Cavity Wall Repair

Diellur

Hi all,

I've just returned from a business trip, and while I was away my wife had a visit from a company called Direct Savings (as I'm new to the forums I can't post links, but if you Google 'direct savings bathgate' you will come to their site). The chap that visited said that there's an issue with previous cavity wall installations, and that the polystyrene beads should have been inserted with a gel. Evidently, according to him, a lot of install have been done where the gel hasn't been used which results in the beads lying loose within the cavity. This is the case with our home - we've moved in since the cavity wall insulation was done - and from an access panel I can see we have loose beads.

Apparently there's a Government grant out there to repair this FOC. I've done a bit of Googling, but all I come up with is the grants for an install in a house in the first instance; there's nothing about remediating an initial installation.

Is this claim regarding non-use of gel initially a legitimate issue, and has my cavity wall insulation been done incorrectly in the first instance? Or is this some sort of scam?

Thanks in advance.

tony6403

Adhesive should have been sprayed when the beads were installed.
I am not aware of any scheme to rectify cavity fill problems free of charge.
In my experience the beads being loose will not give any noticeable reduction in their insulation performance.
You will however have the beads escaping if you drill a large hole in the walls.
I have the same issue with my insulation and when , for example drilling for a new sink outlet pipe , I sprayed diluted PVA adhesive through small holes which after a couple of hours did bind the beads around that area and prevented them flowing out.

BuntyB

Hi

We have had our cavity wall insulation redone just at end of January. A number of properties nearby and in same street have been redone over the last fees months. The old foam insulation installed back in the 80's was beginning to fail, or so I was been told. All done for free. Apparently it is funded by 1/3 from government, 1/3 from local council and 1/3 by your utility provider.

Beware, it's a messy job, though they try and tape up gaps, e.g between floor and skirting, I came home to what looked like a layer of ash everywhere. Took a number of days to get rid.

BuntyB

Forgot to mention that doesn't appear to be based on household income or whether or not you own or rent your home, worth looking into. Also loft insulation may be available under same scheme. OH was at a house in nearby town last week, that was of a non standard construction and they were getting insulation slabs put on outside and re rendered or whatever it is they do and the homeowner told OH it was again free

Diellur

Thanks for the input, folks. I did some more Googling and it appears that EPS beads (see, I learned that this was what they're called!) were originally put in loose but later with a PVC glue. I've also come across a couple of mentions where this was sorted out later (sucking out the loose beads then essentially re-doing the job with the PVC). So it seems to stand up to reason.

BuntyB, thanks for the tip re the funding too - again, seems to be legit. My wife wasn't asked for any details re our household income so it looks like the remediation is independent of personal circumstances, unlike an initial installation.

I don't know yet if we're eligible for the remedial work. I'll post back here when I know what's happening.

Kernel_Sanders

So how would 1980s foam fail? I want polyurethane foam CWI but was unable to find any scheme where it was even partly subsidised.