Maintenance Matters

Rhyd-y-car Terrace in St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life

For those, who have not been to St Fagans in Cardiff, it is worth the trip. Great place and an ideal way to start to understand how buildings have changed over time.

One of the key elements of the museum is Rhyd-y-car Terrace. It illustrates how one style of property (in this case a Welsh terrace of houses) has been altered over time to address the cultural needs / desires / aspirations of the residents. (click on the photo for a link to discover more)

The original terrace house is represented by the home on the left and the team has made alterations to each subsequent house to reflect the changes to terraces in Wales. So when you reach the last house it has a covering of render on the walls rather than limewash, tiles on the roof rather than slates, modern casement windows rather than sash, large window panes rather than small etc. The internal layouts and services have also changed. Fascinating, but intuitively we sort of know this. However, what is not really explained on site is whether these changes were positive or not.

Of course, we do not want to live in houses anymore that have open coal fires, draughty doors and windows etc. However, neither do we want to live in houses that suffer from trapped moisture in the walls, rotting timbers and poor internal air quality. Unfortunately, some of the 'improvements' that are illustrated in the terrace have caused problems like this in the real world.

In time you could add another cottage to this terrace, with its original stone walls now clad in polystyrene (EPS) external wall insulation. This is a reflection on where we are blindly heading without due regard for the original structure. Again we shall then have a warmer property that is at high risk of overheating and likely to suffer rot and mould issues from penetrative damp and condensation.

Designing improvements to buildings is important, but we must get it right. So again, I urge you to read the STBA documents and guidance on retrofit of older houses. See www.stbauk.org

However, this article is about maintenance. So where does this fit in with the retrofit agenda?

Well, when you read all the underpinning documents about retrofit, they all say that any building should be in a good state of repair and stable before any work starts. So before even contemplating any improvements the house should be damp free and well maintained.

This is where much of the trouble has started. Organisations like the Government have targeted their initial efforts on those properties that were in urgent need and these tend to be the ones in a poor state of repair. So they started putting a load of retrofit measures on properties that weren't ready for it. Putting a load of non-breathable cladding / insulation over a wet wall, just seals in the damp. This would be bad enough, but putting a load of non-breathable cladding / insulation over a wet wall badly so that more water can get in, well, you can guess what has been happening!

So, we need to ensure that our buildings are in a good state of repair first and then we need to ensure that we do any retrofit works well. The second element is starting to be addressed (slowly and still with little real knowledge of the characteristics and pathology of traditionally built houses), but the issues of maintenance is less attractive to business.

Large companies delivering large scale projects are not really interested in minor works, or leaving buildings to become stable over time before starting with the big tools and toys. They just need to crack on, come rain or shine, cold or heat and get the job done ASAP and as cheaply as possible.

So we need to take a step back. Assess what we have, understand it, fix it, let it settle and become stable and then start to improve it sensitively and with the right amount of care and caution so that we don't mess it up.

So the first rung on this retrofit / improvement ladder for traditional buildings is not EPS wall insulation, it is Maintenance and Building Pathology.

CADW have produced some guidance on maintenance, but people see this as being for conservation areas and heritage buildings. We need to make maintenance relevant to the 34% of buildings in Wales that are traditionally built. This means all the terraces and stone / solid brick built homes that litter the landscape that we are so familiar with and proud of. After all it is these buildings that define the character of our inner cities and valleys.

Maintenance in itself is relevant to the retrofit agenda. A wet wall is 1/3 less efficient than a dry wall for example.

Building pathology is equally important. The recent Each Home Counts report for the UK Government highlights the recent case in Preston where the race for energy efficiency and the lack of understanding of older houses has left a trail of catastrophe. The details are being repressed by those concerned inc the Government as it really is a tale of woe, but suffice to say the underpinning issue was the lack of knowledge on traditional buildings within the mainstream construction and retrofit industry.

So we need to understand our homes, their history, how they work. This means getting to grip with material science and building dynamics. A good surveyor should be able to tell you these things, but most just refer on to 'specialists'. Unfortunately most of these are not really specialists, just glorified sales people. So we need 'Power to the People'. These are your homes and you are the ones paying for works to be done. So I urge you to understand older buildings and look after them well. Most of the things that I see when visiting homes are simple maintenance issues that can solve many ills.

As a starter for ten, have a think about the following:

A hole in the junction between a window and a sill. Water running down the window above the hole will go into it. What then? Well generally a damp patch and potentially a rotten floor joist. Solution? Fill the hole with some silicon sealer. Cost? 10p in silicon? 10 minutes in time. Potential savings? £350 for a damp report, £1,000 for DPC injection and replacement plaster, £2,000 for replacement joists,....

A crack in render on a west facing wall. Water above the crack will flow down into it. It cannot get back out if it is a modern cement render. So a damp patch. Rotten timbers maybe... Solution. Fill the crack. Cost? DIY solution, maybe £10. Contractor, maybe £100. Potential savings? Well, see above.

Dislodged guttering pouring water down and into a wall. Replacement bracket cost, maybe £1. Cost of leaving it? Easily into the £1,000's of pounds.

So check things like seals around doors and windows, leaf build up in the gutters, cracks in render, mortar and stonework. Make sure external ground levels are kept 15cm below internal floor levels, that extracts are working properly, that floor vents are not blocked by litter and dirt, that pipes through the wall are sealed up properly, that slipped tiles are replaced quickly, chimney stacks are in a good state and that any repairs are made with lime mortars etc etc.

I could go on. But I hope that you get the message. Preventative maintenance is cheap, relatively easy and essential both in terms of keeping you and your home healthy both now and into the future.

Limewashing the west facing wall

Limewash picture from Heritage Directory

I have spent a lovely few hours yesterday painting the rear of my house using some limewash. I made the limewash using some mature lime putty mixed up with water. The mix is around 60:40 water to putty. I used a plaster whisk to mix up the solution (a very quick job) and then up the ladder.

