavity wall insulation here, but sadly we do not have
cavity walls in this terrace and in order to do anything really meaningful
it really would need all occupiers to have something done.
Brian

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"AlanC" wrote in message
...

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these
government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression
that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

I think I need to have underfloor insulation and one of my Chimneys is
making plasstic flapping noises so I guess its that time again to find a
bloke who can fit a chimney balloon, on the other hand of course I could
just buy a cheap roll of bubblewrap and shove it up the hole with the end of
a broom?

Brian

--
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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"charles" wrote in message
...
In article , AlanC
wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of
these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

It keeps elephants out

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 30/12/17 14:29, AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

There was a problem with fibrous insulation blown into the cavity. When
this got wet for whatever reason (rising damp, falling damp, leaks,
condensation on the inner surface of the outer brick skin) it made the
fibres stick together and heavier, and they tended to sink. In the end,
a mass of soaking wet insulation ended up at the bottom of the cavity.
That caused the ties to rust quickly, and severe mould problems on the
inner wall.

I understand that it can be removed with powerful vacuum machines, and
there are companies which specialise in this.

Even polystyrene balls can be an issue if they aren't used properly.
Everyone always finds a few balls coming out when a hole is drilled into
the cavity, but when we had new patio doors fitted the stuff just poured
out when the old doors were removed. I'd always though that when blown
in a weak adhesive solution was used at the same time to make the balls
stick together. But not, apparently, in our place!

--

Jeff

On 30/12/17 14:29, AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan


No - it's a +ve. It does work - limited to how wide the cavity is.

Some of the foam stuff injected in the 70s was notorious for causing
illness due to the fumes, but even that will have gassed off long ago.

The only negatives that I know of:

1) Polystyrene can eat cables if the latter are in the cavity.
Specifically it leeches the plasticiser from the PVC.

2) The blown fibre can settle - mine did a bit, but not so much that'd
you'd worry - it still works.

On 30/12/17 16:36, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 30/12/17 14:29, AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house.Â* Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of
these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all
the usual things about who owned what fence etc.Â* One of the questions
was about cavity wall insualtion.Â* It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity
wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the
impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

There was a problem with fibrous insulation blown into the cavity. When
this got wet for whatever reason (rising damp, falling damp, leaks,
condensation on the inner surface of the outer brick skin) it made the
fibres stick together and heavier, and they tended to sink. In the end,
a mass of soaking wet insulation ended up at the bottom of the cavity.
That caused the ties to rust quickly, and severe mould problems on the
inner wall.

I understand that it can be removed with powerful vacuum machines, and
there are companies which specialise in this.

Even polystyrene balls can be an issue if they aren't used properly.
Everyone always finds a few balls coming out when a hole is drilled into
the cavity, but when we had new patio doors fitted the stuff just poured
out when the old doors were removed. I'd always though that when blown
in a weak adhesive solution was used at the same time to make the balls
stick together. But not, apparently, in our place!


If I ever got our place redone, I would opt for either foam or glue
lined balls.

In article ,
Brian Reay writes:
On 30/12/17 14:53, Roger Hayter wrote:
There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.


Depends on the house etc.

Some houses, including ours, were build with it as standard. We've not
had a problem.

When it's installed during the build, it's normally held against
the inner skin, leaving an air gap against the outer skin, and
that prevents moisture wicking through.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Jeff Layman writes:
There was a problem with fibrous insulation blown into the cavity. When
this got wet for whatever reason (rising damp, falling damp, leaks,
condensation on the inner surface of the outer brick skin) it made the
fibres stick together and heavier, and they tended to sink. In the end,
a mass of soaking wet insulation ended up at the bottom of the cavity.
That caused the ties to rust quickly, and severe mould problems on the
inner wall.

I understand that it can be removed with powerful vacuum machines, and
there are companies which specialise in this.

Even polystyrene balls can be an issue if they aren't used properly.
Everyone always finds a few balls coming out when a hole is drilled into
the cavity, but when we had new patio doors fitted the stuff just poured
out when the old doors were removed. I'd always though that when blown
in a weak adhesive solution was used at the same time to make the balls
stick together. But not, apparently, in our place!

Someone in the road had polystyrene balls installed some 30 years ago.
A few months afterwards, the tail-end of a hurricane passed over, and
the whole street and all the gardens were full of polystyrene balls for
months. I presume they blew out the tops of the cavities.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 30/12/2017 14:29, AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan


Depends on property. Possibly not a good idea if a property is likely to
be subject to much driving rain.

--
Michael Chare

On Saturday, 30 December 2017 22:13:06 UTC, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Brian Reay writes:
On 30/12/17 14:53, Roger Hayter wrote:
There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.


Depends on the house etc.

Some houses, including ours, were build with it as standard. We've not
had a problem.

When it's installed during the build, it's normally held against
the inner skin, leaving an air gap against the outer skin, and
that prevents moisture wicking through.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Drivel.
Full fill cavity wall "bats" are moisture repellent mineral wool.
As is the stuff blown into existing walls.
Damp patches can appear due to cement droppings on fishtail cavity wall ties.

Rigid insulation board is secured against the inner leaf with clips attached to the cavity wall ties during construction.

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Dec 2017 14:53:45 +0000, (Roger Hayter)
wrote:

AlanC wrote:

My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall
insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of
these
government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which
correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all
the
usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was
about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall
insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression
that it was viewed as a negative thing.

