An injection well is a device used to place fluid underground into porous geologic formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below shallow soil layers. Injected fluids may include water, wastewater, brine (salt water), or water mixed with chemicals. These wells are often high-tech and used for disposing of industrial and hazardous waste. Class V wells are versatile systems used across various industries and applications that direct fluid into these formations.
An injection well must consist of a bored, driven, or drilled shaft (or a dug hole) with a depth greater than its width. Shallow injection wells inject or dispose of fluids into or above shallow aquifers, posing a risk to water quality. The Underground Injection Control (UIC) program defines a well as any bored, drilled, or driven shaft or a dug hole.
Class II wells are used to inject fluids associated with the production of oil and natural gas or fluids/compounds used for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery. Wells used to inject non-hazardous industrial waste fluids for disposal beneath the lowermost formation containing, within 2 miles of the well, hazardous or non-hazardous substances.
In summary, an injection well is a device used to place fluid underground into porous geologic formations, such as sandstone or limestone, for the purpose of disposing of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Class II wells are used for injection of fluids associated with oil and natural gas production or for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery.
📹 The Purpose of Weep Wells
Applications: ALL This video explains why some new water pumps may have weep wells and the purpose of weep wells.
What is the purpose of an injector well?
An injection well is a method used to inject fluid into porous geologic formations, such as sandstone or limestone, into shallow soil layers. Injected fluids can include water, wastewater, brine, or water mixed with chemicals. The definition of a well is outlined in UIC regulations at 40 CFR 144. 3. Wells can be bored, drilled, or driven shafts, dug holes, improved sinkholes, or natural crevices found in volcanic terrain. These structures are modified for the purpose of directing and emplacing fluids into the subsurface, or a subsurface fluid distribution system.
What is the difference between production well and injection well?
An injection well is a method used to safely dispose of waste from oil and gas production, such as brine, deep underground into porous rock formations. Class II wells, such as brine injection wells, annual disposal wells, and enhanced oil recovery injection wells, are commonly used in conjunction with oil and gas operations in the Utica shale. These wells are drilled thousands of feet deep into the earth, where injection fluids are deposited into porous rock formations and stored. The injection wells are used to safely dispose of waste generated from production operations or to increase production from nearby producing wells.
Is a septic tank an injection well?
This definition encompasses a range of injection practices, including sophisticated wells extending over two miles underground and various on-site drainage systems, such as septic systems, cesspools, and storm water wells that discharge to a few feet underground.
What is the most common cause of injection well failure?
The primary causes of premature failure in injection wells are corrosion of metallic materials and degradation of non-metallic materials. These can be categorized into two main forms: general and localized.
How many injection wells are there in the US?
As reported by the USEPA, there are over 742, 000 injection wells in six distinct well classes, including 182, 000 Class I and II wells. These wells are utilized for the injection of fluids into deep underground rock formations, with the objective of preventing the contamination of USDWs.
How deep are wastewater injection wells?
Class I wells are used to protect drinking water resources by allowing injection far below the lowermost underground water well (USDW). These wells typically range from 1, 700 to over 10, 000 feet in depth and are separated from USDWs by an impermeable “cap” rock called the confining layer. Each Class I well operates under a permit, valid for up to 10 years. Owners and operators must meet specific requirements for siting, construction, operation, monitoring, testing, reporting, record keeping, and closure of Class I wells.
Are injection wells safe?
Class II injection wells are a safe method used in California’s oil and gas operations to enhance production and dispose of produced fluids. With approximately 55, 000 injection wells in use, they are used for waterflood, steamflood, cyclic steam, and water disposal. These wells are located in many oil and gas fields in the counties where oil and gas are produced. They are used to safely dispose of salt and fresh water produced with oil and gas, often increasing production. In California, about 15 times more water than oil is produced from its oil and gas fields.
How much does a water injection well cost?
Deep injection wells can cost between $1 to $4 million, depending on the depth of the well, and disposal costs between $0. 01 and $0. 04 per gallon. These wells often breach local freshwater aquifers and lack a tracking method for water disposal once back in the ground. E3 Solutions aims to use their Varimax-40 enhanced evaporation system to compare current disposal methods in drilling operations. The costs for hauling away wastewater for deep-well injection range between $0.
07 and $0. 17 per gallon, with a new fracked well potentially costing $100, 000 for transporting over 588, 000 gallons of flowback. Additionally, there is an additional potential of 142, 800 gallons of transported produced wastewater each day at $20, 000 per day. To haul water off-site for disposal over a 20-year well-project’s 20-year life, it is estimated to cost $160 million, including trucking, water disposal costs, and labor.
What are the problems with deep well injections?
The practice of wastewater injection wells has been linked to a number of significant risks, including the potential for seismic activity, the contamination of drinking water sources, the occurrence of spills and leaks due to the nature of underground disposal, and other forms of environmental degradation.
What are the dangers of injection wells?
The practice of wastewater injection wells has been linked to a number of significant risks, including the potential for seismic activity, the contamination of drinking water sources, the occurrence of spills and leaks due to the nature of underground disposal, and other forms of environmental degradation.
📹 Cavity Wall Insulation Problems ~ The Ugly Truth
Roger looks at some of the problems you could have with wall cavity insulation. Stormdry Masonry Protection: …
Many years ago someone I worked with had visits from tenacious cavity-wall-insulation salesmen. Eventually he let one in and let him do his speil, and when the order forms had been filled in and the salesman was proffering his pen for signature, my former colleague said: “just one last question: how do you get the old stuff out?”
I’ve always been suspicious of cavity wall installation but when the grants were available I decided to get a quote. To my astonishment the sales guy actually told me that, as I had over 40% window space on the wall, the insulation wouldn’t actually be of any benefit. Goes to show that they are not all out for a quick buck.
