Cavity Wall Insulation Using Balls not Foam Injected

Sew_Late

Company called Effective Home have canvased our estate saying they are using foam balls to insulate cavity walls under a free government scheme.  My house is very cold and my bills are high so it's an attractive thought.  I've heard that in the past insulation has caused mould, etc.  They say this isn't the case with this type of insulation and that there's a 25 year guarantee.  Is it worth the paper it's written on?  According to the company I meet their criteria.  The only possible obstacle is if there is rubbish in the cavities then they can't do it and apparently window companies often chuck their junk in the cavities and I had mine replaced last year.
1.  How can I find out if this is a legit company? (as knocking door to door)
2.  Anyone used them?
3.  Anyone had the balls inserted and have any insights or advice?
4.  How do I go about finding a recommended company if I don't go with them? 

Interested to hear from those that have had it done and whether or not it's a good idea or not. 

My house was built in 1959 and is a 3 bed semi with cinderblock internal walls if that's any use to know.

Section62

Sew_Late said:

Company called Effective Home have canvased our estate saying they are using foam balls to insulate cavity walls under a free government scheme.  My house is very cold and my bills are high so it's an attractive thought.  I've heard that in the past insulation has caused mould, etc.  They say this isn't the case with this type of insulation and that there's a 25 year guarantee.  Is it worth the paper it's written on?  According to the company I meet their criteria.  The only possible obstacle is if there is rubbish in the cavities then they can't do it and apparently window companies often chuck their junk in the cavities and I had mine replaced last year.
1.  How can I find out if this is a legit company? (as knocking door to door)
2.  Anyone used them?
3.  Anyone had the balls inserted and have any insights or advice?
4.  How do I go about finding a recommended company if I don't go with them? 

Interested to hear from those that have had it done and whether or not it's a good idea or not. 

My house was built in 1959 and is a 3 bed semi with cinderblock internal walls if that's any use to know.

Polystyrene balls (similar to beanbag filling) have been used as cavity wall insulation since at least the 1970's. Usually mixed with a binder (e.g. diluted PVA glue) to hold them together.

The problems with cavity wall insulation relate to the suitability of the walls for being filled, and the quality of the workmanship.  It doesn't matter what they use, if the walls aren't suitable, or if the workmanship is poor, there is a risk of having issues later on.

I'd suggest a 25 year guarantee isn't worth anything - it is likely to have so many exclusions as to make it worthless, and if it isn't insurance-backed then the chances are the company won't be around when you need to claim.

The starting point ought to be with a qualified energy efficiency engineer/surveyor (not a salesperson) to find out what would be suitable for the house as a whole - there's not much point insulating the wall cavities if the main loss of heat is from elsewhere in the building.

sk2402005

I had poly bead insulation installed a good few years ago, really due to the concrete construction and too narrow a cavity for fibreglass.

They are more insulating and also dont wick the water across so wont cause damp issues like you sometimes get with fibreglass.

Obviously they need to do a survey to check the cavity, but im glad i did it, my house is really warm and i have a gas bill half the national average equivalent 3 bed and the heating doesn’t get turned off at a steady 20'C.

 

i would agree that the guarantee isn’t worth anything, the company that did mine went bust after the government pulled all the grants!

FreeBear

Concrete floor or suspended timber ?

If the latter, you need to make sure the air bricks are sleeved in the cavity or else the under floor ventilation will be compromised.

I had cavity wall insulation done way back, and to be honest, noticed zero improvement. In recent years, I've been making various thermal upgrades. Plugging all the cold draughts (minimal cost) made a noticeable difference. Fitting new low-e DG windows/doors improved things massively - In part due to better fitting and elimination of some ugly draughts.

Slowly insulating the solid brick walls I have (65-75mm of Celotex internally), and after doing a wall, notice further improvements.