Damp / Heat loss

aka_Ciaran

Hi - I bought a house 2 years ago in Beaumont Dublin and did a lot of work on it. House was built in the 60s with cavity blocks (as opposed to a cavity wall), so insulation is a problem and it's a cold house.
First problem is that I had the bathroom upstairs re-tiled and put in a new bath, toilet, etc. Recently 3 or 4 tiles have come away from the wall, and others have a hollow sound when they are tapped suggesting they are loose also. The wall the tiles are coming loose on is an outside wall. My cousin who's a pretty good tiler did the tiling, and he used a tanking system that sealed the wall and that is used in swimming pools etc, and used ant-moisture adhesive/grout etc. He thinks there is water getting into the wall somewhere...I had a look in th attic above the bathroom but can't see any leaks or moisture. So I'm wondering what's the best thing to do, and how do I figure out the cause of the problem? If I re-tile the wall chances are it will happen again.
The second problem I have is heating the place. I put in new double glazed windows, and had the attic re-insulated but the place is still cold in the winter and the heating bills are pretty high. The kitchen was built in the 80s as an extension and is especially cold in the winter. I put in new kitchen units and re-tiled the floor. I bought the house in the summer and being totally clueless put in a new kitchen without dry lining it first. So I'm wondering what's the best way to keep the warm the place up without having to dry line the external walls.

Thanks, Ciaran.

Stoner

depending on the blocks used, a pumped insulation system as offered by the likes of polypearl may me an option

aka_Ciaran

Ya I always thought that you need a cavity wall (as opposed to the cavity blocks) for that pumped/foam insulation, but someone said it is possible with cavity blocks. However in my opinion the cavity blocks would have to be perfectly aligned for the foam to get through from top to bottom, and any misalignment or blockage from lumps of mortar would make it pretty ineffective. Also there's no way of knowing if an entire wall was done, you would have to rely on the word of the company doing it.

Stoner

aka_Ciaran,

Sorry about that I seem to have missed the cavity wall remarks, pumping insulation into the blocks does not work properly (according to the educated best here) some people try it and if you are lucky it may work, depending on the amount of cement used during construction and the line up of the blocks etc.

So I would not recommend this method, I know others will but it doesn't really add up does it? there are so many possibilities for large areas to be left without insulation, sorry again.

Hopefully someone who knows what they are talking about will help you out, as I don't see how you can sort this without taking your new kitchen down and doing the job right.


BTW a thermal Imaging camera will see if there are dead spots very quickly

aka_Ciaran

Hi Stoner thanks for that...ya had spoken to a crowd called Thermocoat they said they would do a survey for 100 - 120 euro. I'm wondering is summertime a good time to do the imaging camera thing or would it be more effective in winter. Pumping cavity blocks would be pretty useless I think as they would have to be aligned perfectly, and unless the entire wall is fully insulated without any gaps it's probably a waste of time.
I'm kicking myself I didn't dry line before the kitchen went in, but at the time I had no clue it would be an issue. Before I bought the house I was completely green didn't know what dry lining was never mind that it might need to be done

311

Is your kitchen extension roof ,a flat roof ?

aka_Ciaran

Hi Brian - roof is a sloped roof with tiles. However the ceiling inside is flat, with an airspace between the inner ceiling and outer roof. Had a look today up on the roof thought it might have been the lead / flashing between the roof and the back wall that was leaking, but it all seems fine.
I'm starting to think now that water from the shower somehow got in behind the tiles...I'll probably have to re-tile the affected wall, if not the whole bathroom.

311

The reason I asked about the kitchen roof ,was because there might be a lot of heat loss through the roof.

Even uninsulated walls shouldn't mean the house is cold. Is the extension roof insulated properly ??

With regards to your tiles ,you'll find it was the wall that caused the tiles to come loose.
It's always worth while lining the wall with even the thinist timber. Around the bath area.
I've seen jobs that were done without properly preparing the wall ,the ceilings came down on both occassions

jdpl28

Ciaran, I had the same issue as you. Kitchen is freezing in the winter. I was putting in a new kitchen and was going to dryline it, but looked into it and it wouldn't be ok to hang presses on the drylining. I also have a boiler going in soon, and there's definitely no way the drylining would support a boiler. I painted the kitchen with anti-condensation paint instead. It's got some insulation in it. Won't be very good, but better than nothing...

311

jdpl28 wrote:

I also have a boiler going in soon, and there's definitely no way the drylining would support a boiler. I painted the kitchen with anti-condensation paint instead. It's got some insulation in it. Won't be very good, but better than nothing...

Don't worry about dryling before the boiler goes in .
No one ever cares when they get me to install a boiler

aka_Ciaran

_Brian_ wrote:

The reason I asked about the kitchen roof ,was because there might be a lot of heat loss through the roof.

Even uninsulated walls shouldn't mean the house is cold. Is the extension roof insulated properly ??

It's not actually...in between the ceiling and the sloped roof there's just air. The only access to it is at the side of a skylight and at that I could only get my arm in. I cut up a roll of fibre glass insulation and rolled lengths of it across about half way, but it's probably not much good without covering it fully.

jdpl28 wrote:

I painted the kitchen with anti-condensation paint instead. It's got some insulation in it. Won't be very good, but better than nothing...

True could be worth trying...try anything at this stage. It's say it's a combination of small things like walls, roofspace etc...death by a thousand cuts

jdpl28

_Brian_ wrote:

Don't worry about dryling before the boiler goes in .
No one ever cares when they get me to install a boiler

So can you hang a boiler over drylining? Or do you have to cut a hole in the drylining?

311

You can either have grounds installed for it when the drylining is done.

Or ,get the plumber /gas fitter to install grounds when they install the boiler.

It's obviously easier for a plumber to install a boiler ,without all this carry on. But it's not something you should worry about ,if you really want to get a room dry lined.

I often carry a boiler template with me ,you could use a template to know where to get the grounds put in for the boiler.