I love your rants Rodger. Sound a lot like mine. The wife doesn’t appreciate them but what does she know. She knows how to turn the thermostat up just before going out to garden and leaving the bleeding door open. I was out only there for five minutes cause it’s bleeding freezing she says. Stupid mare. Give us strength Rodger and keep up the good work. Top bloke.
I find your articles very educational and instructive, many thanks. I live in a 40 year old timber framed single storey kit house, basically a plywood shed with a brick shell around it. The walls have a 2″ cavity (roughly) containing a polyethene sheet vapour barrier and some glass wool insulation. The cavity is open at the top. Can you say whether it should be closed? The house was built by a policeman who had lots of friends in various trades (as policemen do) and I’ve found over the years that some of them were not entirely skilful at their chosen profession!
I’m a builder in New Zealand and we often build using a cavity, in my experience it’s extremely important that the cavity is NOT blocked or filled. air flow is vital to allow any damp that enters the cavity to dry out again. New Zealand learnt the hard way in the 90s what happens when you try to make the walls air tight along with other factors. As a result thousands of homes needed massive repair to rotten walls and framing
One of my friends bought a large bungalow about ten years ago, he bought in in the summer and when winter arrived so did the damp. This was the theme for the next few years and right from the start i told him that the cause was the cavity insulation. He wasn’t having it and started using dehumidifiers which are very costly to run. The main thing I noticed when he first showed me the damp spots starting to appear was that in this huge 4 bedroom bungalow there’s not a single air brick. I told him straight away that with no ventilation you get condensation which of course causes damp. About 3 years ago he finally relented and let me install some air bricks, we treated the damp that was already there and after 2 winters it hasn’t returned. As everyone commenting on here knows, if cavity insulation is retro fitted good ventilation is a must, it was the same with my parents bungalow, built in 1973 with no insulation, retro fitted in 1979, damp by 1980, air bricks fitted in 1981 and no damp since. My father was a master builder and although he’s dead now he always maintained that the sole purpose of cavities was to allow an air flow thus helping to prevent the spread of damp caused by modern living, central heating, washing machines etc. When he first started in the building trade a lot of houses were still built with solid 9 inch walls and these old places didn’t suffer with damp until people started fitted plastic double glazed windows and insulating roofs and lofts. I’m sure that my dad wasn’t the only builder to know this but trying to convince people that ventilation is important is often almost impossible.
I agree with cavity wall insulation EXCEPT in those exposed walls facing south or southwest. In 1978 we purchased a detached house built of an attractive sandstock brick which happened to have a huge gable wall facing south. I gave it no thought when a blown Rockwool cavity wall insulation was offered and accepted in 1984. That winter damp patches appeared through the decoration on both floors of that particular wall which was not sheltered by the neighbouring property. Examination showed that all patches corresponded to the position of the galvanised twist drop wall ties. Foolishly, I soaked the brickwork with a white spirit based silicone product sold for the purpose although subsequent examination of extracted brickwork showed it to be useless at preventing the powerful transfer of wind-driven rain through the porous structure,and additionally effective at preventing the subsequent drying out of the bricks. I ended up removing a large triangular section of external brickwork as well as blockwork in the loft, and with my drain rods removing all of the fibre insulation from that particular wall.(I obviously don’t recommend anyone else does this unless he/she understands the load distribution in brickwork!!). This solved the problem entirely and I was able to subsequently sell the property with a clear conscience. Some years later, my next door neighbour,who had suffered from the same problem on the same wall asked me to remove his insulation in the same fashion with the same positive outcome.
A common theme that comes up in every article about insulation and damp and condensation is ventilation. Materials and construction techniques have improved so much, if employed properly, that ‘air tight’ houses are becoming the norm. Proper, well thought out designed and implemented ventilation, has become critical to the fabric of the building and the health of the people that live in them. It will take time for this to become the ‘talking point’ rather than just the problems caused by not having it.
Another good rant. I had the cavities filled, and the house is certainly warmer. One thing I noticed was that when new the fibre fill is water repellent. However, a few years later it is not, and soaks up water. I suspect that invisible fungi grow on the waterproofing over time, and that compromises the waterproofing. A much simpler way of dealing with internal damp is to have a dehumidifier running 24/7, but set at eg 50% humidity. I have a Mitsubishi. When it is condensing water it releases heat, probably more efficiently than the cost of heating the house (not so great in summer in some houses though, and new builds with brick clearly need radon clearing ventilation).
Really useful article which provides a good insight into cavity wall insulation and the potential perils of installation. I particularly liked the reasoning behind why cavities should be filled and the warning about gold diggers who are too often minimally trained and are in the business simply to hoover up any available grant funding. As pointed out, not all cavities are suitable for insulation and a proper survey, inclusive of a cavity check is essential. This is not a rant but a balanced insight as it covers the good, the bad and the ugly.
Living in a 1896 solid wall ( 9 inch ) terrace with original windows and glazing it was freezing in the winter . I have just had Heritage quality double glazed sash windows installed along with internal ( Celotex ) insulation added to the front walls of the house . The difference is amazing . Even before the builders had finished plastering the walls the difference in the indoor temperature was noticeable . Why aren’t more people using this system ? it’s easy to fix . Not overly expensive . Ok you need to refit the skirting board . Then re decorate but I guess most people would be doing that at some point anyway . What do you think Roger ?
Love your explanation of things, two questions, if you use a camera & find a load of detritus in your cavity bridging it what can you do about it, second if you’ve got to ventilate your lovely sealed up box you might as well keep the draughty old house with plenty of ventilation, I know I’m being a bit sarky here but I do wonder some times. Brilliant vids keep it up.
Great article Roger, Im the founder of an award wining domestic soundproofing company based in the midlands. We are best known for our quality installation and noise reduction. We find that polystyrene balls and more so the aluminium rigid cavity wall insulation makes noise worse in homes. We find that the balls solidify at the base of the cavity wall and because noise transmits more easily through the polystyrene balls and rigid insulation, structural borne noise such as doors banging, foot fall, kids running around and furniture moving is made worse between neighbours.