The first job was to get the masking equipment out. Dust sheets over the ground and windows all taped up and covered with some protective sheeting (old compost bags). If you have never attempted lime washing before it is a splashy business. Limewash has no binders in it like normal paint, so it doesn't really hold together when being applied. This issue was also made the more extreme as my walled are rough cast (so quite textured). The limewash was more slopped on using a large brush than any more glamorous process. Many professional limewashers use large soft floor brushes to apply it as it really is a case of just getting it onto the wall. 

When using lime you should also be careful with your skins and eyes as lime is caustic. I had a small cut on my hand and this 'burned' when limewash got onto it. So, don't do as I do and just get on with it, you should wear goggles and gloves and appropriate clothing.

The process was to start from the top of the wall and work down. The limewash can form quite thick patches due to the roughness of the wall. These will crack as they dry out to form the characteristic limewash finish. These are not a problem at all as they will effectively just create thicker pieces of limestone on the wall, however it is better to apply two thinner coats rather than one thick one. As this was just a quick top up I only did the one coat, but it is possible to apply two in one day and in total many people might find that they have to put on 3 or 4 coats to give them a good period of maintenance free finish.

I am always amazed by limewash and how durable it is. Some old splashes on the ground are still there (from being painted last year) and looking really fresh. So don't think that it is a job that you need to do every year.

The limewash is quite translucent when it is applied and with our lime render being quite red underneath the render does show through when wet. However, as the limewash dries and carbonates it turns much more opaque. So when I looked out this morning it was looking lovely and matt.

In all I did two fairly small walls and I needed one 20 litre pot of lime putty (thus using around 50 litres of limewash). A 20 litre pot of putty costs around £15. So it is really cheap (if you have white walls!) but expect to pay more for made up limewash or for colours / pigments. Even so, it is a really cheap way of painting your house.

So that is the house protected for the next few years, so feeling OK about life at the moment. 

Water efficient toilet - retrofitted

Simple, but highly effective

Last week I suffered a common complaint from siphon toilets - that of the failure of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the only thing that can go wrong with siphon toilets - in most systems it is a thin piece of plastic that can be expected to last 10-15 years. This is preferable to a valve system as these tend to leak and hence are not very water efficient. For example, I have had to clean the seal on the valve in my Mothers' house several times in the past couple of years as she has very hard water. This means that calcium deposits 'furrs' up the seal housing and the seal itself and this means that the toilet is often running small amounts of water constantly.

Anyway, I wanted to stay with a siphon system due to their reliability and efficiency. However, I also wanted an even more reliable and efficient system. So, what better than the excellent Interflush Siphon!?

The Interflush siphon has three advantages that suited my tight-fisted tendencies.

1. It has an everlasting diaphragm - basically it is a pivoted solid piece of plastic (see below)

2. It has an interrupter system - this means that there is a small hole in the siphon that is closed when the handle is held down. So you can adjust the amount of water that you use for flushing. Hold it down for a longer flush and vice versa. There can be no more efficient system.

3. It cost the same as a new replacement siphon!

After draining down the cistern it was an easy job to remove and replace the siphon. No leaks! (this is always a worry when you are changing over water based systems). The new system did however have one small issue. Noise. When we use the short flush the pipes started to hum! Not sure why, but I tweaked the water pressure and it was cured. The dear wife was pleased!

I am not sure whether this product is now available from Interflush, which is a shame, but we have several in the Eco Home Centre shop.

A picture below shows the everlasting siphon:

Community Work with Renew Wales

Saron Chapel in Treoes

Eco Home Centre is a Rounded Developments Enterprises project. RDE is a not-for-profit organisation that does work with other partners in Wales and one of our main ones is Renew Wales (see www.renewwales.org.uk). Renew Wales is a great concept where experienced community groups help other not-for-profit organisations with climate change linked projects. These projects can cover a wide range of issues: community gardens, community energy, sustainable transport, training and education, .....

We have been one of the mainstays for helping community groups with their buildings. Most of this work is to help groups understand their buildings and also how to refurbish / redevelop them in a more holistic manner. We follow the guidance created by the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance (STBA - see www.stbauk.org) These groups include:

Saron Chapel in Treoes
Nantyffyllon Miners Institute in Nantyffyllon
Kings Church in Newport
Amelia Trust Farm in Walterston
Cathays Sports and Social Club in Cardiff
Harlech Swimming Pool in Harlech
Ysgol Glannau Gwaun in Fishguard
Chirk Scout Hall in Chirk
....

The work has varied from looking at heating systems, renewable energy options, damp and maintenance issues, design and new builds. Getting the balance between social, economic and environmental issues is not easy and I think that we have been instrumental in groups really starting to understand both their community building and their own homes. We have found that people come to Renew with one particular issue and leave with the knowledge that there is a large amount of interlinked factors that they also need to be aware of in order to find the correct solution both for them and their property. Factors like intuitive navigation, noise, access, maintenance and servicing are often overlooked, yet they are vital to the day to day running of a community centre. Just getting people to think in a more holistic manner really has really allowed them to make much more informed and longer term decisions.

If you are involved with a community group, are based in Wales and have a property that could do with some holistic advice then think about giving Renew Wales a call. The Renew Wales model means that the service is free for the group and you will benefit from around 5-6 days worth of consultancy from experienced community practitioners. This advice could be in the form of business development, outreach, training, marketing, fundraising or the more specialist services from people like us.

Maintenance and the consumer society

One might think that with the growth of consumerism that we would naturally consume more maintenance products for our homes, but the trend seems to be the opposite.

The rush to be at the front of the queue for the latest gadgets etc does not sit well with the need for the regular and mundane nature of building maintenance. Checking whether you have cracked render, failed silicon around the windows, leaking gutters etc is not as glamorous as a new internet accessing tool.

