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Cavity wall insulation

4 replies

movingtokent · 17/10/2014 18:57

We are able to get free cavity wall insulation installed. We have had the initial survey done and the property is suitable. Under the ECO scheme they offer the mineral wool insulation however after reading reviews on this and damp I am not sure it is a good idea. There is a possibility of being able to have the bead insulation instead. Does anyone done either? Out only other option would be to put insulation on the inside of the walls but this would reduce room size. Thanks

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PigletJohn · 17/10/2014 20:10

I have the mineral wool. It is treated with a water-repellent, if you put a handful into a bucket of water and push it under, when you lift it out, it is dry - it is not absorbent.

Do you think your walls are defective? Or are you, like me, in a coastal region with one side of your house exposed to storms and occasional driving rain?

What makes you think wool is unsuitable for your house?

movingtokent · 17/10/2014 20:22

Wow Piglet John thanks for the response We are not in a coastal region but on the side of a hill in kent and we do get buffeted by storms and live in the mist, hence maybe more prone to damp. The house was built in the 60's. I have spoken to a couple of heat pump installers who have told me about the damp and then went online and read ask Jeff and he was full of stories about the mineral wool. Once we sort the walls then need to sort the pitched roof and floors which all have zero insulation!
Whilst I have you so to speak do you have any opinion re ground source versus air source pumps?

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PigletJohn · 17/10/2014 20:52

air source have the reputation for freezing and failing to work in cold/near frosty weather. I imagine they are cheaper to install than ground or water.

There are a few committed self-publicists on the net who are opposed to CWI, one of them is associated with a newspaper. It makes me think of the people who are opposed to vaccination.

In the rare event that it is incorrectly installed in a wall that is wet (this is usually on cracked walls, or with defective pointing or render allowing water penetration) the installer, who should have observed the fault during survey, and refused to install CWI until it was rectified, can be forced to remove it at own expense. AFAIK this is very rare, but I would always choose a large company with a reputation to protect. BG usually offer free insulation, even to people who are not its customer. The other large utility companies are I am sure equally trustworthy. They treat millions of houses at low cost, and I can't see it would be profitable if they often had to go back and correct mistakes.

If you have a house that already suffers from condensation, insulating the walls will make them warmer, so more of the water will conspicuously run down the windows instead of soaking into the plaster and drying out when you open the windows.

If the brickwork, render or pointing is defective, or the gutters or downpipes are spilling water down the wall, it should be repaired anyway, whether or not you go for CWI.

The other cause can be a badly-built wall with accumulations of mortar dropped down the cavity by the bricklayers. It is possible to identify these by infra-red or miniature camera inspection, though I have never seen it done. Mortar can be raked out by removing a few bricks at a time for access. I have done this by hand, and it is very tedious. I presume it would cost at least some hundreds of pounds.

Get the surveyor to inspect the walls for possible damp before going ahead.

IME CWI is an excellent investment, it improves comfort and cuts energy bills.

movingtokent · 17/10/2014 21:34

Thanks so much for the info

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