How Can Damp & Mould Affect My Health? – Spotting The Significant Signs
Damp and mould can be annoying and difficult to deal with. If you...
- info@housingtriage.com
- Alexander House, Haslingden Rd, Blackburn, BB1 2EE
Does your home have damp, condensation or peeling paint? Your cavity wall insulation may be faulty, resulting in a number of problems that can be costly to fix.
Cavity Wall Insulation is the insulation between the wall inside your home and the wall outside. Houses built in the last 10 years will have been built with insulation, similar to the insulation in your attic. Older houses were built with a solid wall. However, houses built after the 1920s were built with a cavity wall which was originally an empty space.
A government-backed scheme saw to fitting all houses built with this cavity between the walls with a new type of insulation that is blown into the wall from a hole made in the brickwork on the outer wall.
If you have recently bought the property and unsure whether you have ‘retro-fit’ cavity wall insulation, you will be able to tell by checking for these holes made in the brickwork.
The below video shows the hole made by the installation company and how they fill it. You should be able to see how the hole will look to enable you to check your own home.
A scheme, funded by a ‘green tax’ on household gas and electricity bills, sought to fit millions of homes in the UK with retrofit insulation. This was meant to cut emissions and reduce charges by making homes more energy efficient.
Millions were persuaded to sign up to the scheme by the promise of cheaper bills from call-centre staff and door-to-door salesmen employed by energy firms obliged to meet Government targets.
The cavity wall insulation suppliers were put under enormous pressure to reach tight targets, meaning that many companies who installed the insulation cut corners to save time and escape government fines. Meaning thousands if not millions of homes across the UK have been affected by botched CWI jobs, luckily with a 25 year guarantee from CIGA.
Not all cavity wall insulation is faulty, however a vast amount of UK residents are experiencing problems in their homes due to this issue. This may be because of product degradation, inappropriate application, or poor installation.
As you can see from the above image, when properties are exposed to harsh weather and the insulation was inappropriately applied, this causes the damp to seep through into the cavity where the moisture sits between your walls.
This causes your walls on either side of your property to form damp, mould and condensation which in-turn will case paint and wallpaper to peel and bubble up.
As we mentioned before, many properties were fitted with the insulation by the insulation companies in order to meet the targets set by the government.
However, if your property resides on the west coast of the UK, it is highly likely that your property is not suitable to have this fitted. This is because of the harsh winds and rain coming from across the Atlantic.
There also may be instances where the insulation was inappropriately applied, where insulation companies rushed to meet their targets. This means that cracks, holes and gaps in the insulation
Gaps in the cavity wall insulation itself lead to cold spots which eventually become damp. Secondly the insulation itself can act as a bridge from the external wall to the internal walls, transferring moisture from outside to inside.
Damp and mould are notorious for being difficult to rid from properties as the problem is known to spread across walls and eventually damage fabric surfaces and clothing. Mould is also extremely dangerous when left lingering within a property as it can cause respiratory problems, especially affecting children and the elderly.
At Housing Triage we work with homeowners struggling with faulty cavity wall insulation by helping them claim the compensation they’re owed.
We work on a NO WIN, NO FEE basis, meaning you will not have to pay any fees if your claim does not go through.
Our agents are here to discuss your housing problems and answer any questions you may have about the process. Use the claim form, or contact us via phone or email today!
Do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our experts.
Damp and mould can be annoying and difficult to deal with. If you...
In this blog post we talk through what the CIGA 25 year guarantee...
What is Cavity Wall Insulation? To understand why the cavity wall insulation has...
If you’re experiencing damp and mould, and you live on the west coast of the UK, it is likely you have faulty cavity wall insulation. Request a call back from one of our experts today. We will arrange a FREE survey of your home and see if you have a case for compensation. You have nothing to lose!