Moved to a new house on the Co Down coast in November. Garage was single skin with cement render on the inside. Rain penetrating in the very windy conditions causing serious damp patches inside the walls and bad enough to affect the concrete floor too. £225 worth of Stormdry painted onto the outside brickwork and the damp stopped. No more rain penetration. People say – £225 – wow that’s expensive! Guaranteed for 25 years which works out at £9/year or £0.17/Week… Not so expensive now is it…?
I had my cavity insulated by a firm from Doncaster (who I won’t name for now). A couple of years later because of building work several holes were made in the brickwork guess what no insulation could be seen. Beware when having work done like this because you can’t see what’s been done unless like me you realise later it was a bodge and scarper outfit needless to say when I tried to call them the number didn’t exist 🤬🤬🤬
Good rant as usual. At least you aren’t going to glue yourself to your road outside. We had the blown rockwool stuff put in about 10 years ago, that was a grant job. A couple of thugs came round, used a 25mm SDS drill direct into our walls, i would have done pilot holes gently first so i was concerned that they may be loosening the brickwork. There must have been a massive brick burst inside the cavity which I’m guessing settled at the cavity bottom, we will nevwr know. Im going to buy a damp meter for the walls i think and check to see if there are any issues. My dad had polystyrene beads blown into the cavity of his house back in the 80’s which they claim allowed air and moisture movement. You dont see it any more, no idea why. 👍👍
I’ve lived in victorian, 1930 and a modern 1983 build and the 1983 build was by far the warmest and cheapest to heat…. it didn’t have double glazing either, just the original timber framed windows. Both victorian and 30’s build had very large rooms with high ceilings, the 80’s build didn’t Would you agree that ceiling height is one of THE most important factors in why some older properties are more expensive to heat? For older buildings do you think underfloor heating rising up through the occupants is better than trying to convect the heat around such a large space overhead with a radiator?
What i noticed sorting my own old 1900s terraced house damp in my front room on the walls next to the bay window, when i removed a couple of bricks from the inside most of the damp was caused by debris of stone and soil causing the bridge which water come across, i have pulled most of it out was an awful job with lots of hovering about 5 bags of debris. Also one thing to note is blown fluff type stuff that was above it gets damp. So would say that the blown fluff stuff isn’t right for a wet region like the northwest. Maybe the foam would be better as its waterproof but the blown fluff just goes all mushy when wet. I also added a couple brick vents in my bay window which so far seem to have done the job a couple of years on.
Nice educational article like usual. It makes a nice change to have a professional give the facts about the pros and cons without holding their hand out. Too many YouTubers take a running guess at educational articles and base their opinions on hearsay and urban legends rather than work & experience. Keep up the good work. (Qualified plumber since 1988)
I have seen cavity wall insulation being installed in the wrong type of house, a timber framed property built in late 80’s which should never have had it installed due to the construction. I pointed this out to the people installing it and fortunately they stopped and removed what they had put in, as we lived next door to said property we had a leaflet that explained the construction. Sales people chasing the money rather than looking after the client.
Love the article as always 🙂 I have showed my cavity wall to two firms and none of them were bothered to check if the cavity wall has been sealed off. How can I use an endoscope camera to check that if at all? Also, how do I know if its a timber frame cavity wall? More importantly, a part of the cavity wall is inside the house as there was expansion of the house that took place. Is it worth filling these cavity walls which are inside the house and at the entrance hall? Which material would u recommend as best? Please please let me know. Many thanks.
Great explanation as usual. I live in the Netherlands and have had an inspection 6 months ago for cavity wall insulation at the farmhouse we’ve been turning into our next home. We made sure to have a company with a history and good reputation and it paid off in the sense that they advised us not to apply the insulation. Because the cavity space was very poluted with exces morter and other things they were expecting moist problems would be sure to follow.
You Sir are a Star ! We recently had new windows installed and I was perusal without interfering the lads work. I noticed all this white fluff in the cavity and HORROR took over me ! I touched some of it and and it was dry as a bone. All the work was completed yet this fluff I saw was still niggling a me, until now. Cheers buddy, one less thing to worry about ! 😎😁
Cavity wall insulation was installed in my property that faces North and is subject to winds off the North Sea. Now thinking they shouldn’t have put it that wall. I do have a few damp spots but I think that’s more due to the previous owner covering up all the air bricks. Condensation seems to be the biggest cause.
In 1980 I was working on timber frame construction on a site in Glasgow when a contractor came in and started to cavity fill the kits we thought it was a bad idea and surly much later local papers had a big stink on the effects were devastating it cost a fortune to remove it and some homes were stripped of their brick facade and rebuilt😢
Beware of the “free quote”, don’t invite them in, give them your number or time, unless you really do want their product. Had over 12 months of increasingly agressive sales calls some years ago, from the double glazing Co with the annoying TV adverts. We wanted a few quotes for a basic, no frills upgrade on an inherited property we planned to sell. Their initial quote was extortionate, treble what a local builder would charge. We almost had to throw the sales rep out of the house, he sat pen in hand expecting an instant order for a buy one, get one half price discount. Then we had 3 or 4 annoying calls a month, offering various small discounts for immediate start to keep staff in work, use it for photos in their sales flyers etc. Telling them we had better quotes didn’t work, they were constantly asking why we hadn’t had the work done. We had to threaten legal action if they didn’t stop the nuisance calls after recording a last attempt, a foul mouthed rant from an area manager !
