Advice on Cavity Wall Insulation causing problems

BFlying

We had cavity wall insulation put in years and years ago. It was mixed material foam etc. We had a survey done as we have mould in all the upstairs rooms. They came and took it all out and refilled it with polystrene balls mixed with glue.

Yesterday, now i don't know if it's because it's been raining, but we noticed a really musty smell in one of the bedrooms. Never ever happened before.
We are just wondering if the new cavity wall insulation is to blame?

We've had the windows open all day and night, but the smell is still there.
Can anyone offer any advice or give us any help?
Thankyou

marrbett

I'm interested in how they took it out? Was it a difficult process?
And costly??
We've had this problem too

DRP

BFlying wrote: »

We had cavity wall insulation put in years and years ago. It was mixed material foam etc. We had a survey done as we have mould in all the upstairs rooms. They came and took it all out and refilled it with polystrene balls mixed with glue....

Just to clarify, is this what has happened:

1. The original cavity insulation caused mould in all the upstairs rooms
Did the mould happen straight away or after many years?

2. You had a survey done.
By who?
What were the findings of the survey? poor installation of the original insulation?

3. A company removed the old insulation and replaced it with new.
Did the company have anything to do with the 'survey'?
How long ago was it installed?
Did the mould go away?
How long did it take for the smell to start?

BFlying

marrbett wrote: »

I'm interested in how they took it out? Was it a difficult process?
And costly??
We've had this problem too

They drilled lots of holes in the wall and removed a couple of bricks at the bottom. Then they used what i assume was compressed air to blast it all out.
I don't know the cost because it was done through our housing association.

Just to clarify, is this what has happened:

1. The original cavity insulation caused mould in all the upstairs rooms
Did the mould happen straight away or after many years?

2. You had a survey done.
By who?
What were the findings of the survey? poor installation of the original insulation?

3. A company removed the old insulation and replaced it with new.
Did the company have anything to do with the 'survey'?
How long ago was it installed?
Did the mould go away?
How long did it take for the smell to start?

Answer to your questions:

1: The original insulation caused the damp. i don't know how long it took for the damp to appear because it must be over 20 years ago it was done.

2: Our Housing Association was who we complained to. They got in touch with a company who came to do the survey and they looked into the walls with a camera and said it had dropped. Also it was mixed material.

3: Don't know if it was the same company who done the survey. It was installed 3 weeks ago and the mould is still there. We haven't treated it, so that's why it hasn't gone.
It has taken 3 weeks for the smell to appear ( well 3 weeks since the new stuff was put in)

phil24_7

Treat and clean the affected areas, allow to dry out (keep windows open and if possible heat the room) then monitor the situation for a couple of weeks.

It has been very humid this summer which will only help mould to grow and mould smells musty.

Snakey

I have the same thing on a minor scale. It's in the corner of my living room, where there was a water escape from upstairs (two floors up) in late 2014. There is no visible mould (and never has been), just a water stain, and after a few weeks of it really smelling musty and nasty (while it dried out, I suppose) it was fine... but whenever it gets damp outside I get wafts of a musty smell.

I think we have those little polystyrene balls as cavity insulation and I did wonder whether - were I to magically be able to remove half the wall and look through to the middle bit - I would find a nice nest of incubating mould. I've no idea what to do about it!

I was hoping that a couple of summers would sort it - the wall is south-facing - and it more or less has although we never had the sustained heatwave that I was hoping for, but I still get the occasional waft. It hardly seems worth paying somebody to rip the place apart but it would be lovely if there was an easy way to sort it.

DRP

BFlying wrote: »

They drilled lots of holes in the wall and removed a couple of bricks at the bottom. Then they used what i assume was compressed air to blast it all out.
I don't know the cost because it was done through our housing association.



Answer to your questions:

1: The original insulation caused the damp. i don't know how long it took for the damp to appear because it must be over 20 years ago it was done.

2: Our Housing Association was who we complained to. They got in touch with a company who came to do the survey and they looked into the walls with a camera and said it had dropped. Also it was mixed material.

3: Don't know if it was the same company who done the survey. It was installed 3 weeks ago and the mould is still there. We haven't treated it, so that's why it hasn't gone.
It has taken 3 weeks for the smell to appear ( well 3 weeks since the new stuff was put in)

That would be the first thing to try wouldn't it? :eek: :rotfl:

Chanes

We obtained quotes to remove cavity wall insulation on the property we bought in case it had problems that didn't show on the survey or were kept secret by the vendor. It has had none and we've had it checked and it is bone dry insulation inside the cavity and it is the 'wool' type. Anyway, the quotes were around the 3k mark and it is done as mentioned with compressed air blowing the insulation down to a vacuum machine which sucks it into a van. I hear the injected foam is the most expensive to remove because it has to be broken up in the cavity first!