Cavity wall insulation - damage to brickwork

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

I received a Warm Front grant for cavity wall insulation and they sent firm round to carry out the work. The insulation guys were really pleasant and drilled a couple of holes and then asked me to check if I was happy with it before they did the whole lot. They warned me that it would be holes all over the wall. I didn't realise it would be all over and was shocked that they drill away at the bricks too - I thought it was just the mortar.

The installers said that I wasn't the only person who had expressed concern and had changed their minds. They said they could see why I had doubts about it and what's the point of having it done if you end up with ugly holes all over that stop you from selling the house afterwards! One of the guys said that he was hoping to buy his first home soon and said that he understood me not wanting it done especially with houses being so expensive these days!

They said that the insulation they had with them needed this 26mm thick drill which meant the bricks got chipped away at but that if they insulate with white stuff (?) then they can use a smaller 22mm drill which would not affect it as badly. They didn't have it with them but they said they could recommend that I have that one instead. They pointed out that the mortar they use to fill in the holes afterwards obviously wouldn't be the same colour mortar because its new but that doesn't bother me so much.

As you can see they were really understanding but am I being too melodramatic? This is our first home and we only moved in 6 weeks ago so possibly I am too proud of it's good looks!

Any advice would be great

Spendless

We had ours done about 2.5 years ago. We live in a 1930s semi. I've just gone out and had a look and the holes go slightly onto the bricks but are mainly on the mortar. TBH I doubt anyone would notice on ours now unless they specifically looked or I told them.
The people who came out to do our survey looked at my next door neighbours and said they'd had theirs done and pointed out the 'drill holes'. Later our next door neighbours asked us about getting cavity wall insulation themselves, I pointed out their drill holes and told them it had already been done. They hadn't even realised. Shows how noticeable they are over time:D .
If you live in a newer house why don't you take a walk down your road, see if you can find someone who has already had the work done and see how noticeable you think the drill holes are on their property.
Many people will see cavity wall insulation and reducing bills as an asset and not be worried about the slight marks the work leaves.

sneekymum

They drill at mortar joint junctions and take the corners off adjacent bricks - it doesn't show up on a house with rough bricks and manky mortar - but if your bricks are smooth-faced and the mortar joints tight and neat then I'd share your concern.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Thank you for your replies. Our house is 15 years old and still has newish looking yellow bricks. Spendless - I will have a look down the street to see if anybody else has had it done - did have a quick look the other day and couldn't see any but maybe that's because it has become less noticeable like you said. I will take OH because he has slightly better eyesight than me Think I will rebook the insulation because like you say it should cut down on heating bills and apparently a third of heat is lost through the walls according to the propaganda! I will ask them to use the 22mm drill that they suggested. Does anybody know why they don't use this as standard? I measured the mortar thickness and this would still chip away at the brick corners but not quite as badly.

ariba10

If your house is only 15 years old are you sure you do not have it already ?

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Definitely don't have cavity wall insulation. The Warm Front assessor thought it would have it but I got the documents out from the housebuilder which specified what the external walls were built with etc and that convinced him that it didn't. Also when the insulation guys came round they thought it would have insulation but they drilled a hole to test and found that it doesn't have any. I think it only became a legal requirement for new houses in 1995.

woodbutcher_2

I can't believe that a house built in 1991 does not have cavity wall insulation.It's been around ever since i have been on sites since the mid 70's.I think you should double check as i have never heard of a house of this age with no insulation.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

As in previous post it has been checked - 5 holes have been made in our external wall which showed there is no cavity wall insulation.

Spendless

woodbutcher wrote:

I can't believe that a house built in 1991 does not have cavity wall insulation.It's been around ever since i have been on sites since the mid 70's.I think you should double check as i have never heard of a house of this age with no insulation.

I wonder if it varys area to area. Certainly my parents detached bungalow, a new build when they bought it in 1978, didn't have cavity wall insulation. They had it done roughly 10 years later as grants were then in place. In the late 90s some friends rung around asking about grants for CWI to be told there were none available. A few years later a year or so after we'd bought this house we got a leaflet about CWI and again grants were available reducing the cost which is how we came to have the work done.

sneekymum

The house walls would have been designed to meet the maximum heat loss allowed by the Building Regulations of the day. In 1990 that could have been achieved with the right combination of materials - probably including lightweight insulating blockwork.

Even today it's possible to meet the very high standards of thermal retention (max loss of 0.35 W/square metre/degree C of temperature difference ... a U Value ) without filling the cavities.

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

The info from the housebuilders does say they built it with insulating brickwork so like you suggest, sneekymum, that must have been how the met the regulations at the time.