Cavity wall insulation damp

Kim.wigley

We bought our house in July 2014. We needed to gut the place, and paid professionals for their advice along the way. There was a damp issue in the bungalow, so we took someone on to complete a damp survey which they followed up with the work - the hacked the plaster off, they pointed the walls with something, re plastered and painted. This was guaranteed for 20 years.

In March 2017 they came back and fitted 2 vents because one wall was visibly damp - they said it was condensation and new windows etc. We moved out in april 2018, held the house for sale, which fell through finally because of damp issues in the survey. There as no real issue until a September 2018, the walls in 2 front rooms are visibly damp and paint flaking.

We failed to get the contractor back who did the damp proofing (he dodged calls and promised he’d come but didn’t etc etc), and someone else looked at it. We’ve determined the issue is the cavity wall insulation (installed in 2008 and a guarantee on that which we have details of somewhere). It’s wringing wet. We’ve now been advised to have that removed, and the house re painted to protect it, at a cost of around £5k.

The dampproofing we had guaranteed hasn’t failed as such, but it was the wrong solution. The company that did that survey was dissolved in October 18. The company that did the insulation was dissolved in 2015.

Is there anywhere we can go with this? We need to get it sorted ASAP (and work has now been started), because we’ve rented the house out and it needs resolving. Weve been told warranties may take years to pay out and the burden of proof they need mean they likely won’t cover it. Will insurance? (We’ve had our standard buildings and contents, empty property insurance Apr - Nov and now landlord building insurance so I’m not sure if none would even consider it?!).

We’ve only ever taken advice because we didn’t have a clue. We used professionals based on recommendation. I’m willing to listen to any advice on how we could/should have avoided this?