Cavity wall-loft insulation

[Arriba]

Npower are offering this free to their customers so i've had someone round today to survey the house (a 1970's semi). I wasn't in at the time so the mrs dealt with it. All the fella did was drill into a wall look up in the loft then say "yes your house is suitable and will be in contact in the next few weeks".
This rung alarm bells so i've been looking online and am confused as the opinions on cavity wall insulation are divided to say the least.
Alot of people say its great and others say not to do it or have had problems since having it done.I'm currently thinking of blowing out the cavity wall insulation and just going with the loft but aint 100% yet.
Looking for your views on it-experiences etc in TEF land.

Ta very much in advance and all that.

[jimmy_onions]

we just had ours done recently, well, loft at least. The guy did a test on the wall and said he didnt need the wall stuff....
The loft stuff is great, the old stuff was about 2-3 inches deep, this stuff is closer to a foot. Cant say I've noticed a huge difference in house temp though, but still, it was completly free so cant complain.

I also thought it was dodgy and asked for assurances about 600 times that it was absolutely competely free, turned out it was and was very hassle free.

Part of a government incentive scheme to get x % of houses better insulated in a certain time period. The company were actually asking me if we knew of anyone who would benefit from it...they are literaly giving it away.

[Notts red]

We had our walls and loft insulated about this time last year, our heating bills are slightly cheaper and didn't / Haven't had any problems after it was done. I know before the loft was done our house was only one of a few in our street last winter after the snow that used to thaw off the roof really quickly compared to most others which just highlighted how much heat we were losing.

[Arriba]

My concerns are based on potential damp problems. My house has air bricks and the fella said it wouldn't be a problem. My thought is that they are there for a reason-ie to allow air to circualte in the cavity. I think trapping all heat in might be a bad thing as the house needs to breathe.

Opinions are split and i'm thinking i might play it safe and avoid it in the walls.

[Notts red]

Just getting the loft done should make improvements,you can always do the walls another time.  the worst part for me was that the wife is a hoarder, she won't throw away anything sentimental to do with when the kids were young, the bloody loft is heaving with " sentimental" things  that I had to take down and PUT BACK 

[Arriba]

Literally just got off the phone and aint going for the wall insulation. Too much against it from what i've read and can be a nightmare to put right. Given me a right fucking headache reading the stuff about it to be honest.

[monkey]

It is rare that it cause damp problems as long as the cavity is clean and it's not in an area where you get extreme wind driven rain. In some cases it can reduce condensation on the wall as the inner leaf will be warmer.

[fatbasher]

We had our walls done two years ago. 15 y/o detached no problems. It's the pipes in the pitched roof at the front I have to worry about.

[dporter]

I also thought it was dodgy and asked for assurances about 600 times that it was absolutely competely free, turned out it was and was very hassle free.

If it's part of Green Deal it's not free - it's paid back through your energy bills in installments. Worth checking as not all energy providers are offering it completely free!

[Ticker45]

Had our cavity walls done many years ago on our semi-detached and immediately noticed the difference. Since then the house has been extended and insulation was put in as a matter of course. Obviously cannot tell if it has saved us money over the years but my guess is that it has.

The loft was looked at under a similar plan to Arriba (already have original thin insulation) and we were going to take up the offer but on reflection had so much stuff stored up there it would have been a nightmare to move so did not bother eventually.

[leefer]

Another tip for winter is to put silver foil(baco would do)behind your radiators in the winter especially those radiators on an outside wall....stops half the heat escaping out of the walls.

[Arriba]

Had the loft done on tuesday and its now full of condensation up there. its a fucking waste of time and i think i'll rip it all out the fucking stuff. 

[slinky]

Had the loft done on tuesday and its now full of condensation up there. its a fucking waste of time and i think i'll rip it all out the fucking stuff. 

My loft is the same. Is there a simple fix to getting rid of the condensation?  A friend of mine mentioned blocking up the gaps in the soffit?  Although I thought this allowed airflow which would stop condensation?

[Arriba]

My loft is the same. Is there a simple fix to getting rid of the condensation?  A friend of mine mentioned blocking up the gaps in the soffit?  Although I thought this allowed airflow which would stop condensation?

your friend is wrong. Blocking them would make it worse.more ventilation is needed not blocking up what you already have. I've put in some easyvents which slide into the roof felt and sealed up the loft hatch. Will see if that sorts it.

[slinky]

your friend is wrong. Blocking them would make it worse.more ventilation is needed not blocking up what you already have. I've put in some easyvents which slide into the roof felt and sealed up the loft hatch. Will see if that sorts it.

This is what I thought and why I haven't tried it yet. However he says it fixed it perfectly for him. Let me know how the easyvents work. I noticed how bad the problem was when I got the Christmas decorations down from the loft. certainly needs sorting in the next few weeks.