Advice Needed Please

princess23

I wonder if anyone could offer any advice on this issue. We purchased a new build property in 2001 from Bloor Homes. This summer we took advantage of the Government Eco Scheme providing us with an assessment of our property which showed us that we had no cavity wall insulation fitted at all . This has now been rectified thankfully but I contacted Blood Homes to discuss this as was met with the following information. "When this site was built the external wall specification which achieved the necessary U value at that time, was an un-insulated cavity but with a more thermally efficient inner skin of blockwork." After living in this property for 23 years  up until the past four years we have always managed to have our heating on enough to never feel the cold. It has since become apparent  that as soon as we turn the heating off the house gets cold very quickly even the inside temperature last winter went down to 11 degrees. We were very fortunate in the summer to borrow a thermal camera from Octopus energy which clearly showed that we were losing heat through the walls . My question is therefore with their explanation is there anyway we can get some form of compensation in relation to this. T.I.A.

stuart45

A house wall doesn't need to have an insulated cavity to meet building regs. It just needs to meet the required U value target. At the time of your build it was around 0.45, which meant the majority of houses had insulated cavities, but it wasn't essential if another method could achieve the target.

FreeBear

princess23 said: We were very fortunate in the summer to borrow a thermal camera from Octopus energy which clearly showed that we were losing heat through the walls . My question is therefore with their explanation is there anyway we can get some form of compensation in relation to this. T.I.A.

You would have been much better off doing a thermographic survey during the winter months. With heating on inside, areas with the greatest heat losses would light up as well as the lower loss areas. In the warmer months, the temperature difference between inside & out would mask a lot of the areas where heat is escaping unless you had cranked the thermostat up real high.

After 23 years, you would be well outside any time limits to initiate any legal action to get compensation. And as stuart45 says, Building Regulations set lower standards back then. Your money would be better spent improving insulation rather than squandering it on futile litigation.

Slapping 65mm inuslated plasterboard on the inside of the walls as you redecorate would probably be the cheapest solution, although some areas would be difficult to do (kitchen, bathroom, stairwell).

Eldi_Dos

Could you explain how you have had cavity wall insulation retro fitted and if you feel house is warmer since doing so.

ThisIsWeird

princess23 said:

1) "When this site was built the external wall specification which achieved the necessary U value at that time, was an un-insulated cavity but with a more thermally efficient inner skin of blockwork." 

2) After living in this property for 23 years  up until the past four years we have always managed to have our heating on enough to never feel the cold. It has since become apparent  that as soon as we turn the heating off the house gets cold very quickly even the inside temperature last winter went down to 11 degrees.

1) You bought a 2001-built house which met the insulation regs at the time. What can you possibly claim for?

If you could prove that their building did not meet the required regs for that time, then, well, you'd still struggle.

As it happens, by leaving the cavity clear, and adding the required insulation to the inner skin, they have left open to you the option of the cheapest and easiest form of insulation - cavity - in order to improve the U value further.

Had the cavity already been filled, then you'd be looking at highly-invasive and extremely costly exterior or interior insulation options instead, which you most likely wouldn't entertain because of these two huge drawbacks. Win-win.

2) Your description doesn't help to explain the level, or lack, of insulation you may, or may not, have. I, too - between the years of 2001 and 2020 (I fib - we didn't move in until 2003) - have managed to have our heating on enough to never feel the cold. Nothing changed for me 4 years ago - what happened in your house?

Anyhoo, what's the current situation? Is your house significantly warmer with the CWI? If so, result.