We were given a grant to have cavity wall insulation for our 3 bed semi about 15 years ago, and had it done right during the coldest period of the year. We thought it was great, until spring and summer arrived and the house stayed so cold that I began to suffer from depression during what normally is my favourite time of the year! And it was the main reason why we sold up and moved in the end. Really the gas that we saved during winter was undermined by the extended period of not being able to switch it off like we were always used to doing . But to have to keep going outdoors just to warm up during our few precious warmer months here in the Uk has strongly put me off cavity wall insulation, especially as in the SW our winters are very mild anyway.
I bought my Wimpey built house new in 1967, about 1970 my brother in a similar local builder built house in Draycott Derbyshire was having his cavity wall insulation by a company in Derby called M P I Modern plan Insulation, I was impressed by the way it was being installled and decided I would have my semi also done, as I checked with my neighbour about any overspill into his property he decided to has his property done at the same time,our caverties are open topped and all we had was a slight smell from the material It has been in now for almost fifty years, I never was impressed by contactors guarantees as they usually meant nothing, over the years, with deep vented loft insulation,quality double glazing it’s been worth its weight in gold with a cozy warm house, also if any wall was ever breached for any job I e boiler pipes etc the cavity was always well packed and easily reinstated with foam,
I’ve got filled cavity walls (installed about 16/20 years ago by previous occupies). However, though we ventilate our rooms/the house on a daily basis for hours at a time, we still suffer with either orange type mould spots or actual black mould 😮. What would you recommend? In order to help reduce the former problem, 5 years ago I had the peddledash removed, chemical rods installed, replastered and rendered then painted with Santex masonry weathersheild paint. Then the orange spot type mould appeared. Back of house hasn’t been touched, and black mould persistent 😢. Any advice would be appreciated 🎉
This was right on the ball, very informative. I have a semi detached house and had damp stains lowdown on the inside walls. After some research decided to vacuum all the dirt and cement out. The wall was already insulated, so in order for the insulation not to slide down, I cut strips of plastic fencing to pull through the cavity right under the insulation. Will have the outside wall sprayed so to keep rainwater out.
4:00 That’s what we had at my old 1961 flat. The cavity wall had been left open with 1 cm gaps on both sides because it was believed to be good enough for the time. It’s not, it means you’ve effectively only have the concrete behind it. So I sealed it up. Also blew in insulation through those gaps, but lacking a machine I did it by hand with a funnel directly from a bag of styrofoam pallets. It works, but I advise you well: Don’t. Not ever. It took me ages to fill up with two small walls that way. 😆 Fullsize wall would’ve taken weeks and weeks that way.
I’m pretty fed up with the whole process, nobody has ever solved this for old houses and never will. Fill up the cavities to keep you warm, install double glazing to keep you warm, install loft insulation to keep you warm. All good stuff, now we are warm, except are houses are wet through on the inside and mould growing on the walls. What are we told to do, VENTILATE!!! that means opening window trickle vents and adding extractor vents and sometimes opening doors to let the air circulate. Now where are we, back to square one freezing cold in are old houses, what a waste of time and money, but we still try to beat it. Never.
I moved into my 1990 house (from 1960 house) and was amazed at the dryness and warmth of the house. Thermolite blocks instead of bricks on the internal walls, studding all upstairs dividing walls. So, when a cavity wall insulation shark comes a calling, I tell him that I won’t upset the equilibrium of my lovely, dry warm home. Even when he tells me gov.com wants to help me with this, I do NOTHING what our gov.com tells me! Peace be unto you.
Interesting article again Roger. I disagree in part about grants. There is no reason why a grant system can’t be made to work. It has to be done in conjunction with regulation and proper sign off, which is why it doesn’t work under this (and likely Labour) government. The point not covered in the article is that there is a deadline for this work to be carried out by everyone (according to the IPCC and the agreements signed up to at the various COP jollies). If there is a deadline, then the market is already distorted, as it’s now a necessity for everyone to have the insulation installed regardless of whether they want to or not. In this case, the deadline is acting as the catalyst for dodgy contractors to enter the market even if grants were not available. The grant likely exacerbates that effect, so I’m not totally disagreeing. However, the main purpose of the grant in this case is as a sort of “we’re making you do this, but we’ll give you the money to do it” (as well as incentivising). Quite frankly, market mechanisms utterly fail when this type of situation arises, where people are being forced to comply to a standard that is costly (insulation plus heat pumps), unplanned and also a basic necessity.
Last year, a company did a survey and said I couldn’t have a cavity wall insulation because we didn’t have a damp proof course which I found strange. 1940’s semi detached. Apparently they used bitumen as a damp proof course which has now failed in some places causing a small damp issue on one of our walls.
Many years ago we got offered free poly beads+glue insulation on gov. grant. They didn’t go up in loft ever or use a camera. Just drilled holes (some walls cavity, some more recent already had block insulation). All seemed OK until I opened the kitchen sink cupboard door and the whole floor was flooded with dry polystyrene balls – woosh! The inner wall bricks under the kitchen sink had been removed by previous owner! On one hand I was annoyed that they hadn’t noticed that the glue had run out or had not checked for missing inner wall bricks, on the other hand, I was glad I didn’t have to chip out the solidified cupboard contents!
Here is a question or two Roger, in one of your last articles it was pointed out that a build up of debris in the Cavity can allow moisture to bridge from the outer skin to the inner skin. 1st question; What is the difference with Cavity Wall Insulation? Are you not deliberately making a bridge there? Is it made of something that will not soak any moisture & thus not allow the same bridging that regular cavity detritus would? 2nd question; When these old houses were built 100 years ago, with air bricks & cavities, is it correct they did not fill the cavities, allowing them to breathe via the air bricks and relied on a DPC to prevent damp soaking up above a certain point? (I won’t use that contentious phrase!) I thought the movement of air in the cavity helped remove any potential moisture build up? If you are bunging it up are you not ignoring it’s original design principles? Whether or not you believe that to be right or wrong.