Alan

There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.

My wife's SIL bought a bungalow a couple of years ago that had cavity
wall insulation, (don't know the age of the bungalow, but maybe
1980's, or the age or type of insulation) but she has recently had it
removed because it was causing damp (how do they do that?).

OTOH my late mother had urea-formaldehyde foam injected into her 1960
bungalow cavity walls circa 1975 which appears OK; no sign of damp. I
always understood that U-F foam had a limited life, and went brittle
with age, and certainly the 'balloons' of foam that came up the cavity
into the loft space were brittle. But we've recently had a door cut
through what used to be an outside wall with a cavity, and where the
cavity is exposed, the foam has more the texture of cotton wool than
foam, and is in perfectly good condition with no brittleness.

--

Chris

Our 70's bungalow is similar - with U.F foam installed soon after it was
built. We've now made several large holes in the outside walls for major
alterations, and the foam is soft but still fills the cavity completely - no
apparent slumping or other changes. No apparent damp problems either,
despite being fully in contact with the outer leaf.

It appears to be a good long-term product - provided you are not having to
breathe the formaldehyde gas during the initial period after installation!

Charles F


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 12/30/2017 8:48 PM, Michael Chare wrote:

Depends on property. Possibly not a good idea if a property is likely to
be subject to much driving rain.

We're on the north coast of Scotland - driving rain with gale force
winds is the reason we haven't had insulation pumped into the wall
cavity. What we have is insulation-backed plasterboard - with that,
double-glazing, and tight-fitting doors and windows, the house stays
nice and warm.

On Sat, 30 Dec 2017 06:29:50 -0800 (PST), AlanC
wrote:


My mother-in-law recently moved house. Her old house had cavity wall insulation, which she had fitted about 5 years ago as part of one of these government energy saving schemes.

As part of the move, she had to have one of those EPC reports which correctly stated that insulation was retro-fitted into the cavity.

As part of the move, she had to fill in a questionair which asked all the usual things about who owned what fence etc. One of the questions was about cavity wall insualtion. It asked when it was fitted and why.

Are there any other reasons other than energy saving to fit cavity wall insulation?

Maybe I was reading too much into the question but I got the impression that it was viewed as a negative thing.


You are reading too much into the question.

On 30/12/2017 15:21, Brian Reay wrote:
It was polystyrene sheet.

The Bellway houses built near me in 2010 had one-inch thick
eps sheets chucked inside the cavities.

I knew this when 2 years ago one house had a 2 story extension
and the original cavity wall was broken into, showing these
eps slabs just lying in the middile of the cavity, all skew-wiff
not even carefully lined up like lego bricks so that the cold
air could just pass on both sides of the insulation. So as an
insulant, it was utterly useless.

On 30/12/2017 22:13, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Brian Reay writes:
On 30/12/17 14:53, Roger Hayter wrote:
There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.


Depends on the house etc.

Some houses, including ours, were build with it as standard. We've not
had a problem.

When it's installed during the build, it's normally held against
the inner skin, leaving an air gap against the outer skin, and
that prevents moisture wicking through.

You can do a new-build with full-fill rockwool cavity batts but
that requires the brickie to be careful not to allow mortar to
lie on top of a line of batts before the next row is added.

It is treated to repel water, so nothing should cross the cavity,
though I wouldn't be happy with full-fill if I lived on the South
Coast, or West coast of Wales or Cumbria and parts of Western
Scotland.

A new build with a 100mm cavity, with 50mm celotex, where the slabs
are carefully cut, butted and taped and held firmly to the inner leaf
with special round clips on the wall ties should be weather proof
even in the most severe locations.

On 30/12/2017 16:36, Jeff Layman wrote:
stuff just poured out when the old doors were removed

That's because they saved money by not bothering with the
adhesive that the applicator nozzle is supposed to spray
over the balls as they are blown into the cavity.

In article , Andrew
writes
On 30/12/2017 22:13, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Brian Reay writes:
On 30/12/17 14:53, Roger Hayter wrote:
There are allegedly some dramatic damp problems due to fitting it in the
wrong sort of situation, or with the wrong sort of householder. In
Merthyr Tydfyl and points south especially, for some reason. I don't
know the truth of the matter.


Depends on the house etc.

Some houses, including ours, were build with it as standard. We've not
had a problem.
When it's installed during the build, it's normally held against
the inner skin, leaving an air gap against the outer skin, and
that prevents moisture wicking through.

You can do a new-build with full-fill rockwool cavity batts but
that requires the brickie to be careful not to allow mortar to
lie on top of a line of batts before the next row is added.

It is treated to repel water, so nothing should cross the cavity,
though I wouldn't be happy with full-fill if I lived on the South
Coast, or West coast of Wales or Cumbria and parts of Western
Scotland.

A new build with a 100mm cavity, with 50mm celotex, where the slabs
are carefully cut, butted and taped and held firmly to the inner leaf
with special round clips on the wall ties should be weather proof
even in the most severe locations.
Had ours done with foam about 30 years ago - no damp.
--
bert

In article ,
bert writes:
Had ours done with foam about 30 years ago - no damp.

Mostly filled cavities are all fine.
Mine is blown fibre (strangly, done at build time, and injected
from the inside), and my parents had blown fibre done 5-10 years
ago in their 1950's house without any problems.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]