Air bricks

[Theanova]

Hi all, I hope someone will have a word of wisdom for me. Long story short. We renovated downstairs, builders kind of scammed us with very shoddy workmanship, left an absolute mess on the plasterboard behind the kitchen and fitted the kitchen (I was not home, it was Feb 24 and I had 1 year old so the house was not livable and found out of the issues after I came back). Refused to rectify and we've been trying to fix all the issues since. This issue I don't know how to fix. It's single layer timber frame brick 1930 house, plenty of brick vents all over the house (some added after the house was built by the looks of it as there is no logical pattern to it) plasterboard has massive gaps under the kitchen counters, kickboard also has massive gaps between the top of it and the cupboards so it feels like I have the north wind on my feet. We lose so much heat from it downstairs and even though I've purchased higher BTU output radiators for the area, it doesn't even warms it up. My question here is who can I hire to evaluate which vents we can block off and which we need to leave open? I will attempt to block the gaps in the plasterboard but I have no idea how I'll reach them without removing the kitchen 😔 absolute nightmare! Not only we lost money on these builders but will continue to waste money because of their poor work!

Thank you!

I think a few pictures might help here. Gaps above the kick boards are normal. Are the plasterboard gaps to allow the air bricks to still pass air into the room?

You need a structural surveyor or an architect, as for blocking the gaps under your cabinets (I advise you here cautiously, as I know the full history and don’t want to create you more issues), Rock wool or loft insulation could be put under the cabinets to seal any gaps without the need to remove anything, just don’t shove too far under or ram it in too tight or you might trap in moisture.

Sorry but I don’t agree, gaps in the kick boards or not normal. If they are scribed to fit then they should be snug both top and bottom, a small bead of silicone on the floor should be all that is needed to create a nice tight draught free fit.

Kick boards are usually clicked into place, with a rubber seal on the bottom, and a gap at the top, just a few mm, where the clips are. Then they can be easily removed.

@Slawit ‘You need a structural surveyor or an architect’
For what?

If your going to block up air brick you need to ensure there a no consequences in doing so.

Your right about kick board been on clips however the rubber seal I think looks ugly, I prefer a small silicone bead. I know it’s a a bit more hassle if the boards need to come of but how often do you need to that.

Most likely it’s a bad idea to block the airbricks, so @Slawit suggestion on the Rockwool, which is breathable, sounds very reasonable, especially if there is a gap above the kick board to allow some sort breathing. In fact two airbricks to allow some flow behind the units would be better. They just need to be insect proof. I’d go with that and remove it next May and look for any issues.
The plasterboard not being perfect doesn’t matter as it’s hidden, IMO, and as you say, ripping out the whole kitchen again for aesthetics is not worth it. That’s one for the next renovation.

1930s build, so does the property still have chimney and (open) fireplaces?

air bricks may have been to allow for supply of fresh air into the rooms to ensure the chimney would "draw" correctly. I had airbricks in the my 1950's property which we closed off when the chimneys were removed and central heating installed instead.

Plaster also shouldn't go right down to the floor, it should stop just around where the skirting board is. If it goes lower, it can cause issues with damp.

Apologies for the late reply. We had some unexpected surprise visitors over the Christmas holidays and I've just managed to go back to 'normal'. And if you wonder if I was ok with this, no I wasn't but I couldn't send them back to Bulgaria the same day 🤦🏻‍♀️

I will try and add as many photos as possible that might be relevant. The last photos is the side of the house (semi-detached) and the way the vents are situated goes along the front too. I also believe they are above the DPC and the floor is concrete covered in bitumen.

Thank you in advance!

Forget to answer your question, no, the plasterboard was very poor workmanship that they thought they can get away with since it's behind the kitchen. There were other issues we had with them where they cut corners and one was actually illegal but I won't get into this.

Thank you! I was considering loft insulation but I'm worried about damp retention. Of course I'm ignorant on the product so I don't know it's qualities. I will reach out later this morning to structural engineer to get this assessed and which we can get rid of. Thank you!

I agree, the gaps are not normal but that another consequence of the shoddy work the previous builders did. They were supposed to level the whole floor before fitting the kitchen but they didn't, they fitted it and then poured the compound around the kitchen!!!! So now the kitchen cabinets are not equal distance from the floor all around and the right side of the kickboard has a gap on top as the widest part. Now, I don't know the exact logistics but when I brought it to the attention of the new builder, that's why he used as explanation and that there wasn't any other way to do. I don't know if I'm just unlucky of what people I employ or with the house all together!

It used to have one of them old gas fireplace and an old boiler into the the chimney breast. It also had gas oven and hob but that's both gone. I have now removed both. New log burner installed and it has an appropriate vent for that. New boiler I'm the attick. I was guessing the extra vents in the wall were for that but please have a look at the photos I've attached to a previous post, it shows how many vents we have.

It all looks very excessive. Generally I thought air bricks were to ventilate under the floor. My mum's house had one higher up which was for an old style meat store (before fridges). Room ventilation is usually done with window vents these days. I would probably block all the wall ones and put in a fan for kitchen ventilation. I was going to say leave the ventilation into the cavity but I'm beginning to think you are saying the walls are single skin brick? That would change things. Sounds like you may need an expert on timber framed construction, I know you have to be careful to not allow too much moisture to get to the timber or you can get terrible, very expensive to fix, rot. All the extra vents may mean there were problems in the past.

You hit the nail on the head here! Yes, it is one of them really old houses that need the vents for the timber ventilation but I'm guessing not all as some seem to have been added later on. I hope there wasn't any moisture issue before that needs properly addressing because the whole downside was fully stripped down and if we were not notified by the previous builders, not only did they scam us for the things they did but also caused us tons on extra expense 🤦🏻‍♀️. I will have a look to see what I can find only about an expert as after all the work we've done, all the tears and money I cannot afford to just risk it. Thank you!

yes on that basis those air bricks do look redundant.
Have to say I cannot work the reason for those below the window. I would guess some of the kitchen ones would as other mention have been needed for meat locker / old fashioned "larder"

Two single air bricks above each other which have clearly been cut into a wall after the event. Whatever needed that capacity for air must be long gone as that looks to be a desperate way to create and air intake at a precise spot on the wall.