When Does Cavity Wall Insulation Need to Be Removed?

There are a variety of reasons why a property might need cavity wall extraction:

1) Slumping Insulation – Some of the earliest cavity wall insulation, employing more rudimentary materials, such as Urea Formaldehyde, has now slumped in the cavity wall, leaving cold spots that may be causing condensation.

2) Urea Formaldehyde – This form of cavity wall insulation was used for a period of time in many thousands of installations. We now know that this degrades over time losing it’s insulation properties and in the process can present health risks due to gases which are released as it degrades and so the removal of this type of insulation is advised.

3) Poorly Installed CWI – More recently, unfortunately, we see many cases of poorly installed cavity wall insulation where the wrong drill pattern or blowing pressure has left cold spots which may lead to condensation. Cavity wall insulation cannot be ‘topped up’ and so cavity wall extraction and correct re-installation is required. Other poor installation practices, such as not dealing with wall vents properly, can cause similar problems. You may have noticed that stories about poorly installed cavity wall insulation have been appearing more and more in the media. Keep an eye on our website and blog where we will be posting anything we see.

4) Flood/Water Damaged Insulation – Cavity wall insulation may have been damaged during flooding; sometimes broken or under performing rainwater goods may have allowed water to penetrate the cavity or the property may be located in an area of high exposure to wind driven rain. If cavity wall insulation becomes wet or damp, it really must be removed as this will transfer moisture to the inner skin of the property, damage wall finishes and potentially cause health hazards.

5) Unsuitable Building Type – the building, or a particular wall, may have been unsuitable for cavity wall insulation. Examples can be buildings with porous brickwork or mortar; steel and timber framed buildings; or buildings with high exposure to moisture.

6) Steel Framed Properties – We have had a few cases lately where we have been asked to carry out Extraction on Steel Framed properties. In all cases the customers have been trying to sell their properties but have found that potential buyers have been turned down for the mortgage due to the fact the property is insulated.

Cavity wall insulation is not recommended for steel framed houses because they need a well ventilated cavity to prevent moisture from building up and corroding the steel. If you have had CWI installed in a steel framed property you need to take immediate action.

If insulation were to get damp it would hold the moisture against the steel frame, particularly towards the bottom of the structure and make it more likely to corrode. In the majority of cases steel framed properties should not have been insulated in the first place.

If you find yourself in this situation fear not, all is not lost. The property can be Extracted.

The time and cost of cavity wall extraction depends entirely on the conditions that present themselves: the size of the property, the nature of the cavity wall and, of course, the material that must be extracted. It is difficult therefore to provide an indication of cost without gaining some more information about the particular job in question. However, we have tried to answer some questions about the cost of cavity wall insulation extraction here.

It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install, costing in excess of £10,000 and up to £30,000 in come cases. CIGA guarantee certificates generally stipulate an amount of cover on the certificate between £10,000 and £25,000

Mortgage lenders are also looking at properties which have had CWI installed and can devalue a property by as much as £30,000 if a valid CWI examination certificate is not available.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install, contact us for a free, no obligation review.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

We regularly come across properties that are unsuitable for cavity wall insulation. The following list comprises the most common reasons but it not intended to be exhaustive:

• Properties with elevations that are particularly exposed and susceptible to wind driven rain
• Timber framed properties
• Steel framed properties
• System built properties
• Properties with defective rainwater goods and/or unlined finlock guttering
• Properties where there are significant areas of (require re-pointing) or masonry
• Properties that are experiencing issues with penetrative damp
• Properties without a DPC, or where the DPC is too low (typically less than 125mm from the ground) and a French drain has not been installed
• Some properties with raked mortar joints
• Properties with a cavity wall under 50mm or over 150mm
• Properties that have significant rubble or mortar ingress in the cavity

We are regularly asked to survey properties that exhibit these characteristics which have been filled with cavity wall insulation. The outcome is often that it has become damp and is now causing a range of further problems. In this situation, it is almost certain that the cavity wall insulation will need to be extracted.

It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install, costing in excess of £10,000.

Mortgage lenders are also looking at properties which have had CWI installed and can devalue a property by as much as £30,000 if a valid CWI examination certificate is not available.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install, contact us for a free, no obligation review.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

We are often asked what to do if you suspect that cavity wall insulation might be causing damp or other problems in your property. The answer, initially at least, is quite simple. Contact Claims Legal.

Firstly, we will record details of the company who installed the cavity wall insulation and see if they are still trading or whether they have closed. If the company is no longer trading, your only route of redress is under your CIGA guarantee.

Secondly, if you don’t have a copy of your CIGA guarantee, contact CIGA to establish whether or not you have an industry standard 25 year CIGA Guarantee. If you do, they will send you a copy by post so we can check the terms of the guarantee.

Thirdly, if you have current issues that are already showing in your property, you may need a visit by a CWI inspection surveyor to collate evidence as soon as possible. The longer your property is left in a fault state the more damage it will be causing and could be affecting your health.

If you do have faults with your Cavity Wall Insulation, there are routes available to go to the installer if they still exist, or go to CIGA if they don’t exist, or if the installer doesn’t help.