One of the first things we learnt on a pre apprentice course at technical college,was there is a reason for a cavity & you don’t fill it . The old brick ties were wire dickie bows that were set with the screw joint pointing down so any moisture could drip down to bottom & drain away . My walls have been filled with crap fibre wool type crap,that ants just love building nests in .& soaks damp like a sponge causing damp . That together with plastic windows & plastic soffits & facias,causes the house to sweat . Buildings need to breathe natural materials are best like timber,bricks,stone & slate . Time we got rid of this plastic crap & insulation & got back to proper traditional builds . The plastic windows & doors don’t last they become obsolete, timber is better they can be repaired & keep the old skills honed & the lads in work .
When we bought our house I was told by the surveyor there was cavity wall insulation fitted, I was opposed to it because I believed the hype about the problems and the surveyor even said if it was incorrectly fitted it would be a problem so we got quotes to have it removed. They were around 3k to 4lk – we drove down the asking price by a couple thousand to help toward paying for its removal. That was 7 years ago, we did not get it removed and it has kept this house lovely and warm, and on reading more about it I found this house was perfect for the insulation. I am sure there have been some badly fitted insulation that caused problems but a professional opinion should be found before you get it fitted anyway. This house is twice the size of our old house and the heating bills are cheaper. That’s my experience.
My house and detached garage have the same bricks. The garage bricks are crumbling on the outside due to salt build up below the outside surface crust- coming from the cement i think (- over 40 years). It’s the same for all homes in the street but is not happening to the houses themselves. To understand why this is happening i did a bit of research. There are some bricks that are more porous and they depend on warmth from home via the cavity circulation to keep them dry and stop moisture being drawn to the outside surface of the brick. This is not happening to the garages. They are a single brick layer so should have circulating air on the inside but as there is no heat source they just get night condensation that is drawn to the outside surface when the sun appears, building up salt. The house walls also have air bricks. Believing this type of brick to be what i have, I pointed this out to the various salesman coming regularly to my door (calling themselves ‘surveyors’) and they had not come across this. It’s my contention that cavity wall insulation will eventually degrade the house bricks because they will not be able to dry out from both sides. Despite this warning they did go on to sell cavity insulation to all my neighbours. If degradation becomes apparent after a few decades i don’t think their guarantees would still be valid. I have halted the damage to my garage bricks with a waterproofing product but would not be able to do that to the whole house. I did get sick of the companies ringing me up saying i was on a list of homes still not cavity walled and eventually gave in and had a salesman come round just so i could tell him to get his company to stop phoning me.
I’m currently in a situation along with the rest of the country where gas prices/ warming house up is costing me my kidneys. I have a house that was built in 1901 with a cavity and I’ve been advised by every single person to not get cavity insulation put in. But then how do I keep my house warm? I have been tempted by insulated plasterboards but not many people on YouTube that go in-depth with them…..any help?
I had blown fibre cavity wall insulation injected into our cavity wall in 2009, and to be honest, I noticed little difference. The rear wall, in the kitchen, faces the prevailing wind, and was particularly cold, and stayed that way, so I hacked off the plaster, fixed 25mm kingspan onto the brickwork with the odd 65mm galvanised clout nail, then direct fixed 12.5mm plasterboard on top of that, with red plugs and again 65mm clouts. It’s far warmer than before. The wall in the bedroom above that was done 15 years ago with Gyproc Thermaline, which is also quite warm. The very last wall in the house – just about to be done – is going to be with Celotex PL 4025, which was delivered Thursday. I must say, of all of them, this seems the most rigid. We’ll see …
Need to build more houses with more space including utility rooms to dry clothing. Need to educate people to stop drying clothes on radiators and if they do use a dehumidifier. Be good to do a article on what to look out with windows and corners including how installers should be sealing around windows correctly and which products they should use. Badly fitted windows are notorious for corner cutting and cold spots.
After having cw insulation started getting black mould on top corner rooms 1st floor also a lot of condensation on underside of roof felt.Being end of terrace I thought put a couple of air bricks on flank wall to ventilate loft space,when I cut holes for airbrucks to my surprise I could see no insulation just empty cavity.Contacted the CW guarantee scheme man came with camera drilled holes he said very poor job had been done loads of missed spots. They sent another team who redid the insulation took about 5 hours of pumping more insulation into cavity had no further problems.
Wow. As a Chartered Building surveyor with 35 years professional experience I am so shocked by this. The problem is some of it is right a lot is totally misleading. First there’s a huge distinction between those calling themselves surveyors who are salesmen trying to sell cavity wall insulation than qualified chartered surveyors who’s duty to their client is to identify and diagnose faults on behalf of their client with no incentive whatsoever to promote a repair or improvement except purely for the benefit of their client. Sometimes we do arrange cavities to be drilled for endoscopic inspection but that causes damage so is normally only done for a person already owning their homes and that damage cannot be caused to a home sellers house. And it isn’t a case of drilling random holes either, you have to select through experience and knowledge where to drill. To both clarify and correct what was said here. There are several types of insulation, all new homes must have insulated cavity and invariably to satisfy Building Regulations there are “blocks” of insulation installed. The regulations also include a host of other requirements for instance insisting loft spaces are adequately ventilated as well as insulated, hence the vent strips in soffit boards, air bricks in gable walls, special ridge vents or roof slope vent tiles. So the damp issue implied in lofts in this presentation should never be an issue, plus improving loft ventilation is a relatively easy and cheap thing thing to do.
But as you’ve said the Boom & Bust system we have, has made this type work extremely expensive, as they’ve been feeding off the uncontrolled honeypot. Just like the insurance industry. This has made anything to do with the building industry very expensive, as the property market is a ridiculously out of control industry. The best thing they could’ve done with the grants, was to give control of them to the householder, who could then go and get competing quotes.
