Home insulation problem

aloyisious

I've run into a problem with home insulation and am open to help- suggestions (see last Para below).

I'm living in a mid-terrace house and got an external wall insulation contractor to check my home for an expanding foam insulation job. He drilled a hole in the wall and found insulation bead behind it approx 1 metre from the house-divide point and 1 metre from ground level on his probe- camera. He told me that his Co could not do the job while the bead was behind the wall.

The problem is that my neighbour had her home external walls filled with silver bead and two years on, we've found that the bead is loose in the walls. A check seem's to show that either the bead was NOT sufficiently "glued" together when the job was done, or the glue has disappeared. Another problem is that there does not seem to be the required "brush" barrier placed between our terraced houses to prevent side-slippage of the bead.

My neighbour could not find her paperwork for the job and (surprise, surprise) when my neighbour phoned them, the Co that did her insulation job could not find the job on their computer records . I phoned the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to see if they could help the neighbour and got a yes if she would provide her personal and home details, so she could get details of the Co concerned to assist them in their loss of records of the job at her home.

I checked with the National Standards Authority of Ieland (NSAI) and found they might be able to help the neighbour if she could supply them details of the Co that did her home. I was told that expanding foam insulation is not on the approved insulation list for external walls, only the silver-bead type.

One thing that surprised me about the S.E.A.I is that they are merely there to supervise the grants, that they do not have any input to what the contractors use to insulate homes. They were not aware, (seemingly) that foam was not on the approved list for external wall insulation, and I was told that the contractor would tell me what was. If the contractor got the job wrong, the SEAI would award points against him/her.

So i'm left with a problem of unwanted bead behind the walls of my home. There does not (yet) seem to be any company that we can call on to remove the troublesome bead, in the event that the bead-insulation job Co succeed in avoiding repair work on the neighbour's home job. I see that I might have to remove some of the external redbricks to provide space to "hoover" or otherwise remove the beading. Does anyone know of a simple way to remove the bead?

MicktheMan

I removed loose bead from my cavity with an industrial vacuum and some very large plastic bags.
I cored 4" holes just above dpc level and made up a type of spout to aid the "flow" of bead into the plastic bags until no more flow and then used the vacuum for the rest of it.
It took me a weekend (large bungalow) but saved a bundle as I was quoted 1500 to do same.
Loosly bonded bead may not "flow" as well so I would imagine that more vacuuming may be required.

One benefit of doing this was that I was able to do a full and proper inspection of the cavity.

aloyisious

Thank's for that help. So I measure the window to floor height inside the house, transfer the measure to outside window, drop down the measurement to approx dpc and start removal work 1 foot above the estimated dpc?

Erm, how did you dispose of the beading? Is there some place that'll take it, or is it a case of landfill disposal?

dathi

check the nsai website as none of the spray foam insulations are certified to be placed in a cavity wall only the beads

MicktheMan

aloyisious wrote: »

Thank's for that help. So I measure the window to floor height inside the house, transfer the measure to outside window, drop down the measurement to approx dpc and start removal work 1 foot above the estimated dpc?

Erm, how did you dispose of the beading? Is there some place that'll take it, or is it a case of landfill disposal?

As to where to open the wall will depend very much on the wall type/age and where the windows/opes are located.

As regards bead disposal, I made a deal with the cavity wall insulation company, who subsequently pumped bonded bead into the clean cavity, to take the old loose bead away.

As regards pumping foam into your cavity wall, as others have said above, pumping foam into a cavity wall is not certified in this country.

therightangle

MicktheMan wrote: »

I removed loose bead from my cavity with an industrial vacuum and some very large plastic bags.
It took me a weekend (large bungalow)
One benefit of doing this was that I was able to do a full and proper inspection of the cavity.

Hello Mick,

Can I ask why the loose bead was a problem for you in a bungalow? Would it not just stay where it was, different to the OPs mid-terrace problem?

Secondly, would the people who quoted you remove old fibre insulation from a cavity, do you think? Or would you know of anyone who does? It must be a more difficult job Id imagine

MicktheMan

therightangle wrote: »

Hello Mick,

Can I ask why the loose bead was a problem for you in a bungalow? Would it not just stay where it was, different to the OPs mid-terrace problem?

Secondly, would the people who quoted you remove old fibre insulation from a cavity, do you think? Or would you know of anyone who does? It must be a more difficult job Id imagine

The previous owners had replaced the windows and a lot of beat was lost. I was advised that it was better to pump an empty attic with bonded bead rather than topping up the loose bead.

Fibre would, imo, be a lot more difficult if not impossible to remove easily as it doesn't "flow" like the loose bead. Best bet might be to ask some of the better cavity insulation companies for a solution.

therightangle

MicktheMan wrote: »

The previous owners had replaced the windows and a lot of beat was lost. I was advised that it was better to pump an empty attic with bonded bead rather than topping up the loose bead.

Thanks Mick. That makes sense (Im presuming you meant wall rather than attic above)

MicktheMan

therightangle wrote: »

Thanks Mick. That makes sense (Im presuming you meant wall rather than attic above)

Yep:o