So I often find that some houses with easily fixable problems (like many damp issues) get to the state where a 'damp proof expert' ends up recommending an expensive (and completely inappropriate) solution. These homes are often stuffed to the gunnels with disposable electronic kit, so there is not a lack of money, just a lack of priorities.

The 'quick fix' nature associated with modern consumerism doesn't help here either. Once people see that they have a problem any solution must be quick, cheap, no hassle, immediate, ... Unfortunately, due to the delay in acting they have often missed the boat. If maintenance is done regularly then you can use quick fix solutions. For example:

If you see that your silicon has failed around the windows, then it is a quick job to remove the old and replace with new. This will stop any more water getting into the structure. Simple. However, because people don't do this, the first they will know will be when damp has penetrated through the structure and the plaster inside has failed. This then becomes a job that might involve replastering, redecorating etc.

Exmaple #2: If you see that the ventilation grills on your ground floor are becoming blocked, just clean them up. Simple. If you don't then your solum (underfloor area between the wooden floor and the earth) won't work properly and eventually the floor joists will start to rot etc. This then becomes a major job. It will also take a nasty turn, as the builder coming in will fill your mind with having the floor replaced with a concrete one. This will of course be maintenance free!!! Naturally the new concrete floor with cause a range of new damp problems, ..........

So take a break from the computer / curved screen TV / smarter (than 6 months ago) phone and get outside and have a look at your biggest ever investment and give it a few precious minutes of your time. This will save you a lot of heartbreak, money and time resources in the long term. A few basic tools will allow you to do most of the work yourself (or it will be cheap for a good handyperson to fix for you). Houses are not as addictive as modern consumerist stuff, but they can a real drain on your resources if you ignore them for too long.

I would recommend checking the following:

Windows and door seals (esp. those facing the prevailing winds)

Guttering

Renders / pointing (again esp. those facing the wind and rain)

Drains around the house (to ensure that water is being taken away from the walls)

The roof (to spot any broken or slipped tiles)

Vents and extracts (clear to ensure that they are working properly)

I reckon that a thorough check will take around 5 or 10 mins. 

Then it is a case of keeping your eyes, nose and ears open for any changes. A new drip might be the first sign of a guttering issue. A small damp patch might indicate the need for a check of the seals around the window. A musty smell might alert you to a blocked vent, ....

So when you look at it this way, actually you can fit in all the consumerist stuff that you like and some basic checks on your home. For more guidance on maintenance, especially on older properties have a look at Cadw's Maintenance Matters website.

Home Report Video from Profiad Ni

Thought that this might be of interest as it shows the types of advice given when we do a Home Inspection Report. The winners of the Profiad Ni competition had visits from us for around 2 - 3 hours each followed by a written report that re-enforced the messages about damp, energy efficiency, maintenance, ventilation, structure etc.

It was a great couple of days (if a tad tiring) so many thanks to Bethan from Profiad Ni for arranging it all.

Happy watching.

I can't afford lime render!

Lime rendering done by Welsh Lime Works in Cardiff

Lime rendering is a specialist trade (not to be confused with lime plastering or cement rendering!) and as such it takes time served craftspeople to do it well and it also takes more time to do. These two factors mean that many people who need to have their houses re-rendered choose the cement route. Using cement, of course, represents a higher long term cost. The render will crack and, most likely, damp will be re-introduced to the walls. This will need to be addressed again in the future, whilst a lime render should last the lifetime of the building.

A customer of ours choose cement render over lime due to the cost, however within 8 months the cement had failed, the wall was still wet and she has had to do it again. So the difference in price has already been negated due to failure.

However, this article is about what to do if you cannot afford at the moment to replace the cement with lime.

My recommendations (in general) would be as follows:

• Keep the existing cement render on
• Regularly check the walls for failed render (tapping the walls will audibly indicate where the render has become separated from the wall)
• Repair any cracks (even the small ones, especially if facing the prevailing winds and rain) and any blown areas of render
• When replacing blown areas, it is better to cut around the render to be removed so that the process of removal does not dislodge any of the surrounding render
• Use cement render to replace / repair
• Check for failure of seals around doors, windows, pipes etc and repair as necessary
• Save up and when you can afford it, replace the cement with lime.

Enlarging cracks allows for a better repair as the new render will fit into it

The rationale behind this recommendation is that where you have a structure that has been altered to try to keep water out then as long as this philosophy is being maintained then it will have a better chance of working than when it is not. Cement render and masonry paint is designed to keep water out and as long as it is doing this then it will provide some protection from wind driven rain, however it needs to be uncompromised. So maintenance of its integrity is really important. The more water that gets behind it, the worse the wall will perform and the more likely damp issues become.

This patching and maintaining is really important to allow the wall to perform as well as it can before the ultimate solution of the lime render is applied. So don't waste your money on putting a new coat of cement render over your pre 1919 solid wall house, repair what you have and save your money up so that you don't waste it on an unsustainable, and still quite expensive, piece of cement based sticking plaster!

If you have a 'rising damp' problem (this is rare to occur in most untreated houses, but can be caused by the introduction of cement based renders and plasters onto a breathable wall) then another cheaper option is to remove the cement render up to around 1m above ground level. This wall might then need to be repaired using lime mortar (re-pointing) or it could be lime rendered. Doing this at ground level means that there is no need for scaffolding and the area involved is much less, thus keeping the costs down. You will need a good drip above this so that any water running down the upper wall is not fed directly into the lime or onto the exposed wall.

If you need to put up expensive scaffolding to do the repairs then this brings an extra dimension as the lime rendering becomes more cost effective in the longer term. So any initial repairs to the cement are best done off of a tower scaffold or ladders.

I have written at length before about lime rendering, but it is worth re-iterating at this point the things to remember when looking for a good lime renderer.

