No cavity wall insulation

IvorDraft

We have recently purchased a new build home The house does not retain heat very well and the inside exterior walls are cold. Some of the rooms are drafty and cold. On investigating the drafts I was shocked to find that the house does not have any cavity wall insulation installed. There are many other builders building new builds in and around the area and all are installing cavity wall insulation. I have not yet discussed this with the builder and I feel I need some advise / help first, can anybody out there help me

Davesnave

In order to meet building regulations, new houses must meet set standards for insulation values.


So your question is who supervised the build and what measures were put in place to be sure that there was sufficient thermal insulation?



So far as I'm aware, a double skin thermal block and brick wall with a bare cavity would now not meet minimum regs.

flashg67

Are you 100% sure? My 15 yr old house has foil backed insulation boards - I assumed it was a building regs requirement. I'd be onto the builders to clarify/rectify as required.
We do (did) have an airbrick that gave off a draught which I blocked (perhaps not recommended but it was freezing in the prevailing winds)

stator

Who was your builder? A national well known builder or a local firm?


I'd be very surprised if there was no insulation as that would be against building regs.


Do you have NHBC scheme details?

stuart45

Davesnave wrote: »

So far as I'm aware, a double skin thermal block and brick wall with a bare cavity would now not meet minimum regs.

It wouldn't, unless the block was really thick. The standard 100mm AAC block/cavity/brick has a U value around 1.0, so this would be well short of todays standards.
You don't have to put insulation in the cavity as long as the walls meet the regs, but the easiest method is to use part or full fill in there.

IvorDraft

I am 100% sure that there is no cavity wall insulation

IvorDraft

The house is covered by NHBC but if the test results show that the house is OK what can I do?
I have not seen any test results and we did not see the house being built as it was finished when we first viewed it.
I don't think for one minute that my new house would achieve the heat retention requirements. A brand-new home should not be cold and drafty.
Does anybody know what I can do?

IvorDraft

Thanks Stuart, any ideas what I should or can do, can the builder get away with this?

jcb208

Was you given the air leakage test result certificate as the house would of failed if draughty and would need to be rectified and retested

stuart45

Some newbuilds near me had no insulation in the attic rooms in the roof, and it was over a year before people found out, but they got the developer to sort it.
On some sites the cavities have been filled after construction, so maybe that course of action will be offered to you.

daveyjp

About 15 years ago my sister was unfortunate to have a house fire in a 3 year old new build. Whilst that was a nightmare, it did reveal there were no cavity panels installed.

They checked a few neighbours properties and they were not alone.There was also another property which developed a huge crack due to dodgy foundations which didn't meet spec.

The builders were using their own building control company.