Free Cavity Wall Insulation

swain90

swain90

swain90

Associate
Joined
7 Aug 2012
Posts
949
Hi All,

Just after a bit of advice, has anyone accepted one of these free cavity wall insulation installations?

We've had the below posted through our door;
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VfOCS88i_ySV85IQ42F-hFXddcfJyJ8N

A couple of people on our street have had it done, just wondered if it would cause issues later down the line?

The house we have is a detached redrow build and the house is about 8/9 years old now.

Any info would be helpful.

Cheers

Swain90
 
I've spent a couple of thousand removing blown cavity wall insulation and replacing the horizontal DPCs over windows where over time it's sagged with the moisture and formed a plug in the cavity. The builder said he's got two or three a year he's doing of the same thing. Admittedly it was installed more than ten years ago.
 
If your house is of traditional construction it'd be amazed if it didn't have cavity wall insulation already, most houses for the last 20 years have had it in order to comply with the U values in building regs.
 
Wouldn't mind cwi but apparently can cause damp issues shame as before brothers house has it was stone cold 10 mins after turning heating off felt cold again after cwi took hours to go cold
 
Tbh the majority of the time our house is warm, I just wondered if it's something that we might benefit from in a few years time?
 
I had free loft insulation put in on one of these Govt schemes a few years ago (was available to whole postcode area, not means tested) but I declined the cavity wall insulation because of all the horror stories I hear.

Plus one side of house is pebble dashed which would have been ruined with holes all over it.

Also if your postcode meets the criteria for free insulation, then you can reach out to any company that have access to the scheme, not just the spammer who rattled your letterbox.
 
Council did ours two years ago.

We've had issues with damp and mould ever since - to the extent that we've spent far more rectifying it (mould removal, antifungal paint, insyalling positive pressure ventilation, passive ventilation and higher flow vents in bathroom & kitchen) than the extra money we'd have spent on fuel bills *without*.

I feel buildings need to breath.
 
Had it in the last place from the government scheme, nothing but damp issues afterwards!

Moved instead of fixing
 
Blown cavity insulation is ineffective, causing cold bridging, moisture bridging, sags and leaves cold spots and will find its way back out of any hole it can find.

Don’t do it.
 
I seriously wonder whether most installers actually put anything in the walls. A lot seem to drill holes, make a mess, and do nothing. I mean I can't count the number of times I have hacked in to walls that have supposedly had cavity insulation and there has been pretty much nothing there.
Also the idea that insulation keeps the house cool in the summer is nonsense. Of course it will slow down the rate at which it warms up, but once it's warmed up then it just takes longer to cool down.
Foam is of course good but there can be damp issues with that.
Overall I have to say I am no a huge fan of retrofitted insulation. Maybe someone will convince me at some stage ... I think the main thing is finding an installer you can trust for a start.
 
My last house had it done by the previous owner, it was a 1930's and all the air bricks were sealed and cavity insulation fitted. It was a nightmare in winter for moisture, we had two dehumidifiers going 24/7 just to try and keep it under control and I was cleaning windows every day but thats an old house

My parents just had their's done this year, 80's house despite my warnings the positives outweigh the negatives as it retains its heat much better than it did.

My point is its hit and miss, some houses will be fine, others will suffer with moisture issues
 
Yeah, just to give the other side. We had an old 1906 terrace, had it done for free and never suffered any damp issues in the 6yrs before moving out. It made the house a lot warmer. Although annoyingly it made our bedroom roasting and uncomfortable :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom