diy vent installation

bungaro79

hi,
we are buying a house (built around 2003) and the vents on it look like the standard ones. i was looking into changing them to baffle vents (something like this http://gasproducts.co.uk/catalogsear...ult/?q=baffle) to keep out any draughts. is this an easy job or should i get get someone in to do it? its a three storey house so the ground floor might be easy but the top floor maybe not!
thanks

p.s. mods had this in another forum but it got no replies so hope its ok to try it here instead

Calahonda52

404 link

bungaro79

my bad c52!

http://gasproducts.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=baffle

whizbang

First thing to do is pull off the inside vent cover, and check whats going on in there.

Is there a liner through the wall, Is the liner sealed to the inside wall, any insulation..??
It would be rare to find a perfectly drilled and sealed through hole, so these vents may or may not work at all.
You might just do a better job yourself...

The concern is your 3 storey house will have a big static airflow, so Yes you do need something to control this.

bungaro79

thanks whizbang, i'm going out the to house next week so i am going to have a lot better look and will try and take off one of the grills to see what exact is behind.

when you say the concern is a static airflow, are you saying so i need a vent which needs to be mechanical and turns itself on and off??

DublinDilbert

Many of the external/internal vents are far too big. I normally take a section of 4" waste pipe, put a slight angle (outwards on it) and fill around it with expanding foam etc.. then you can fit baffles inside the 4" waste pipe and also get internal vent covers to clip into the 4" waste pipe.

bungaro79

thanks dilbert. been doing a fair bit of reading on vents and i'm wondering if i should go down the demand control ventilation (or something like it) route now instead. i'm wondering if it being a 3 storey house if there is any issue with installing something like this?? would anyone have any advice o n an alternative retrofit?? is it possible to get some sort of individual venting that does the same job as dcv but is not linked all around the house as will suss out the price of a dcv but have a feeling it might be a bit outside my budget for now

whizbang

The regulations for ventilation seem to be directed at your average 2 storey semi,,.

Re static airflow:
As you know heat rises; in a 3storey building it rises further and faster, thereby creating an updraft. This sucks in air at lowest level, and exits at the highest level. (along with all your heat!)

Then add in wind, and heating, and people moving about, etc, you can get a substantial draft in a 3 storey.

DCV will have to be seriously well spec'd as its sensitive to static pressures/airflows.
Just do as Dilbert suggested, and tweak as required once you get the feel for it.

bungaro79

is there any other options you'd recommend whizbang?? our last house only had a vent in the living room (there were extractor fans in the bathrooms), the rest were trickle vents in the windows but we usually had these closed so as not to leave out the heat. will this always be the trade off (fresh air in v heat loss out) unless you get some sort of heat recovery system?!

bungaro79

Finally got around to getting photos of the vents from​ outside! Not sure how easy it would be to take out the brick and replace it with something else??

bungaro79

finally managed to get some photos of the vents from the outside! i am wondering if it is easy to just remove the brick with the holes and install a different vent?? never attempted anything close to this!

colm_c

As a total DIY amateur, that looks like a fairly significant job if you were to remove the vents on the outside too!

Also, if your house is anything like mine, the holes inside and outside don't line up.

ballystephen

Smash it out . Get your new vent in. Build big gaps with sand and cement and brick /stone.DONT BRIDGE THE CAVITY ! Leave back from finished face to receive two layers of render

bungaro79

ballystephen wrote: »

Smash it out . Get your new vent in. Build big gaps with sand and cement and brick /stone. DONT BRIDGE THE CAVITY ! Leave back from finished face to receive two layers of render

what do you mean by the above stephen?? i'm thinking my vents might be the same as colms above in that they don't align. seems like the vents on the outside a slightly higher than the ones inside