The problem here is whether you understand the whole Cavity Wall Insulation scheme, the property and how the insulation works, and what host of issues can be present and need repairing. The installer or CIGA may not feel they are responsible for all of the issues and may try and resolve partially. This really doesn’t help.

If you come to Wall Cavity Claims for help, we put you first!

Our Cavity Inspection Surveyors are fully qualified and generate a significant report as to all of the issues that are showing in your property. If you are happy to move your case forward to be handled by a specialist panel solicitor who works on a No Win No Fee service, we can recommend your file across to a panel solicitor who will then fight your corner and make sure every single issue is addressed in your favour. The panel solicitor is instructed by you and has an overriding duty of care to you and you only!

So, remember, if you have a problem with CWI, please pick up the phone and call us.

It is apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install, costing in excess of £10,000.

Mortgage lenders are also looking at properties which have had CWI installed and can devalue a property by as much as £30,000 if a valid CWI examination certificate is not available.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install, contact us for a free, no obligation review.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

Do you have problems with damp cavity walls?

After our recent TV campaign, we are being increasingly contacted by customers who are having issues with cavity wall insulation damp or condensation and wondering how best to solve them. It is not only solid wall properties that can suffer from condensation and damp penetration. If cavity wall insulation is badly fitted or gets wet it can cause a huge number of problems.”

Condensation on Cavity Walls

Condensation on cavity walls often presents itself as black mould spots and is caused by the warm air inside the house condensing on cold wall areas. If cavity walls are filled properly by a reputable company you should not be experiencing this problem however there are a couple of cases in which this can happen:

Firstly some of the earliest cavity wall insulation, installed over 25 years ago and employing more rudimentary materials, may have slumped in the cavity wall, leaving cold spots that may be causing cavity wall condensation.

More recently, unfortunately, we see many cases of poorly installed cavity wall insulation where the wrong drill pattern or blowing pressure has left void spots which may lead to condensation.

We have also heard of shameful practices where cavity walls have been drilled but not one fibre of insulation is installed as the company is only interested in making a quick profit. As the industry is not 100% regulated with invasive drilling checks there has so far been no way of checking if this has happened, but is becoming more apparent that lack of fill in part or all of some properties has occurred.

Damp Cavity Walls

Damp in cavity walls is noticeable as the internal plaster finish will start to blister and crumble as the moisture content rises. There are a number of causes for this:

Cavity wall insulation may have been damaged during flooding. After the winter we have just had this is a common occurrence.

Sometimes broken or poorly performing rainwater goods may have allowed water to penetrate the cavity.

The property may be located in an area of high exposure to wind driven rain and standard cavity wall insulation should not have been installed in the first place.

In cases of cavity wall condensation or damp  the only real course of action is to have the cavity wall extraction, and if suitable re-filled.

It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install, costing in excess of £10,000.

Mortgage lenders are also looking at properties which have had CWI installed and can devalue a property by as much as £30,000 if a valid CWI examination certificate is not available.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install, contact us for a free, no obligation review.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

Damp can occur in properties as a result of cavity wall insulation if one or more of the following conditions is present.

Areas across the UK are zoned into exposure areas of 1, 2, 3 and 4, much depending on wind driven rain.

Your home is exposed to severe levels of wind-driven rain if your home is located in an unsheltered position, e.g. not protected by trees or other buildings. The external walls are poorly built or maintained with, for example, cracks in the brickwork or rendering and / or defective mortar.

Wall Cavity Claims has surveyed a number of properties where the properties are exposed and have been installed with Cavity Wall Insulation and are now experiencing very severe problems with damp.

If you or your property is located in a severe exposure zone and you are concerned about the state of the cavity wall insulation, please contact us. Special pre-installation surveys should have been completed prior to any installation and in many cases extra preparations should have been made or the CWI should not have been installed at all.

Published guidance by the Building Research Establishment says that in these cases there is ‘an increased risk of rain penetration if a cavity is fully filled with insulation’. Rain could penetrate the outer wall, bridge the cavity via the insulation material and transfer moisture to internal walls, causing damp.

It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install, costing in excess of £10,000.

Mortgage lenders are also looking at properties which have had CWI installed and can devalue a property by as much as £30,000 if a valid CWI examination certificate is not available.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install, contact us for a free, no obligation review.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

If you think you may be experiencing problems with your Cavity Wall Insulation and would like some help, first of all we advise you to check with CIGA (Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency) if your property was registered for a 25-year guarantee.

You can do this by either contacting CIGA directly on 01525 853 300, or alternatively one of our client team members will happily point you in the right direction.

If your property has been registered with CIGA for a 25-year guarantee, you are always advised to engage the original installer should you have any concerns about the insulation in your property. Through recent reports the original installers in many cases deny responsibility or fail to make full and proper remedial works at their own expense. CIGA may assist with some help, but more often than not it seems a mine field for UK consumers.

So, what happens if the installer is no longer trading? Don’t worry, this doesn’t affect your CIGA guarantee. The only thing you would do differently should you have any concerns about the insulation in your property, is contact CIGA directly and express any concerns you have with them.

