# Cavity and Wall Insulation



## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

Afternoon Peeps,

Should have the keys to my new house this week, saving money is on the agrend of course!

I am told the house lacks cavity and Loft insulation. Can anyone recommened any decent companies in the north west who carry out this kind of work?

What kinda of outlay am i looking at?

I have heard of grants available, but as far as I am aware I wouldnt qualify for any. I work full time as does my wife, we dont recive any government benefits and we are both under 30.

Didnt realise Utilities was such minefield! 

Cheers all.


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## andycole (Jun 8, 2006)

Hi matey, we had a call from someone ages ago about a free home survey, I didn't think we would get any help but eventually we had the survey done and are paying £79 to have an additional 170mm loft insulation installed on top of our existing 100mm, the 3 tanks in the loft fitted with up to date jackets and any exposed pipework lagged to current standards. Didn't need cavity wall as it was already done but that was another £99.

Our house is 12 years old, we are both in full time employment and under 40.

http://www.eaga.com/products-and-services/contracts-and-outsourcing/warm-front

That's the company we have our contract with and they are coming in a few weeks to do the work.
Cheers
AC


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## Stumper (Apr 5, 2009)

Try Mark Group:
http://www.markgroup.co.uk/
They did ours a couple of months ago and were pretty good!


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## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

Cool, i have just realised we need the pipes lagging to! Thanks for the info.


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## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

graeme_t said:


> Try Mark Group:
> http://www.markgroup.co.uk/
> They did ours a couple of months ago and were pretty good!


How much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?


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## snapsnap (Jul 18, 2008)

If you have gas central heating via an old boiler, I would consider changing that too (assuming you intend on staying in the house for a good few years).


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## dr-x (Jul 31, 2010)

You will still qualify for the Grant as it is not means tested I had it done about 2 months ago, And it was a Green Grant from the Government, and it knocked £800 off the bill:thumb:


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

I had my 4 bed detached house done by these people.

http://www.homeinsulationservices.co.uk/

Cost £199 in total.

Last I heard is you dont need to be a pensioner or on benefits to get this now. Obviously if you are, you'd pay next to nothing.

Beep, beep:driver:


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

I'd be looking at doing the loft insulation and lagging work myself, plenty of offers on the rockwool type insulation at £3 a roll.

Not totally convinced on cavity wall insulation, have heard stories of condensation and rotting wall ties, after all, the cavity was left their for a reason.


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## mercboy (Jan 31, 2008)

as ive been in the building trade foe 30 years i'll point out my opinion.
a cavity is there for a reason,as bricks are porous when it rains water travels through the outside brick and runs down the cavity and runs out at the bottom,the down side heat can escape from the inside out.new builds use polystyrene panels which are dropped into the cavity when being built,this still allows water to run down the cavity and also insulates the cavity.the polystyrene panels do not absorb moisture.
the aftermarket cavity wall insulation that is injected into the cavity fills the cavity solid,when it rains the insulation absorbs the moisture and holds it like a sponge,causing dampness.this then relies on the heat trying to escape to dry it out .
i bought a house about 10 yrs ago that had injected insulation and it was left empty for 12 months with no heating on,after a weekend of heavy rain the gable end wall was saturated and the inside wall the wallpaper was peeling it was so damp and wet to the touch.
i modernised the house and when i moved in and had the heating on i never had the same problem,due to the heat trying to escape and drying the insulation out.
ask any bricklayer what a cavity is for!!!!!!!!!.
dont fall for the sales patter at your front door .
hope ive not droned on too much and explained enough


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## PJM (Jan 23, 2010)

British gas are offering free cavity wall insulation to dual fuel customers (old & new) just a heads up :thumb:


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

mercboy said:


> as ive been in the building trade foe 30 years i'll point out my opinion.
> a cavity is there for a reason,as bricks are porous when it rains water travels through the outside brick and runs down the cavity and runs out at the bottom,the down side heat can escape from the inside out.new builds use polystyrene panels which are dropped into the cavity when being built,this still allows water to run down the cavity and also insulates the cavity.the polystyrene panels do not absorb moisture.
> the aftermarket cavity wall insulation that is injected into the cavity fills the cavity solid,when it rains the insulation absorbs the moisture and holds it like a sponge,causing dampness.this then relies on the heat trying to escape to dry it out .
> i bought a house about 10 yrs ago that had injected insulation and it was left empty for 12 months with no heating on,after a weekend of heavy rain the gable end wall was saturated and the inside wall the wallpaper was peeling it was so damp and wet to the touch.
> ...


Even more worrying is companies are offering to do it on new build or newish estates...

Do you no when it was law to fit polystyrene panels? I think our estate has it but Markgroup are still injecting with insulation!

Cheers

PaulN


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## mercboy (Jan 31, 2008)

not sure when polystyrene panels started to be fitted but on a cavity wall insulation survey a small hole is drilled into the cavity and a small camera inserted,this checks the cavity is empty and suitable and measures the cavity thickness,this allows them to calculate the volume of insulation it will need,cavity gap*height*width.
if a company quotes without doing this run a mile.


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