Air Bricks problem

skintandscared_2

PS I used to have a dehumidifier in a flat that had damp problems. It was fantastic. It unfortunately died when it was dropped in a house move, but I think I will get another one now.

tony6403

skintandscared wrote: »

They are airbricks, not vents. I think they are above the damp course but either below, or at the same level, as the floorboards. I will check when I get home.

Is it possible that the newly inserted airbricks could go right through to the inside of the house? The house is about 120 years old...

Forget my post about using a cover if the airbricks are for underfloor ventilation - these should not be covered (and will go through into the space under the floor) . Doing so could cause your floor timbers to rot.
If you can get underneath the floor it will be better to insulate between the joists to improve your living conditions.

cyclonebri1

tony6403 wrote: »

Forget my post about using a cover if the airbricks are for underfloor ventilation - these should not be covered (and will go through into the space under the floor) . Doing so could cause your floor timbers to rot.
If you can get underneath the floor it will be better to insulate between the joists to improve your living conditions.

This is why I posted as the answers were assuming these were vents in a cavity wall, the answers are very different depending on what we are talking about.

OP.
A house of over 100 years old will 99.9% be built with solid brick walls, only a few on the south coast were built with cavity walls before that time.

Cavity walls will have air bricks to the outer skin to vent the cavity. They may or may not have an internal vent to the inner skin.

Solid brick walls will have air bricks that vent all the way through the wall, they my be above or below dpc

Don't block any that vent the cavity if that's what you have, but they can be fitted internally with hit and miss screens with care.

Solid walls?, if the air bricks are below floor level then leave them alone, they are there to prevent damp, wet rot etc.

Above floor level is the issue, we expect hot living spaces without having the roaring coal/log fires that were the norm 100 years back. In that case some restriction of the internal vents would be needed.

I'm guessing that the problem is a cold floor, maybe needs lifting and insulating between the floor joists.

skintandscared_2

Thanks for both your very helpful replies.

Unfortunately, getting under the floorboards is not an option. We are tenants and the house has just been totally refurbished (including putting in the damn airbricks!!) The carpets were laid literally 6 weeks ago. In the kitchen, it is bamboo floorboards (like laminate). I think the problem in the kitchen is that the airbricks come in to the space between the wall and the back of the kitchen cupboards. Maybe we could put something like loft insulation pads behind the back of the cupboards? In the corner of the room we have the situation where there is an empty square where there is no corner cupboard. Only one of the fascia boards has been put in place to cover the gap and the other board is just leaning in the space. The wind howling through that space is immense. Peeking into that space, I can literally see daylight through the bottom corner and the wind is also coming up through the bare floorboards in that section. Maybe if I lay loft insulation in there too I can cut out that wind tunnel!