• Use a company that both supplies and installs the render (this can get over the issue of where, if there is a problem with the final work, you are not inbetween a rock and a hard place where the installer blames the manufacturer and the manufacturer blames the installer!)
• Remember that rendering is not the same as plastering. So use an experienced renderer.
• Ask for references and a good portfolio of completed works
• If it is new company then you will need to ask about the experience of the tradespeople and where they served their time. You can then investigate this company.
• Read up about lime from trusted sources like CADW, Historic England, Historic Scotland etc (depending on where you are)
• Ask about the mix that they will use and the finish that will be applied. I am a believer in aggregate being really important. I think that the aggregate needs to be a mix of sizes and also that it contains a high proportion of permeable stone.
• The finish needs to be appropriate. So a lime putty and permeable stone mix can be easily covered with a lime wash, a less breathable combination of NHL lime and sand will probably work better with a mineral paint.

What constitutes a 'healthy' home?

Health is really important to all of us, yet many of us live in houses with poor internal environments. Some of this is our own fault - we clean using dangerous chemicals; we allow properties to get into a poor state and hence introduce damp from rain; we don't ventilate properly; etc. However, some of it down to the structure of the building. So I thought that it might be worth investigating the idea that using health as opposed to pure energy efficiency could be a way forward for improvements in the housing sector.

So what are the key health factors that could be used to drive new specifications for home improvements?

Allergies

People seem to be getting more sensitive to substances, many of which are airborne. So there is a need for better Internal Air Quality (IAQ) in our homes. Having filters in ventilation systems is an obvious way of improving the situation for cleaning any air coming into our homes, however most properties do not have whole house ventilation systems, but there is a trend towards positive pressure ventilation in retrofits. These units can have filters fitted, but it does mean that they have to be cleaned / maintained on a regular basis and so this means that we have to have a system in place to ensure that this actually happens (otherwise it is waste of money and resources).

Many materials continue to off gas substances throughout their lives, so it usually better to use natural materials that have been treated with natural preservatives / protecting coats.

The main source of allergies, though comes through from our foods and the effects of our lifestyle choices. This could be the type of cleaning materials that we use, whether we smoke in the house etc.

However we can reduce dust circulation by using radiant wall heating rather than conventional radiators or underfloor heating.

Respiratory diseases

Respiratory problems are caused by a range of root causes many of which can be tackled during refurbishment. Issues like high / low humidity, mould and dust can all be effected by what we do to our homes.

It is really important that we manage ventilation in our homes as this helps to control humidity, but it is equally important that we allow any breathing walls to continue to do so. Sealing up older 'moist' walls can introduce damp and hence mould etc. Having a relative humidity of between 50 and 60 per cent minimises the risks associated with dust mites etc and this range can be maintained by the use breathable solid walls. We must also be careful when installing insulation, as poor fitting / specification can introduce cold spots and this in turn can easily create damp / mould issues.

Automatic ventilation control systems that run off information like relative humidity and CO2 levels can really assist with maintaining a good internal air quality. These can be installed where there is a good airtightness in the building and ideally systems would also have heat recovery built in.

Temperature related troubles

Overheating and underheating can cause or exacerbate serious medical conditions, so again we must ensure that properties do not get too hot, or too cold. So design is really important to make sure that properties can cope with the projected changes in climate which suggest that our weather will get more extreme in the future, especially with hot conditions. Unless of course the Atlantic Conveyor gives in and we might then become much, much colder in the winter.

So must ensure that properties are designed for both. Using high thermal capacity insulations like woodfibre boards and batts can assist with this. Being able to create homes that can easily and cheaply maintain a comfortable 19 degrees C in both summer and winter is important.

Highly efficient heating systems need to be used that are appropriate for the type of house, so care is required to specify the best type of system. Some houses only served by oil and electricity, others gas etc, so the most efficient systems need to be specified and this might involve additional works. For example ground source heat pumps (GSHP) only work well at low temperatures and so a well insulated house with managed ventilation is required here. A very efficient GSHP in a poorly insulated and draughty home will be very inefficient.

Mental health

Now this is a real bag of worms. Issues like stress can come from a wide range of factors that can be designed out (or into) our buildings. Common factors that effect stress at home include:

Money worries - making our homes cheap to run is really important (as long as we don't cause lots of 'unintended consequences' at the same time). So installing systems that improve energy efficiency, reduce water consumption, minimise maintenance costs, prolong maintenance intervals etc. is really important. Renewable energy systems that attract support can also help to relieve financial pressures by providing some free energy, but also a small income. However, it should be remembered that people make choices when it comes to spending their money and it may be that the best ones are not always taken.

Families - families don't always get along and having separate spaces can be useful. Knocking through reception rooms to make large spaces may not be the best solution. Sound proofing between rooms is also important to create more private space. Having bedrooms that are acoustically isolated can make sleep better and this can be really important.

Neighbours - again neighbours can be a source of comfort or stress. Whichever it is, having good acoustic barriers between the two houses is important. It is also important that any thermal improvements to one house do not cause problems with any adjoining property. So care needs to be taken here.

Natural light - a lack of natural light effects many people, especially those suffering from SAD and so it is important to ensure that light is maximised. This might mean using sun tubes, roof windows etc.

Worries about safety and security - using good quality doors, windows and fixings, combined with clever design can create homes that both feel, and are, more secure. 

Alleviation of niggles - of course there are no end of these, but some are avoidable: Alleviating pressure drops in hot water when more than two outlets are being used; use of long life bulbs to reduce need for replacement; easy access to water stop-cocks if there is a major leak; isolation valves on water outlets for easy routine maintenance; use of siphon toilets rather than valve to stop constant leaks; use of metal rainwater goods to reduce water damage from leaking or damaged plastic ones; use of breathable paints on breathable walls to reduce re-painting requirements; no drylining allowed to reduce issues associated with just hiding problems etc etc.

