Cavity Wall Insulation (The Gov Scheme)

[BigBlueConk]

So what do you lads reckon?

Best thing to do?
Worth while?
Had a nightmare afterwards?
Share your stories.

It is FREE, but do you pay for it in the end?

Do you just fill the cavity with sawdust?

Got a survey being done later, but not convinced at all.

 

[Jonte]

So what do you lads reckon?

Best thing to do?
Worth while?
Had a nightmare afterwards?
Share your stories.

It is FREE, but do you pay for it in the end?

Do you just fill the cavity with sawdust?

Got a survey being done later, but not convinced at all.

Not in the building game; no trade skills to speak of, however, we’ve experienced increased levels of condensation since having it done at least ten years ago.

Mentioned this to a builder doing an unconnected job last year who told me that this is not uncommon in houses which have had CWI applied. Cannot vouch for this otherwise.

It was a ‘no-costs’ to me operation, that involved drilling the bricks at alternate points along the outside walls before pumping in this ‘snowflake’ like foam.

The next time I went into the loft, I discovered that the excess foam had spilled out into the loft itself along the table wall. Easy to clear up though.

Not trying to put you off, but that was my experience. Has it saved on heating? Perhaps, but not significantly.

 

[anton66]

Not much difference to be honest. Got new windows put in a few years later and noticed the filling had massive gaps everywhere in the cavity wall. We've got roughcast on the outside so the holes were not too noticeable once filled, but if your house is just brick then it might be a lot more visible.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

as with most grant work tons of firms spring up & you get lads that do it half heartedly, leave loads of mess etc.
They drill between the bricks then whack a bit of mortar into the hole, think its about 1 1/2 metres that it spreads when they 'inject' it.

we noticed a difference straight away tbh as the heating stopped clicking on in a morning cos the house was retaining heat.

 

[BigBlueConk]

Where's my poll?

 

[COYBL25]

as with most grant work tons of firms spring up & you get lads that do it half heartedly, leave loads of mess etc.
They drill between the bricks then whack a bit of mortar into the hole, think its about 1 1/2 metres that it spreads when they 'inject' it.

we noticed a difference straight away tbh as the heating stopped clicking on in a morning cos the house was retaining heat.

This.

My Dad had it done and the lads doing it had very obviously been hired by the contractors to just do cavity wall work.

They didn`t really seem to know what they were doing, so he asked his mate who is an experienced builder to have a look and found stuff that they`d done that would`ve actually caused damp in the long run.

Once it was pointed out to them and it was rectified everything`s been fine and the house is deffo warmer.

 

[PhilM]

We paid to have it done a fair few years back when we bought and renovated our house, and the job was professionally done to be fair.

Along with the loft conversion and the insulation put in place there, the heating is very effective but obviously can't compare cost before and after.

 

[.....!]

Had it done in my house by the Mark group that went bust soon after. I immediately thought that we'd have issues but no. It was filled with little polystyrene beads that don't hold moisture. The heating bills went down and there have been no problems whatsoever. You cannot tell from the outside that it has been done. I've heard if there are already water retention problems in your walls/cavities then it will keep it will keep the moisture there and not let it recede. I have had no issues but I know people who have. It seems hit or miss.

 

[Catfish Blues]

So what do you lads reckon?

Best thing to do?
Worth while?
Had a nightmare afterwards?
Share your stories.

It is FREE, but do you pay for it in the end?

Do you just fill the cavity with sawdust?

Got a survey being done later, but not convinced at all.

If you're in the North-West, and you're either near the coast, or live in an exposed area, then standard cavity wall insulation probably won't be right for you. Basically if you've got a west'ish facing wall which gets the brunt of bad weather, then rain might penetrate the outer brick and get stuck in the insulation. There are types of insulation which will cope with that sort of situation, but they're unlikely to be fitted by your bog standard supplier.

If you don't live in an exposed area, it's great, and will likely save you about 20% on your heating bills per year. We had it done five or six years ago and the obvious difference is how much better the house retains it's heat overnight.

 

[Market trader]

We also had the beads rather than the foam as I have asthma and didn't want the chemicals driving the foam's expansion to leak into the house.

A government inspector came and took thermal images of the house and identified an unfilled section of wall so the company were told to come back and fill up that area. There were only two or three inspectors in the country at that time, so we were lucky. Our current house has solid walls...

 

[Rugby Toffee]

My late mother had it done , and it certainly improved her home. They did a pretty good job , insulated the loft and also injected into the walls. It is a thumbs up from me . Free for her aswell.

 

[Huyton Layne]

Didn't this get done in the 90s? like white feathery wool stuff?