Cavity vents for timber frame house

MonsieK wrote: »

Hello,
My OH and I have recently bought a timber frame house that have never had cavity vents put into the walls. I know it's a requirement to have them and would like to get them fitted as soon as possible but it's very hard to find a tradesman who knows much about them. I've been reading different posts on boards and found Drillvent being recommended by people. Are these the best option? Can anybody fit them in? The house is located in Galway area. Any help or advise would be very much appreciated.

hello!
hope the new house and venting job has gone well for you. i am in the middle of buying a timber frame house myself. its about 10 or 12 years old. some of the vents on the outside walls had been poorly installed, even plastered over. the surveyor believed this could lead to rotting of the timber frame and wanted to perform a borescope test (basicly send in a scope and check it out) but wants to charge €350 extra ontop of his outstanding fees. were any of these concerns raised with you or had you any issuse with damp because of poor ventilation? i feel like i am being lead up the path here a bit

thanks BRYAN!
i am working on that.
wanted to also hear from someone on the same side as myself (buyer/owner).
ive talked to 3 professionals about the potential issues and they have all given vague cautious opinions. would like to hear from people with direct experience on the matter.
cheers.

like i said. i want to hear from owner/buyers point of view. thanks for your advice of "Get a second opinion or pay up". i know thats the ultimate solution, but that involves €350+. i am a bit flush for cash at the mo. buying a house and all... plus this work would be invasive. this would also be an issue as i dont own the property. anyway, thanks again Bryan.

thanks MonsieK
i have done more research on the development since. the feedback has been all good. i will probably go a similar route as yourself and put in some extra vents. then i should have no worries.
good luck.

Hi MonsieK,

I discovered this old thread while searching for solutions to a similar issue I have with a timber frame house I bought 8 months ago. It was built in 2001 without any vents on the external stone block leaf, so the air gap between the timber frame and external stone leaf is not properly vented. Can I ask you who you got to put vents in your walls? Can you recommend any companies?

Thanks

MonsieK wrote: »

Great. I'd say if there's no visible dampness inside of the house you're fine. And like you said putting a few extra vents should help. Best of luck with it. Hope you get the house. If you have any other questions send me a PM, will be happy to help.

Hi MonsieK,

that'd be great if you could dig back to see who fitted them. I'm in Dublin but even if you have someone that you used over in Galway it could help me to find someone closer to home. Thanks again and look forward to receiving your PM.

Thanks,

Seán

Hi, I ended up ordering a box of clear drill weep vents on line from amazon. I put them in myself. I live in a very exposed site and was worried the vents would allow water in when the rain and wind is heavy. So I just put them in at the base around 3 sides. I didn't put any on the front of the house as it is sea facing and the wind and rain can get fierce at times. Maybe I should put them in under the roof and at the 1st floor level too but boring holes through the external brick is a worrying prospect in such an exposed location. since there is no sign of damp and the timbers look good I thought just at the base would be enough.

I used an sds drill with a 2.5cm drill bit to bore the holes. Not the best. The automatic hammer action does not leave a perfectly smooth hole. Better to use a diamond core drill bit instead. Unfortunately I couldn't find one with the right size so that's why I used an standard sds drill.

You need to be careful not to go too deep otherwise you'll hit the membrane protecting the timber frame. That's why I did it myself, because I wouldn't trust someone else to pay attention when drilling the holes and they'd end up damaging the membrane.

Once drilled, it was a challenge to get the vents fitted in to the holes neatly. They're a tight fit and when I hammered them in many of them cracked. I found hammering them in with a piece of wood worked best. Still trying to get them flush with the wall was also an issue because you've got to drill the holes at a precise angle.

Hope that helps.