Conclusion

When we start to think about our homes in more detail one realises that we need homes that feature:

• Good, well controlled, ventilation (e.g using CO2 and RH controls)
• Appropriately insulated both against heat loss but also heat gain (e.g  use of wood fibre insulation)
• Minimised the use of water (e.g pulse shower heads, variable siphon flushes etc.)
• Take advantage of any appropriate renewable energy generation potential (e.g FiT and RHI measures)
• Minimised use of energy (e.g LED lights)
• Have good acoustic insulation both between houses and within them (especially bedrooms)
• Have a mix of private and public space 
• Have sufficient natural light (e.g using sun tubes etc.)
• Are free from risk of damp and mould (using correct breathable materials)
• Use natural materials that are less likely to off gas toxic substances (e.g wood)
• Use materials cleverly to minimise maintenance requirements (check compatibility of materials)
• Use good quality materials that provide long term solutions to safety and security (good quality doors, windows and locks)

Now all of that is a tad more involved than indiscriminately slapping on EPS external wall insulation and changing a boiler, however if we start to think more about maintaining a good, healthy internal environment then maybe we can reduce costs on the health service as well as providing better housing for the great British public.

The British Thoractic Society estimates overall costs to the country of £6.6 billion due to respiratory disease (or which Gov. says £1 billion is spent annually by the NHS on chronic obstructive Pulmonary Diseases)

The NHS has figures of around 31,000 cold related deaths in 2012-13.

The NHS also has a plan in place for heat related illnesses. (pdf format)

The NHS also spends around £16 billion on stress and anxiety related illnesses annually (pdf file).

So improving our homes will not eradicate these costs, but it will have some effect. So we can either look to continue doing 'improvements' that only tackle a small fraction of the issues facing our stock (and even this we are doing badly in many cases - and this causes more stress and more long term financial costs to the country) or we can start to create a nation of healthy homes.

Cabling and pipes into walls

Walls tend to have a lot of 'punctures' through them

In the UK we build walls and then make holes in them. This is a bit strange when you think about it, but in older houses we are forced to drill through walls in order to install our modern conveniences and technology. So old houses have a range of holes for soil pipes, TV aerials, washing machine drains, phone lines etc. We have also drilling into walls to inject cavity wall insulation, chemical DPCs etc. Take a look at your house and see how many times it has been drilled through.

Surely drilling and placing a cable / pipe through is a simple matter with few risks?!

Oh how wrong we can be. Having just been to a house where incorrectly installed cables and pipes are potentially causing a lot of damp (even on the cavity wall extension).

So where does it go wrong?

Well the most obvious problem is where we encourage water to track into the wall by:

1. Drilling down at an angle rather than horizontally / slightly angled up. A downward slope encourages water to run into the hole especially if it is not properly sealed.

2. It is almost impossible to adequately seal holes / around pipes etc. Most of the time contractors don't even bother trying to seal around holes.

3. Cabling is not looped around so that all cabling enters from below (if cabling goes down the wall and straight into the hole, water will track down it and into the structure).

4. Many holes are drilled into walls that face the prevailing wind rather than exploring another less risky option of an East or North facing wall. This means that the weak spot of the hole is exposed to the worse of the weather.

Sometimes it is difficult to access the best place on the wall for a hole and this is especially the case with Damp Proof Course injections. These tend to be fitted on the external face of the wall and need to be as close to the ground level as possible (generally). This often means that the drill holes are sloping down into the wall due to the body of the drill being next to the ground. The trouble with this is that rainwater running down walls will enter these holes and put water above the DPC! It is vital therefore that these holes are sealed completely and in a long lasting manner, However, more often than not I see holes unfilled, ill fitting plastic plugs pressed in or a dot of mortar placed roughly over the hole. In the long term these will all let water into the structure and cause damp.

So when faced with having to drill through a wall, remember:

• Keep the drill level (or sloping up slightly)
• Seal around the cable / pipe using a good quality sealer and press into the wall as much as possible
• Ensure that the cabling does not encourage water into the wall
• Put as much cabling through the lee side of a building (rather than facing the prevailing winds)

Shoe missing in street

This could be titled: 'How to get a roof load of water into your floors and walls'.

Note the crack between the wall and the pavement

This is a very common sight in urban areas. Downpipes have had their shoes kicked off / removed and so all the water from the roof is being poured into the base of the wall rather than angled off into the main road drain.

In this particular location there was a large gap between the council's pavement and the wall. This has meant that for years the wall have been subjected to way more rainwater than it can cope with. No wonder there was damp in the wall inside.

The simple solution is to re-fit the shoe and get the system back working again. There will still be runoff entering the gap, but at least the volumes might decrease to a level where the wall can cope again.

Oh, for those who were wondering a 'shoe' is as follows:

Cement render on solid walls

Courtesy of http://stonecottagerenovation.blogspot.co.uk/

The majority of old solid stone and brick houses are covered in a liberal amount of cement render these days. I will assume that you know my opinion on cement render on solid walls, so I won't have my normal rant. Ranting about it does not solve the problem - just makes me feel a bit better. I had to live with cement render for many years before I had the opportunity to get it removed and a proper lime render re-instated. Many people who live in old houses do not have the resources needed to undertake this fairly major task. So what to do?

The theory behind using cement render was that by having a water proof finish on the wall it would keep the wall dry. Of course the issues of ground water, cracks, building movement and faults compromises this and so it does get wet and hence then retains the water in the structure. But if you cannot afford the time and expense of replacement you need to address the issue of maintenance.

Maintenance is the often overlooked factor of owning a house. We tend to think in terms of rent vs mortgage rather than the reality of rent vs mortgage AND maintenance (let alone improvement!). Maintenance is key to the success of any home. If you repair all cracks when they appear, ensure that gutters are clear at least once a year etc then you can avoid many of the potential pit falls of having an inappropriate finish on your home. Of course these are all temporary fixes, as it is like putting a plaster on a perpetual wound, but it is better than just leaving the wound to get infected.

