Room vent

Ricey3509

I was doing a bit of painting in one of the kids rooms and took off the vent to replace it and for the first time ever looked inside one of our vents , l expected to see a pipe going from the outside to the inside, instead I saw the following - should l be concerned or is this normal (it’s a timber frame house btw)

POBox19

I'd say that is similar to what I found behind my vents, bricks and mortar dry lined walls. I'd say that it's common practice.

Calahonda52

OP, not easy to see what what here: whats being the black material?

poor farmer

Calahonda52 wrote: »

OP, not easy to see what what here: whats being the black material?

Id say it's the inside of 4"block

Ricey3509

Yes it’s a block and the external vent is there but it’s not lined up with the circular cut out.

kieran.

It looks to be a timber frame house. When you put your hand into the cavity between the black breather membrane and the block work is there a plastic lined fire bag in a ring around the vent ope.

Calahonda52

Ricey3509 wrote: »

Yes it’s a block and the external vent is there but it’s not lined up with the circular cut out.

well then you have massive uncontrolled air passing through the insulation in the TF and as noted below inside the pb.
its a crock

listermint

Ricey3509 wrote: »

I was doing a bit of painting in one of the kids rooms and took off the vent to replace it and for the first time ever looked inside one of our vents , l expected to see a pipe going from the outside to the inside, instead I saw the following - should l be concerned or is this normal (it’s a timber frame house btw)

Very common, yes.

But also very ****e. It's builders not looking after the details. You should have a pipe going from external vent to internal vent. Otherwise you just have air pissing in behind your wall cavity's and even up the plasterboard and around the rest of the room. Down stairs etc etc.

People wonder why their recently built houses still 'feel' cold despite their X Ber rating.

Ricey3509

Thanks for the replies, this is the best shot l could get at what lies beyond the flap. The external vent is much higher than the internal opening so l think I’d need a new external opening to allow a pipe to go straight out.

Is this a job worth doing and if so is it a specialist job or just a general builder? I’d like to do it properly!

Thanks!

Calahonda52

You need to check all the others as well.
What is the outer finish.
Its an easy job to drill it out, the approach should be to drill out the centre hole and then come at it from the outside.
You do need to sleeve the hole to try stop too much crap getting into the insulation, not too concerned about the void
then the hole needs to be sleeved and the pipe sealed to the outside of the pb with airtight tape, the pipe outside should be sealed with silicone to the block work

Ricey3509

Calahonda52 wrote: »

You need to check all the others as well.
What is the outer finish.
Its an easy job to drill it out, the approach should be to drill out the centre hole and then come at it from the outside.
You do need to sleeve the hole to try stop too much crap getting into the insulation, not too concerned about the void
then the hole needs to be sleeved and the pipe sealed to the outside of the pb with airtight tape, the pipe outside should be sealed with silicone to the block work

Thanks - it’s a steel louvred vent on the outside

sydthebeat

so its misaligned??

Ricey3509

sydthebeat wrote: »

so its misaligned??

Yes the bottom of the external vent is about 3-4 inches higher than the circular flap inside. Il

Ricey3509

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Post a picture, I think they are mostly Aluminium

Yes looks like aluminium

POBox19

Ricey3509 wrote: »

Yes looks like aluminium

Most likely to be galvanised steel. Alumimium would be too expensive and not be durable enough. A touch with a magnet will confirm it for you.