Cavity wall insulation has ruined my home
ASOUTHPORT man has spoken out about the dangers of wrongly installed cavity wall insulation after paint started blistering off his walls and damp patches appeared inside and outside his Victorian home.
Terry Gregory, 52, has lived on Chestnut Street for 16 years.
After hearing about a government scheme promoting the benefits of cavity wall insulation, he decided to have it installed in 2014.
He said that he had been told during an assessment visit that the product was “perfect and appropriate” for his home.
But, rather than benefiting from greater heat retention and lower energy bills, he found that less than a year later paint started peeling off the walls of his home and damp patches appeared.
Terry said: “On the inside of the front bedroom, the paint started blistering away from the walls, I also noticed damp patches downstairs in the bay window and visible damage outside the front of the house. None of this had happened before – the front of the house, upstairs and downstairs were all affected.
“When we bought the house originally we knew there was a lot of work to be done and over the years we have spent a lot of time decorating and making it a real home.
“It was just disheartening that it all started to fall apart after the cavity wall insulation was fitted.”
When the problems started to appear, he got back in touch with the installation company , Green Deal Na t i o n - wide.
He then received a visit from the Cavity Wall Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGA), which told him his property was not suitable for cavity wall insulation.
In January of this year, he was left with little choice but to instruct solicitors, Cavity Wall Lawyers, to act on his behalf.
Saimina Virmani, CEO at Cavity Wall Lawyers says problems similar to Terry’s were affecting hundreds of homes throughout Merseyside. SAIMINA VIRMANI
She said: “When the Government signed the Climate Change Act in 2008, cavity wall insulation was hailed as a relatively inexpensive adaptation that could save homeowners money on heating bills and add value to the property.
“Government targets were set to challenge the major energy suppliers to insulate as many homes as possible in an effort to increase the energy efficiency of homes.
“It is now apparent that a huge number of those installations on Merseyside have been carried out incorrectly or should not have been done at all and homeowners are now not only finding that they are not saving money on energy usage as planned but are also experiencing damage to their homes and their health.”
She added: “No one should have to live in a cold, damp, insect infested home.”
Gerry Miller from CIGA said: “Following the inspection of Mr Gregory’s property, CIGA found that the home was not suitable for cavity wall insulation and recommended that it be removed.
“Given that the original installer was no longer in business, under the terms of his guarantee, CIGA has offered to arrange for the insulation to be extracted from Mr Gregory’s property and to pay for the work to be carried out.”
No one should have to live in a damp home