I know not quite DIY but you all seem a knowledgable lot here!
Considering cavity wall insulation on my end of terrance house, from what I understand this can only be a good thing, however are there any minus points in having this done?
Thanks,
CNS
You can get large trapped pockets of air if the filling is not done properly. Water gets into these and then forms a wet patch on inside wall.
You later open a fitted wardrobe and find it is full of foam with all your clothes embedded in it..
You can no longer use the caivty for routing cables from loft.
Robert
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:36:20 GMT someone who may be CNS wrote this:-
Not if it is done properly.
================================== You say it's terraced which implies that it might be rather old. Have you checked that it does actually have cavity walls? Many older houses don't have cavity walls and obviously can't have insulation inserted.
Cic.
You shouldn't do that anyway.
Why not?
The 'surveyor' should check that your property is suitable, that it has cavity walls and they have not been filled previously. Regarding minus points, they have to drill holes every metre or so and it often isn't possible for these to be filled so that there is no sign of drilling. If you have exposed brick walls then they drill through mortar joints and repair with mortar, but if you have rendered walls then they just have to drill not knowing whether it is brick or mortar, then repair with mortar.
I think it keeps the house hotter in summer and that consequently, more ventilation is required but I wouldn't be without it as one of the most cost effective economy measures available.
Andy
We had our house done in 1984 using "Shell" polystyrene beads. A manager from Shell came round to visit the house during the installation and took a shoe box sized sample away with him which he said Shell would keep for *ever*. The fitters were just local agents.
There were no issue with chemical smells etc, no new allergies created.
The only downside has been that the house doesn't really cool down much overnight making it difficult to sleep when it's 28/29 C. at 4-00 am in the bedroom in a hot spell in summer. However in a modern 4-bed house very little heating is required.
DG
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:03:15 +0000 someone who may be Andy Cap wrote this:-
I suppose that might be the case in a building with large amounts of unshaded southerly facing glazing. However, generally it keeps houses cooler in summer by delaying the transfer of heat through the walls. It is delayed to the extent that it does not get inside the room but is released outside at night.
Because you shouldn't. That is why.
Perhaps we generate a lot of heat that can't escape. I thought it WAS a problem because it's been raised about these modern low-energy houses as well.
Andy
Not true. It the air temp is higher outside than in, it keeps it cooler..
We have a simple routine inhot weiher.
Befre we go to bed around midnght, opwn all curtais and windows.
This maximises heat loss when the night temps go below our target temp (20-25C)
First person up shuts all the windows and draws the curtains. This enables us to KEEP the rooms cool. There is a lot of thermal mass in them.
Typically even in the very hottest weather (35C) we manage to keep the rooms below 25C.
No, come on. Tell us why.
When the surveyor came round to look at our house he told me that the sash cords in all our windows run in the cavity, so we would need to get these all boxed off before they could start. This would be rather expensive! He was also concerned as we don't have a DPC - we have an injected DPC through most of the lower floor. He said that they would not touch in unless I could prove that the injected DPC covers all of the lower floor.
If you don't have the intelligence to figure that out, just accept that is the way it is.
Pleasetell us why we shouldn't put cables in the cavity.
My aerial cables get from loft to living room that way.
Robert
There is absolutely nothing wrong with running cables inside walls. So now, tell me why YOU think there is.
Exactly. Same here. And quite a few network cables travel in a similar way.
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