A friend is having an extension built and the cavity wall and insulation is not yet completed and was open to the elements at the top.
Due to the weather the builders have stopped work but did not cover the top of the wall.
My friend was concerned that the insulation would get damp and he was concerned whether it could cause problems once the wall was completed.
I said I didn't think it would be an issue as you could expect dampness from the mortar etc and this would dry out over time. But what do the group think? Should he get the builders to replace the insulation.( probably easier said than done due to the wall ties.)
The builders won't replace the insulation unless the customer wants to pay for it. It will dry out within a few days - while it may look waterlogged, it's actually not - it's treated with a waterproofing chemical, which is why penetrating damp/moisture doesn't track across it
A good builder will cover the top of the wall while it is being built.
Not only to protect from frost, but to prevent the wall becoming saturated by rain - which will then cause effloresence to the brickwork as it dries out and brings salts to the face.
Moisture from soaked insulation will dry out through the brickwork - again increasing chances of effloresence on the surface. In addition the water repelant qualities of the insulation will be degraded or removed - which may cause problems later if the external wall ever gets saturated from a good downpour.
The top row of insulation should be changed, and it should be insisted that the builder covers the top of the wall in future.
The majority of cases of efflorescence are where the bricks were saturated before laying, or get soaked from above/behind after laying. I don't recall ever seeing efflorescence go away on its own or by brushing - it is normally there for a very long time to spoil the wall, and could have been prevented.
Wet mortar or the face of the wall is not a problem, it's when the bricks are saturated through - which happens from the top, when it is a problem.
Covering a simple thing to do and can the difference between a nice and crap looking wall.
The majority was on exposed bricakwork *vhimey stacks only) and has all gone.
The stacks were layed in blazing sunlight, and were covered over each night, more to keep the sun off than the rain.
They effloresced for about a year, and then it wall eventually washed off.
Look up a few sites on efflorescence..its almost standard with new brickwork and it almost always stops in time.
Well your experience must be either imaginary or extremely limited.
It is almost guaranteed to happen on new brickwork.
Actually that is precisly what causes efflorescence. Wet new brickwork. From rain chiefly. To get to the outside, the salts have to be soluble. Being soluble, they wash off eventually.
it's when the
Bollocks. What about garden walls with exposed tops? Or parapet walls. Brick walls that get soaked - solid ones - are common as muck. You cant tell me that a single line of laid brick is any different from a cavity all that is wet inside..
Bricks should be soaked anyway - porous ones - before laying.
Its a simple thing to do, but it makes bugger all differnece to appearance.
You cover fresh blockwork to stop the rain washing the cement out of the mortar before it sets, to stop they sun drying it out before it sets and to stop the frost freezing it before it sets. NBy and large those are mechanical issues, not aesthetic. Of course if you do get cement leaking out, a stupid person might think it was efflorescence, and note that it didn't come off of its own accord.
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