So if you have got cement render on your walls try and make a habit of the following checks:

1. Guttering - ensure that there are no leaks and that all the water is draining away freely

2. Cracked render - ensure that all cracks are gauged out and repaired

3. 'Blown render' - tap the render to see if there are any areas where it 'rings hollow'. These areas should be removed and replaced with new render

4. Silicon seals around doors and windows - silicon fails over time and it is a common area where water gets behind the render. So check for failure and replace where needed

5. Compare the outside ground level with the internal floor level. Make sure that any work does not create a situation where the floor level is less than 150mm above the ground level

So all is not lost if you do have cement render on your old house, it is just that you will have greater costs associated with maintenance, so remember to factor this into any budgeting.

Where has that damp smell gone?

No need for these now!

The was always a certain smell when we came back home. That slight dusky smell that reminds you that there was damp in the house. Well, I am glad to say that when we returned from being away at Christmas there was no such gentle reminder.

The mould that has been growing (thanks to the original builders who left the house renderless and with some major defects exposed to some pretty awful weather in the late summer) has been stopped in its tracks. Now, all I need to do is to repaint all the internal areas that have lost their paint / been affected by mould etc.

I am really pleased that our efforts (and that of Welsh Lime Works) have paid off.

In summary we have:

1. Created a drain all around the building so lower the external ground level - this will allow any moisture from the ground to be vented off before reaching internal floor levels

2. Opened up a blocked chimney on the first floor to create a better airflow through the house (the ground floor chimneys house wood burning stoves and so are already open)

3. Removed the cement render from the solid walled and early cavity walled elements of the house and replaced this with a lime putty / limestone dust render. Finished with a white limewash (applied in a hot mix)

4. I have also reset all the guttering to ensure that it is not leaking anywhere

So effectively the house is now functioning as closely to its original design as it is economically viable to do (note that we have not replaced the cement floors with the original suspended floors).

We have experienced some pretty wet weather at times since the work was finished and it should be noted that some areas (concrete block substrate) is still drying out, but the internal walls are now dry and the render is slowly releasing all the trapped water to the outside. 

I had imagined that the drying process would take a lot longer, given that the walls were exposed for so long and that the limewash was only put on late last year, but the project has worked really well and we now have a dry and smell free home. So all bodes well for the future as, apart from routine maintenance on gutters etc, the actual structure of the building is now working in a way that will keep the whole house dry inside for many decades to come. I am expecting that I will need to re-limewash every 6-8 years one the southern and western elevations, but more like every 10-15 years to the north and east (and this is down more to issues of traffic fumes rather than the weather).

Given that I have seen replacement cement render failure in a significant number of solid walled houses within a year of application I think that the added expense of doing it right will soon pay off. It really is a false economy to use cheap materials when all you do is store up more hassle and expense for a future date. So, if you have an old house with a damp problem why not give us a call and we can help you out.

Cavities not immune from damp

Cavity walls were designed to keep damp out of homes

Cavity walls have been the standard way of building for the past century. They are designed to have two walls (bound together by wall ties) with one acting as the external face that can get a little wet and the inner one that is protected by the cavity from this potential moisture ingress.

The cavities were vented to allow air to circulate in them to help dry out any moisture that did make it through to the cavity.

All sounds grand.

However, the system has some issues with it on a number of levels.

1. Initial Build - many cavities were not well formed as cement mortar etc would fall down the cavity during the construction period. This can cause a bridge to be formed across the cavity from the outer wall to the inner.

2. Maintenance - the wall ties that were used to bind the two walls together were mild steel and this rusts. So slowly the failure of the ties can cause cracks to appear in the walls and this requires the home owner to replace the ties when needed. Cracks in render also tend to go un-repaired and re-pointing is not undertaken when needed. These issues mean that water gets trapped in the outer wall, thus making the chances of water ingress across the structure more likely.

3. Improvements - many cavities have been insulated over the past couple of decades. This fills the cavity with material that can cause a bridge to form between the two walls. Some materials that have been used in the past have also failed (mostly foams) and these have slumped to the bottom of the cavity in a bit of a mess. It should also be noted that many houses are not fully filled - companies do not like filling around doors, windows, pipes etc as their products can escape through cracks etc and they don't want the hassle of tidying up, so many cavity walls are not very well insulated.

I have come across a number of houses recently where the wall ties and the use of cement renders has caused damp to find its way into what should be a damp free house. Basically what has happened is that the cracks associated with ties and lack of regular maintenance have let water into the outer wall and trapped it there. On mainly westward facing walls this moisture has then either tracked across ties, through or across the top of the insulation, thus reaching the inner wall. The lack of ventilation in the cavity means that the inner wall then gets wet and stays wet (only drying to the internal space).

So just be aware that cavity walls can be damp and that the fundamental remedies to problem might involve:

Re-rendering or at least repairing the 'blown' render

Re-pointing where required

Removal of old cavity wall insulation and potential insulation replacement once outer wall has been repaired

Replacement wall ties (with new stainless steel ties)

So if you are looking to buy a house make sure that you test all the walls (including upper stories) for damp.

There are of course other issues like insulation at wall plate levels, tying in ceiling and wall insulation etc.

Please remember that we can provide an independent damp report for you that will highlight areas of damp, their root cause and appropriate remedies rather than the standard tick box approach that is taken by the more mainstream industry.

Check your extractors

A problem that is easy to miss

Many homes now have bathroom extractors that feed through the loft space and out through vents. This system has some advantages over systems that go straight through walls, but having just been in a house in Penarth there are some disadvantages as well!

The vents are commonly joined together using tape, but this tape is subject to a wide range of pressures and temperatures which can cause some cheap tapes to fail. What sort of tape do you think is used for most joint sealing? High quality tapes designed for high temperature range conditions or standard duct tape?

So this is the problem, What happens if the tubes that are meant to be feeding warm moist air to the eave or roof vent are actually feeding this same air into the cold loft space? Lots of moist air condensing on the cold felt and timbers.