We hadn’t long moved into our house & my partner called me at work panicking that someone had started drilling holes in our walls. It turned out he was from a wall insulation company touting for business & when he was told politely no thank you he wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was looking after our child who was to young for school so both were quite upset not understanding why someone is making load’s of noise & drilling holes in our house. The police were called & both the worker & company received a warning.
I’ve been in this industry for 25 years from installer to surveyor to supervisor everything you say is true apart from the guarantee! if you have any problems after install they make the installer go out inspect if your still not happy with the inspectors report go back to ciga etc they will send there inspectors out if they find your at fault and it needs extracting it won’t cost the homeowner anything 👍 ps I’ve learned a few things perusal your vid today so thankyou Also could you explain efflorescence on bricks ie salting 🤷🏻♂️👍
Great article Roger. The only thing I disagree with and it’s with the Government and that is trickle vents on windows. It never made sense to make a draught proof window with insulated double glazed sealed units which allow the heat from the sun in during the Summer whilst keeping out the cold and then stick a whole through the window and fit a bit of plastic. Never made sense 25yrs ago and still doesn’t. Exactly why Building regs no longer make Trickle vents compulsory on new builds or replacing existing windows where TV have not been fitted. For hundreds of years we have “vented/aired” our houses by opening the bloody windows……….It’s always worked but some smart arse decided a trickle vent was a great idea… 🙂
Spend thousands of pounds to insulate your walls, to keep you warmer, but then take an inch off all your doors, and open them trickle vents for ventilation …… Ventilation, the introduction of a fresh air flow, fresh air from outside, the very same cold air you are trying to insulate your property from. A building regulations paradox of biblical proportions.
I’ve come across situations where blown cavity insulation has been applied to pre 1950s buildings, it’s literally bridged the dpc and caused efflorescence and damp above dpc on internal and external walls. Also seen it spill into attic space and block the eaves. A considerable amount of the installers I have come across look like they did a few day trade course whilst on Jobseeker’s Allowance and get employed by one of these Mickey Mouse outfits.
I just bought a downstairs flat and every room is fine except the kitchen and front bedroom. Both rooms the amount of condensation is as if I threw a bucket of water at the windows. Both rooms are ffff freezing. I have no idea what the issue is and am abt to honestly cry. I am ill from how cold it is. Bought it in the summer no idea of the issues. Rain came and I have one wet wall where water is from the coving down. Fixed the gutter upstairs by contacting the landlord and i dnt think it’s persisting as running dehumidifier the patchv isn’t getting worse and the wall doesn’t feel as wet. Now other side of room the wall was actually wet at the right angle/corner all the way up. And sort of got wider at the skirtingboard and went along the skirting board. This happened after i got rid of all the weeds outside the wall huge gaps. I am in the middle of getting the wall repointed and hope it helps. Had a window repair man come said my windows were fine but need sealant around edges outside. But I can’t imagine only the sealant will solve the issue? I don’t know what to do 🙁 also they’re charging me 700 for repointing the full front of the downstairs flat don’t know if I am getting ripped off. I got a few quotes and it’s similar prices.
Hi roger great article, looking at cavity wall insulation on this thermabead in which I hope ok now, back in 2011 we was turned down, because of at the time building regs when our house was built is covered in a bubble rap so there said could not guarantee without cold spots, but think it’s come on a bit since then with thermabead carbon .so am I right in thinking this
We live in a council bungalow and got it … cavity installed I don’t know when it was put in but then they pebbledashed the hole bungalow and painted …I’ve never seen so much black mold in my life this is my second year I’ve been here ..its damp in every room the wall outside is soaking wet to the damp on the inside walls is all round the kitchen higher than the washing machine, the fridge, the whole of the pantry and every room I bought tarpaulin to put on the outside wall will this help to keep the rain off the wall or make it worse thank you were oaps
If you need to drill holes to get the camera in then your wall hasn’t been built properly. Ventilation is key and this also applies to the cavity which is why in a properly built wall you will see that there is no mortar between two consecutive bricks, spaced probably some 60cm horizontally and 2.5m vertically. Bad insulation practices from the past were to inject building foam which becomes completely solid and prohibits air flow in the cavity which is really bad and causes mould and moisture problems. Good insulation does not prevent air flow but just slows it down. Think of a raincoat, if you wear that when cycling to work it is usually almost as wet on the inside as it is on the outside and that is not because it leaked. And because it clings to your skin it doesn’t provide warmth either, for that you want a wool sweater with all its fibers and tiny air pockets that slow down the air flow to contain the heat that your own body generates.
A couple of points to bear in mind. This article is about retrospective cavity wall insulation. All modern house have insulation added when the house is being built and the builder still leaves a cavity between the walls. Also note that if you live in an area that floods then to remove the water from the cavity when the flood subsides you can remove some bricks at low level and let the water drain out. However, if you have retrospective cavity wall insulation and your house floods then the water is more difficult to extract. Don’t forget that the flood water might contain sewage and you will have that in your retrospective cavity wall insulation until it is cleaned out which is very difficult and expensive.
As regards ventilation I had new upvc windows and doors installed in 2017 Windows have trickle vents which whistle and the doors let in air around the hinges. I tend to leave the vents closed but even in that state they let in air which tends to increase when its windy.As to the doors the air coming in makes my hall pretty cold. I thought it was a defect but maybe not since the ventilation is pretty good. With my last heating bill being over£100 with my cutting it to a minimum more cold air would not be welcome.
