Damp on your walls or a musty smell in your home? If your home’s had cavity wall insulation, chances are that the filling has become wet and needs removing. Talk to Chris Addison and his dad (also Chris!) and they’ll check free of charge by inserting a tiny camera into your wall cavity to see what’s going on – and then show you the evidence.
Chris, 36, who’s run his own joinery and building business for 15 years, has the experience to recognise different causes of damp. The pair have invested heavily in the best equipment and manage to solve people’s long-lasting issues without any major disruption. They only need to remove a couple of bricks during the process, sucking the wet insulation out and tidying things up for you afterwards, of course. “Often people aren’t aware that the cavity wall insulation is causing the damp. They think it’s the damp course or pointing – we went to a house where the whole gable end had been pointed and it hadn’t made any difference,” says Chris. Tell-tale signs include damp around replaced windows or doors, bad odours, black mould or peeling wallpaper. “Any house, including new-builds, can be affected and once insulation is wet,” Chris says, “it will never dry as there is no airflow.” Father-and-son use an industrial cavity vacuum (pictured) and air hoses. A typical semi-detached property with two or three bedrooms would likely require a day to remove the failed insulation.