The rafters in the attic I was in were very damp and it felt very muggy, so drastic action to reduce the amount of water in the structure is needed. Having put the extracts back together I also noticed that the well insulated loft space had been done in such a manner to block the eave ventilation. So this had compounded the problem.

Ventilation is often seen as the antithesis of energy efficiency, but actually you need good ventilation to keep buildings and people healthy. There is a balance to be struck. Maintaining good levels of ventilation is as important as creating an insulated fabric, especially in older buildings where the actual breathable fabric may also need its own ventilation to keep dry.

With most housing problems it comes down to maintenance and being aware of how your building works. Neither of these two factors are glamorous, but they are both essential if we are to have a healthy built environment. So check your vents, especially in areas where you rarely go.

One last note - try to fix vents on elevations that are away from the prevailing winds - the wind will just blow the louvres shut and make it ineffective. You might also think about alternatives to the £20 standard vents. How about one with a cover? Or one that is controlled by humidity levels, or potentially the ultimate where you have a room based heat recovery system!

A trip around the block in Canton Cardiff

Part of my walk around the block

We are based in a residential part of Cardiff. Lots of solid walled properties and also some newer infill houses with cavities. Despite the ravages of time that have been served out by well meaning but not necessary best informed builders and DIYers, it still has great character - lots of different colours, features etc all based on a common theme.

All looks rosy then and in fact it is an area in demand as far as estate agents are concerned. Can you feel a but.... coming on??

Letting my casual eye wander across the urban landscape I did spot lots of very common issues affecting the houses, so here goes:

No end of cement render (should be lime based and ideally the mix I advocate)
Cracked render everywhere (letting rain into the structure)
Re-pointing with cement (rather than lime)
Damp proof course injected into bricks (should be into the mortar - if used at all)
Damp proof course holes not filled (thus letting water into the structure above the DPC)
Ground levels clearly above the internal floor level (there should be a 15cm difference between inside and out)
Blocked vents for the floor (suspended floors require good draughts under them)
Paint peeling off of dress stonework (should be left bare, or painted with a breathable paint eg. silicate)
Guttering broken, warped, joints snapped, loose downpipes, .....
Window seals broken (they need to be checked and repaired regularly)
Phone and internet lines roughly drilled through walls leaving holes around them (should be sealed up properly)
PV panels covered in pigeon poo (aerials need to be moved to remove the temptation!)
Letter boxes broken (should be repaired to ensure better airtightness)

And that was a quick 15 minute stroll along three streets!!

Correct maintenance is really important with buildings otherwise we shall see these houses slowly degrade. In the heart of the city we need a well informed population, but who apart from us is trying in Cardiff??

Definition of Economic

There was a great presentation at a Wales Zero / Low Carbon Hub meeting this year and it mentioned the original definition for Economic. It comes from the Latin Oeconomicus and means management of the household. This is obviously quite different from our current meaning based almost purely on finances.


In the wider sense it is easy to extrapolate 'household' to 'world' given the current state of globalism. So do Economics need to be purely about money? After all, as the picture above illustrates, what would we prioritise about our homes? Probably:

Cleanliness

Comfort

Health

We probably would not want:

Disruption

Mess

Stress

Conflict

Yet, we are encouraged to behave in our global household in a manner that pursues material gain and money. How disconnected we have become from what we fundamentally know to be important (the power of advertising and corporations eh!). The pursuit of 'monetary wealth' adds to our carbon emissions and hence will help bring about future chaos predicted by the IPCC.
The IPCC state that we have to reduce carbon emissions by around a 80% reduction by 2050 if we are to avoid a >2 degree rise in global temperatures (this is seen as a tipping point in the climate). So in theory we have to reduce the carbon emissions of our 1.3 million households in Wales by 80% by 2050. This means radical improvements at a rate of around 36,000 houses per annum (in Wales we have the ARBED programme and this huge 'improvement' project is only tackling around 1,000 per annum!)

As you may have gathered from reading this blog, getting reductions of 80% in emissions from older terraces is just not viable. It has been done with some TSB Retrofit for the Future projects but they are really expensive and also rely on people living in the buildings in an efficient manner. So what can we do? After all, doing nothing will just help to create an uneconomic situation (think of the issues and costs associated with a >2 degree rise in temperature: mass migration, water shortages, crop failure, flooding, forest fires, sea level rises, ocean acidification, disease spread etc). I think that we are limited to a few options.

1. Improve our homes to as good a condition as possible (this may only be 20-40% and may be achieved through simple draught proofing, insulation, efficient boilers etc)
2. Maintain our homes (check rainwater goods, repair silicone seals, repair cracks etc)
3. Use lower energy materials (wood fibre, recycled insulation, lime etc)
4. Service infrastructure annually (boilers, mechanical vents)
5. Install renewable energy generation where possible (PV panels are now much more affordable and provide a good rate of return financially)
6. Manage energy use wisely (for example only heat areas that you need to a temperature that is as low as feasible)
7. Think about how we use energy and what we really need rather than what we want
8. Reduce water consumption with some simple and cheap retrofit devices
9. Change your energy supply over to a green tariff

We have the potential for greater impact outside of our homes though. How about?

1. Walk and cycle wherever you can
2. Use public transport
3. Buy things that you actually need rather than what you want
4. Invest in quality goods rather than throwaway goods
5. Holiday close to home
6. Only travel when you need to
7. Buy foods that are in season (in the UK) or if not grown in the UK when in season in the northern hemisphere
8. Grow your own food at home / allotment
9. Get an electric car (second hand electric cars are now well under £10,000 for a 5 door)
10. Invest in some community renewable projects
11. Keep fit

It is essential that we practice old school 'economics' in our lives and this means both looking after our own households, but also the our wider home of the planet. The time to act is now so that we can all help to avoid the costs, heartaches and resource demands of an unsustainable, uneconomic future.