If on the other hand your property hasn’t been registered for a 25 year CIGA guarantee, one of our client team would be happy to provide a free no obligation survey, just to assess how we can help you with any concerns you have.

Your CIGA guarantee may be effective in these circumstances and you should check your guarantee as soon as possible, if you are experiencing problems and they are left without being treated, it could end up a lot more expensive for you and your health.

If you’ve got issues of any nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install. It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

In the past majority of cases, Cavity Wall Insulation worked well, or so it seemed. It should keep your property warm and function well for the life of its guarantee (typically 25 years) and well beyond. Houses that are suitable for cavity wall insulation, with standard brick or block clear cavities between 50 – 100mm that are not unduly exposed should experience no problems. However, when cavity wall insulation has been installed improperly, or to unsuitable houses, it is more than likely to fail. The most serious of all issues we encounter with failed cavity walls is wet cavity wall insulation.

Wet cavity wall insulation can occur for a number of reasons. The first and most common is exposure to wind driven rain, often accompanied by eroded mortar joints. Bricks are porous and, if walls are prone to very harsh weather conditions, rainwater can enter the cavity to such an extent that, over time, the cavity wall insulation becomes soggy and slumps. If cavity wall insulation is installed to the correct density then water should not transfer across it in all but the most exposed of locations. However, if the density is wrong, or there are void areas, water ingress can be a problem. Another common reason for wet cavity wall insulation is water ingress through points of weakness in the fabric of the building. This can include, but is not limited to, seals around windows, guttering, downpipes and in the eaves, fascia or soffit areas of the roof. It is vitally important that property maintenance is attended to regularly to retain a sealed dry cavity wall. A third reason for wet cavity wall insulation is as a result of flooding. Naturally, flood waters breach the cavity wall and will saturate it inside and out. Cavity wall insulation therefore becomes very wet and slumps.

Unfortunately, in our experience, it is very difficult to dry out wet cavity wall insulation. Even if it does dry out, it becomes lumpy and loses a large part of its insulating qualities. Of course, while it is wet, it can have a very damaging affect on the property, allowing water to move through the inner leaf and cause internal damps problems in the plaster and decoration. At the same time, wet cavity wall insulation is having a cooling affect on your property, not unlike wearing a wet jumper would on your body if you went outside on a cold windy day.

For this reason, our advice is always to remove the wet cavity wall insulation and allow the cavity to fully dry out before considering re-installation.

If you’ve got issues of any other nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install. It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

Urea-formaldehyde foam was initially used decades ago when Cavity Wall Insulation was first introduced. This type of insulation gradually degrades over the years and falls to the bottom of the cavity making it less efficient the older it becomes.

A question we get asked a lot about urea-formaldehyde foam insulation is; Is it dangerous?

As it degrades it can produce a gas, which if disturbed and exposed to people living in the property, has the potential to cause; watery eyes, burning eyes and nose, as well as coughing and wheezing.

Long term health implications are less known; however, some studies suggest formaldehyde could be a possible human carcinogen, capable of causing cancer in humans, under conditions of unusually high or prolonged exposure.

If you have urea-formaldehyde foam insulation in your property it may be worth considering removing and replacing the insulation to improve the efficiency of your home, and to avoid any potential health implications if the insulation becomes disturbed.

Your CIGA guarantee may be effective in these circumstances and you should check your guarantee as soon as possible, as if it is left without being treated, it could end up a lot more expensive for you and your health.

If you’ve got issues of any other nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install. It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk

Prefabricated houses – A brief history

Post-war prefabs were built to replace the high levels of dwellings destroyed or damaged during the Second World War. The legal basis for the build of these was outlined in the Temporary Accommodation Act 1944. The prefabricated building project was coordinated by the Ministry of Works, who used the wartime manufacturing and organisation structure to roll out the building project in a military style.

Why prefabricated dwellings are not suitable for cavity wall insulation.

Taking the Tarran Newland prefab design as an example, the walls of these buildings are made up of precast concrete panels approximately 20mm thick. The process for installing cavity wall insulation would be a labour intense and invasive one.

As well as this, the concrete panels are connected using fixing plates which have thermal bridging issues. This means the plates will often transfer heat much quicker than the concrete reducing the overall thermal efficiency of the property.

Overall prefabricated houses are not suitable for cavity wall insulation and cannot be registered for a guarantee, so other methods of insulation such as external wall insulation should be considered.

If you’ve been sold CWI and live in a prefabricated house, your installer should have known that your property was unsuitable and CWI should not have been installed.

If CIGA issued a guarantee, a claim against CIGA may be effective, but more than likely a claim will be made against the installer. If this is the case, a legal professional is best to represent you on this matter as a typical costing quote for rescission and repair could be as much as £25,000

If you’ve got issues of any other nature with your Cavity Wall Insulation that may be down to the installer not following proper guidelines as to the install. It is now apparent that hundreds of thousands of home owners across the UK will need remedial work that will consist of a full extraction of the Cavity Wall Insulation and could well mean a whole host of other repairs and replacements directly caused by the install.

Contact Wall Cavity Claims today on free phone 0800-8-654321 or visit www.wallcavityclaims.co.uk