Cavity Wall Insulation

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga

Ive never understood how cavity wall insultaion can be good for a home, the cavity is there so the house can breathe ..... Its like giving your home emphysema!

No way will i ever have it done as ive heard too many reports such as yours!

I think there were problems in the early days, with damp tracking through the cavity insulation. If your cavity is already bridged, then insulation will compound the problem. Our cavities were checked and cleared out some 35 years ago.

I had it installed some 10/15 years ago - we have had no issues and the result has been absolutely brilliant. Our gas bills for heating, water and cooking, have always been much lower than other similar properties, despite our heating being enabled 24/7. The outer walls were noticeably warmer and once the house was warm, it remained warm for for many hours even when the heating was off.

Aside from the CWI, I double glazed it and quite recently had wood doors swapped out for modern ones and added a second door on the back door to form an airlock. I also added a proper ventilation system for moisture to be drawn out at source, like the bathroom and kitchen. Much of the damp in houses, is that generated from inside the house by the occupants.

All houses loose heat when the wind blows, you cannot make them air tight.

I can see where the behind radiator reflector panels might work where there is no CWI, but would never bother where there is CWI, because the CWI will be more effective at bouncing the heat back into the room than a foil panel.

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by scooterchick

the mold is along the very top of the walls where wall meets ceiling, not blocked by anything at all, I don't have wardrobes. its only upstairs affected, downstairs has no signs of damp at all.

Hi Anna, as others have said, black spot mold is usually caused by bad ventilation, all due to how we heat our homes these days.

You say the mold is along top of the walls where wall meets ceiling, this can be caused by poor or no loft insulation, or you may have blocked guttering, damp/water ingress into the property (do you have large trees next to your property)?

You need someone with with a damp meter, and have your guttering and roof tiles inspected.

Closing the bathroom door can help to prevent mold in other rooms, also using extractor fans in kitchen and bathroom. Not drying clothes on radiators can also help.

Can you take any photos of the mold and post them up?

[chipsceola]

Is it people that cause damp problems? Can be I am afraid, e.g In the 70's I was "the man from the Pru" among my clients were two mobile home parks, happy owners cosy and warm.

Not far away the council purchased a number of identical units to accommodate their overspill - yet different as chalk n' cheese, the tenants all complaining about damp and mould - easy to see why, they covered all their air vents to keep out draughts so destroying the ventilation.

Owners were mostly retirement age and couples, tenants were mostly families and larger, couple number of occupants with poor ventilation and mould was inevitable, council unable to resolve the problems and after about 5 years, their park closed for good.