We got the injected foam insulation done a good few years back and the installers were terrible. When they got near the top of the house, I could hear them not drilling all the way through. Long story short, they had just made marks that they then pointed up, so they didnt have to fill the last meter or so of wall. I removed one of the air vents as I noticed it hadn’t been siliconed up and used a mirror and flashlight to look into the cavity and it was bare for a meter or so all the way along. After getting them to come back and fix the issue, it did make a difference that was most apparent the night after having it done. Not sure if it made a difference to energy usage as we got a combi boiler fitted not long after, so can’t compare bills. The surveyor seemed good and told me an area that had some rubble inside the cavity, so I busted out a brick and removed it before they came. Just always be there when they do the work and pay attention to them trying to get an early finish…
British Gas nearly burnt our house down, as I nipped out for a minute and left the two cowboys plug into the kitchen socket through the catflap. On my return the kitchen was full of smoke! I told them to piss off and on talking to the “helpline” they said they couldn’t get anyone out for another two months! This was in the middle of winter and there was now holes throughout the brickwork. After threatening them (waste of time) I went online and slagged them off. Next day, two decent blokes came out and did the job. A few days later, some dogsbody from BG (who couldn’t speak English) marched into my kitchen and says that I called BG for his assistance to check the plug, “that was smoking”. An argument then followed because he wouldn’t listen that I hadn’t called anyone, but I let him get on with checking the plug. Minutes later, he said that there was nothing wrong with it and left, looking at me as if I was shit on his shoe. One weird day… 🙄
My detached house was built in 61 with cavity’s, when we brought the house the previous owner had the balls blown in and had this crapy stuff sprayed on the exterior brick to look like render but their is no way to get it off and its probably about 2mm thick so you see every detail of the misaligned bricks 🤦♂, we have damp issues in the house and have tried dehumidifiers in different places but still have damp, the biggest issue I have with the balls is when you drill a hole for vents the bloody stuff goes everywhere so I assume that the company that did it didn’t put any glue with it and there must be so many voids. When we moved in it still had the original loft insulation and then some newer on top and then some brand new on top so I took it all out ( what a dirty job ) and found that their were signs of rats nests that were old and once the cavity was filled they had no way back in. Its a 4 level split house with 5 or 6 steps to each landing and when I finally got in to the lower level back room their was a mahoosive pile of balls where a brick was missing so the question is do I trust a company to come out and suck it out or do I just suck it up and deal with the ventilation problem my self.
Unfortunately, not everyone can look at a thousand pounds as a three year investment. For a lot of people, like some pensioners for example that sort of money is a fortune, and working people just can’t imagine what i’s like to be in that position. Without grants all these people are lost, and living in poverty, after paying taxes all their lives and improving the country for people of your generation to benefit from. Nothing personal, and a good article, thanks.
about 12/14 yr ago my council house got Cavity Wall insulation, if i mind right it was shredded Denim, i noticed my house went COLDER, and GAS BILL increased about £ 25/30 a month, then a year later they converted me from Back Boiler with storage tank to a crap boiler on the kitchen wall . when they took an air brick out of the kitchen wall 12″x12″ i said to the guys there’s cavity wall insulation expect it to be coming out to meet them, there was almost NONE it’s hung up on all the bits of cement hanging into the cavity from between the bricks, then 5/6 yr, ago i eventually got the temporary repaired roof the tree went through in 1967 replaced by new ROOF, the guys let us look into the cavity it looked like ever hole drilled in the walls where they injected the insulation went in 360% up to about a 12″ away from hole until it hit some piece of cement,,, all cavity wall insulation does is stops a house from Breathing, if it had been the wee balls of polystyrene i would probably have had damp problems in the back bedrooms like my neighbours, woods and burn within 30ft of back of house,. STIRLING COUNCIL IS LANDLORDS
The ugly truth is that British building standards haven’t changed much until very recent times. Majority of continental Europe is 20-30 years ahead. So modulating gas heating systems, forced ventilation, double and triple glazing, solar CHW heating, external insulation, modern electrics have been a common sight 30 years ago… Don’t get me wrong, I am not slamming British tradesman, rather developers that have been actively lobbying against any tangible improvements. All this so they can make more money… And people get homes finished to 19th century standards – bar some mod cons…
I find from working on site that a lot of brickies do clean the snots off the cavities to intent on chasing money to care. What are you thoughts on the different types of retro fit insulations I looked at the price for the expanding foam £3600 and beads I think was £1300. We’re old school my dad used to say if your cold put a jumper on, so only have heating onoctber to march so bills are relatively low until now so was wondering if you actually recoup your money On cavity wallinsulation??
My wall cavity which is insulated with the polystyrene ball type has provided a nesting site for starlings. The plumber that fitted my boiler made the hole for the vent pipe in the wrong place. He fixed it on the internal skin but he obviously didn’t do a very good job externally! Only noticed it when the starlings got in as it’s right up in the eves.
We had cwi a good few years ago. No problem with damp, infact I have a humidity meter and that shows a dry atmosphere! Seems ok to me though. Certainly keeps the place warmer in the winter. HOWEVER, what they dont tell you is “it keeps the heat out in the summer”. So most evenings its a bit chilly, Very tempting to put the heating on so wiping out any savings through the winter! There I’ve had my rant! Keep up the good work Roger.
I bought this house from 1950 and one of this days I decided to remove the old shower base from the bathroom, to fit a bathtub instead. And during the process after removing the shower tray I noticed near the floor, one of the internal wall brick was missing and was a space of like 5cm to the external wall. Is that considered a cavity wall? Also when I put my hand in the cavity I saw what it looked like rubbish just sitting there and when I start taking it out, was literally just dried leaves and little branches coming from the hole. Was that ever a thing? To insulate the walls with dried vegetation??
I would never have C.W.I. in my house ever. My dad had it done to his house in the 70’s one wall would literally run with water like you had chucked a bucket of water on it. I can’t actually see the point….if you have to have vents punched through wall and windows open which lets all heat out, how is that helping????? you then have to turn heating up and all you are doing is making the street warmer…insanity. We had some cowboys who wanted to punch a hole through the chimney breast (a working chimney) before pumping in the wall insulation, at that point i told them to F*** off.