Do your bit and do think about your children / grandchildren. It is worth it economically, just maybe not financially in the immediate future. That is our choice to make.

Why in Wales do we use plastic guttering?

One of the many problems with poorly fitted and cheap rainwater systems

You would think that given that we live in a lovely green and fresh land that we would know that having a reliable, effective and sightly rainwater system is a good idea. But no, we have been lured by the cheapness and ubiquity of black plastic as a rainwater handling material.

In this world you tend to get what you pay for and guttering is no exception when it comes down to the basics. Plastic uPVC guttering might look cheap and cheerful, but it is anything but cheerful! Common problems with plastic are that:

It expands and contracts more than any other guttering material, so it breaks its seals, comes loose, warps and is generally rubbish.

It degrades under UV light, so it gradually becomes brittle and so can break

It is not very impact resistance, so any knock can crack or break it

But it is cheap! But is it?

The cost of the products is cheap, but replacing it when it is broken is not. So most people just don't bother, especially if it is a private rental property. So then the rain continues to spill over, soak the wall, .... and lo and behold in a few months the house is starting to get damp, or renders start to fail etc. Getting these types of problems sorted is starting to get very expensive.

I am a great believer in saving money. So what's on my house? Lindab Steel Guttering. Yes it was more expensive than even a 'good' plastic system, but it has not leaked, failed, cracked for over 10 years. It has withstood the weight of the snow without a groan, it has seen hot summer storms without creaking or warping, major deluges without overflowing and it still looks new. It is great when you can fit and forget. No worries about repair work, borrowing ladders and wobbling at the top. The lack of worry is worth half the cost on its own!

It is worth noting that some major landlords have seen the light, Cardiff Council for example only fit Lindab steel guttering. They know that it makes sense as it will save them huge amounts in the long run, both on reactive maintenance contracts, but also on planned maintenance when they have to go into repair water ingress damage etc.

Oh and by the way we sell the stuff!! However, this is because we think that it is good, not because we make a little profit out of it.

Retrofit Guidance Tool - DECC Approved

The STBA have launched the brand new site Responsible Retrofit that can be found at http://responsible-retrofit.org/. This is the new home of the DECC funded Responsible Retrofit Knowledge Centre and Guidance Wheel.

This is the culmination of years of research from groups like English Heritage, Heritage Scotland, National Trust, CADW etc. However, don't be fooled by this 'heritage' tag. What this research has been aimed at is the missing link between the mainstream construction industry and our conservation industry. So if you live in a pre 1919 building that is not listed / in a conservation area etc this is the site for you! This means that in Wales it is essential reading for the owners of around 35% of housing stock. Mind you, England isn't too far behind and even Scotland and the North of Ireland have around 20-25% of their housing built prior to WW1.

The system works in a simple way. You let the system know what type of house you have and then what you are intending to do. It will then raise a series of RISKS. This is important as it is not definitive given that every house is different. So it can let you know whether what you are planning carries any major risks and also what other effects your planned work might have on other aspects of the house. As you might have gathered from reading this blog, one thing tends to effect another and this at least highlights the linkages.

Once you have looked at each measure it produces a report for you and also takes you to the knowledge centre where more information and links are given that direct you to research papers, case studies etc.

I sincerely hope that this resource will be the fundamental guidance tool for the refurbishment industry. So, have a look and get acquainted with the resources that it pulls together. It is worth noting that DECC funded this piece of work and so it does stand a chance of being something that the industry will have to comply to. Fingers crossed!

Common re-pointing problem

I was walking around yesterday waiting for my car to be fixed and being in the 'trade' it just struck me how many stone walls in Cardiff have been re-pointed using cement. Almost every house (that wasn't covered in cement render - don't get me started!!) had cement in a similar condition to the photo. The hard cement has been placed over the old lime mortar and is now just falling away, looking awful, whilst still managing to increase the moisture content in the wall.

The whole process is ruinous in a number of ways:

1. Most importantly the mortar used should be a lime based mortar (ideally with a stone dust aggregate), the cement used just helps to trap moisture in the wall and this leads to a host a other damp problems internally

2. Any re-pointing should involve the removal of the old mortar. Just placing mortar over the top means that any loose mortar underneath just weakens the whole repair. It also means that that mortar doesn't bind to the stone / brick properly, it then just falls off looking cheap and like you just don't care about your property

3. The mortar here has been placed so that it juts out where it should be level to the stones / bricks. If it is protruding it is more likely to 'catch' rainwater and bring it into the walls again giving yourself damp problems

So, when you are paying a lot of money to have a whole wall re-pointed (most of the cost is in labour and scaffolding), why not get the materials right and save yourself the cost of a) having to have it done again within a couple of years, and b) having to deal with the subsequent damp that it is likely to attract into the house.

Spot the Pigeon Problem

Where we are in Cardiff a local Housing Association has been busy installing PV onto their houses. Brilliant, just the ticket. The residents get to use the free energy created during the day, the HA gets the FiT payments and the planet gets a slight reprieve from a reduction in CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere.

There is though a slight issue that I noticed while glancing up at their handiwork. The clue is in the picture.

The workforce had installed the panels underneath an aerial, and being a seaside city we have a large number of gulls as well as pigeons. A nice secure aerial is a perfect place for a breather from scavenging the streets and whilst there, why not relieve yourself before heading off again! Consequently the areas, of the lovely new panels, below the aerials are covered with bird poo. This has a terrible effect on energy production, so all the benefits that should be accruing for the HA and tenants are being ruined by nature, just as we are trying to do something for it! So when designing your system think about factors like aerials so that you don't suffer this issue.

If you have PV fitted already, remember to check that they are clean and free from bird poo, leaf drop etc and also that any potential overshading issues are dealt with (for example the PV on our garage has a Wisteria growing on the wall next to it, so I have to cut back shoots etc during the growing season.)

Remember that PV is great for being 'low' maintenance, but it is not 'no' maintenance!