My mate bought a semi detatched house that had cavity wall insulation and when it rained heavily the inside of the pine end got soaking wet. Being a hands on guy he took bricks out on the inside of the pine end every few feet and removed all the cavity insulation. There hasn’t been any problems since. Personally I wouldn’t fill a cavity on a house.
I have an end of Terrace town house on a hill that gets lashed with rain, to the extent that there are spots where water has been hitting a wall tie and damp leaked into the interior wall. Since I painted some stormproof on the wall the problem has gone away. However it would seem that using thermal bead cavity insulatuion on that wall would be a bad idea …. strangly enough every sales person does not seem to think so dispite all my reservations 🙂
hi, it my mother house wall shares with a neighbour house, but those walls are not concrete together, it those are separate walls standing to each other and there is an air gap between those walls about 4 inch(10cm). When you stand there you can feel moderate winds blowing all the time. It in the gap on the ground you can see a lot of debris and concrete from construction, it impossible to get cleaned. is it I would cut some polystyrene sheet to width about 20cm and push in and use foam to seal all around the gap between houses and also put some bituminous compound to prevent moisture to polystyrene ..?
My mother has had esp beads put in her wall and it caused alot of damp inside and she got a claim going with a solicitor to get it fixed and it’s been four years and it’s still not been fixed, the solicitors that took it on first went through bankruptcy and now its been passed to another so its all started all over again, I can’t believe how one small job could cause so much bother, my mother can’t even put her house up for sale because she signed in with this claim, its causing stress for her and its not right, my mother is 70 years old and should not have to be dealing with this at her age, this country has become a criminal left right and centre.
A few years ago a house in the same row as my grandparents had it’s side wall insulated (just a regular post ww2 brick space brick wall). The problem was that the wall was facing the wind for most of the year so more often than not it was soaking wet. The wetness got into the seams and stones and froze up during the winter. Within three years bits started falling of the wall and it needed to be torn down and rebuilt. Don’t know if the guy got any compensation.
Check out sheep’s wool cavity batts. I’ve only used it twice but the specs say its better in all departments than other insulation’s. As far as I’m aware it cant be added retrospectively though. And by the way, us brickies ain’t always to blame for not closing cavities, Architects tell us not to do it…. I always ask.
I helped out as an electricians mate back in 2019 a job in Hendon and the Insulation man came Quoted ten grand for the Spray form and no Guarantee due to rubble that has build up at the bottom of the Cavity so we had to cut out a brick every few and clear out. I’m wondering how the Clients our fitting in after the bit of Knowledge you have passed on to me Roger
My house is a 30s 3 bed semi and we have an issue every winter with damp appearing, but only at the very top 6 inches of the wall. We have cavity wall insulation, but on inspection the inner wall seems to finish 3 or 4 courses above the outer wall meaning the inner wall is not insulated at all. Any advice on what to do? Have tried stuffing loft insulation down the void from inside the loft which works to some extent, but during really cold periods the damp returns.
Is there a way to remove technitherm Isothane BUFCA ‘hard to treat’. Due to the collapse of SSB CWI claims have failed, back in 2017 i was told the material would have to be chiseled out (50% fill ratio) if you have beaded type CIGA it can be sucked out. How do you dissolve/ remove this isothane material (its set like plastic) and stuck to the the stonework?
i had cavity wall insulation done about 7 to 10 years ago, they bored a 4 inch hole thru my living room wall and put a vent in which was needed because i had an open fire, but they also silicon sealed all the other air vents in the kitchen and 2 bedrooms !! is this right ? nobody else in my street has had this done to theres. im worried because im now getting hairline cracks internally and not sure if its related
You have to be really careful who installs this stuff. While wiring, I’ve seen quite a lot of properties with relatively recent insulation of the blown kind in walls and especially roof spaces where there is very little of it. I’m pretty sure the wasp nests in the roof space provided more insulation value than the few scraps of insulation in the last roof space I saw.
I live in a 70 year old semi council house. We had no choice about cavity wall insulation, shortly after when wenhad the first serious rain water started running down our living room wall. Over time the entire detached side interior plaster has been ruined, three years we’ve been trying to get the council to find the problem. We don’t live by the sea and this happens whenever there’s heavy rain and wind.
Well without cavity insulation you can leave house not ventilated and not get damp, then you fill the cavity and have to let air blow into the house via vents and gaps under the doors. Question is, is the amount of heat ‘saved’ by cavity insulation negated by the cold air blowing around the house from window vents and wall vents, which is only needed because you blocked the cavity up in the first place…. A couple of our neighbours with houses built in 1995, were silly enough to have cavity insulation retrofitted, not only have they seen no reduction in their heating bills, but they now have damp walls – this is lunacy..
Very timely. I am preparing to do a roof raise with with some short timber framed walls onto a brick built bungalow. There is no cavity wall insulation currently. I also notice when taking a poke around the cavity was not closed. Now I am facing a cold bridging quandary.. 1. cavity wall insulation then close cavity then build timer wall (PIR insulated). Possible cold bridging. 2. cavity wall insulation, leave cavity open in the hope of tying in to the cavity. I don’t yet have full drawing to know how much the timber frame may close the cavity. Also I was planning on scheduling the cavity wall insulation while the roof was off allowing them to blow down from the open cavity.
Great article, when our House was built in the 80s the Builder insulated the 100mm Cavity with Rockwell slabs. We do have damp Problems which have become worse over the Years and I know the Cavity isn’t capped. The Cavity is very damp so we are going to get a Chartered Surveyor specializing in Damp Issues to help us solve the Problem. Until I watched you article I didn’t realise that Cavities should be capped. Thanks.
I’m in a bungalow, I’ve blown fibre insulation, already there before we bought. One side of my loft the OSB boarding near the eaves up is black mould, as high as a metre. The property was built 2000. I wonder if the cavity insulation caused this? The earth wool loft insulation has been laid perfectly, and I’ve checked it’s not covering the eaves venting. 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️