Incorrect install of air vents in Charlesland

hoags

Recently received a Notification of Hazard / Non-conformance from Gas Networks Ireland that the external air vents in rear sitting room were not compliant and needed to be replaced. This was in accordance with Annex E I.S. 813 Domestic Gas Installations (2014).

As there were only two builders in Charlesland, this must mean at last half the houses are not compliant. Anyone else have this experience?

2011

hoags wrote: »

As there were only two builders in Charlesland, this must mean at last half the houses are not compliant.

Not necessarily.

Atlantic Dawn

Would authorised installer of gas heating sytem in the house not be required to give final sign off that they were happy with it?

recedite

Have you replaced the original plastic louvre covers with adjustable ones?
Or sellotaped over them to keep out the cold draught?
There is supposed to be 2 vents, one high and one low, and both 100% open 24/7.
This because of the flueless gas fire and fake chimney situation.

HappyDaze007

I have to say the vents in my house were not installed correctly..

Edit: no duct in the cavity.

Annasopra

The vents in mine were unaligned for years.

Maudi

This is a vent from a house in charlesland..i took off the inside vent to see what was going on?

Charlie-Bravo

Context Maudi. Not every room needs a vent, plus a vent might be elsewhere. Give us a picture of the whole wall please.

Maudi

astrofluff wrote: »

Context Maudi. Not every room needs a vent, plus a vent might be elsewhere. Give us a picture of the ....... .............in a first floor bedroom in c.land.that had absolutely no other venting i lremoved the open/close builder installed plastic vent cover on an exterior wall to discover a concrete block wall..no sleeve/hole at all..stuck on the outside there was a corrosponding galvanised exterior vent cemented onto the exterior wall...

RosieJoe

Maudi wrote: »

astrofluff wrote: »

Context Maudi. Not every room needs a vent, plus a vent might be elsewhere. Give us a picture of the ....... .............in a first floor bedroom in c.land.that had absolutely no other venting i lremoved the open/close builder installed plastic vent cover on an exterior wall to discover a concrete block wall..no sleeve/hole at all..stuck on the outside there was a corrosponding galvanised exterior vent cemented onto the exterior wall...

:eek:

HappyDaze007

Maudi wrote: »

astrofluff wrote: »

Context Maudi. Not every room needs a vent, plus a vent might be elsewhere. Give us a picture of the ....... .............in a first floor bedroom in c.land.that had absolutely no other venting i lremoved the open/close builder installed plastic vent cover on an exterior wall to discover a concrete block wall..no sleeve/hole at all..stuck on the outside there was a corrosponding galvanised exterior vent cemented onto the exterior wall...

Seriously though, how badly are these houses built...?

Lantus

All major estates suffer these issues. An estate near me has numerous houses where the vents were installed wrong. One or more are missing and its only discovered by accident.

Your gas can be cut off unless the correction is made. Its really easy to install but will make the house freezing in winter. I turned the gas off to my fire and sealed the vents. Saved hundreds in gas.

Maudi

HappyDaze007 wrote: »

Maudi wrote: »

Seriously though, how badly are these houses built...?

In fairness HappyDaze .the are not 'that ' bad built ..but they let themselves down on stupid niggley stuff..

2011

Helping to do up a sitting room in Charlesland house at the moment only to find no insulation on the outside wall whatsoever! The window, ESB meter box and outside vents on these walls were never properly sealed, we could see daylight round them once the slab was removed. No wonder the room was so cold and there were so many drafts in the winter.
50mm warm board now being installed.



The installation of vents in this house is appalling. No vent to the outside in the upstairs bathroom, the extract for the hob is ducted all the way to the outside wall but no vent installed!
Shocking build quality.

Charlie-Bravo

Different parts of the estates were built by different builders - there is also a mix of timber frame and block built. I can tell from your one photo which part Charlesland that house is in. What is interesting is that you say there was no insulation. We're talking about 12 year old plus design with cavity walls where there is brickwork outside. There's likely going to be insulation in the cavity (but alas, the detail may not be as good as today's standards). Some of these posts are scaremongering people into thinking problems are really bad which I don't believe is the case. Don't get me wrong, some tidying/sealing of minor gaps at the time would have been desirable (that's just a can of expanding foam at the end of the day).

2011

astrofluff wrote: »

What is interesting is that you say there was no insulation.

The other issue is the lack of sealing around the window and plastic boxes on the brickwork for the TV, phone and ESB meter. In the winter this was particularly noticeable as it allowed the wind to get through the wall and behind the plasterboard. Cold air would then escape from around the skirting boards, above the ceiling and from around socket outlets. The wall was about as effective as a net at stopping the wind, making the room uncomfortably cold in the winter. Having two vents on the outside wall did not help much either. Removing the gas fire meant that we could block up the lower vent.

Some of these posts are scaremongering people into thinking problems are really bad which I don't believe is the case.

But they are really bad in some cases. In the case in the photo the house was extremely cold in the winter despite high heating bills. Having said that it is possible to rectify (at a cost), which is exactly what we are doing. I not suggesting that all of the houses share these problems. As you correctly point out different homes were built by entirely different companies and in some cases very different methods of construction were used.

There are no excuses for not installing a vent in the main bathroom. This issue has yet to be resolved

recedite

astrofluff wrote: »

We're talking about 12 year old plus design with cavity walls where there is brickwork outside. There's likely going to be insulation in the cavity

Well, no. The insulation is supposed to be 60mm mineral wool fitted against the inside face of the blocks you see in the photo, fitted between timber battens. Where the front wall is brick faced there is a very small unfilled cavity between the brick and the block, which is probably best left as a draughty ventilated gap to keep the bricks dry, although some houses in The Wood have had it pumped with retrofit insulation.

Maudi

I retro fit 50mm thermal boards in charlesland almost exactly as the op does..and what he says is completely true..the wall insulation details is disgraceful..vents are ill fitted..often just filling up the cavity with cold air..i took a plastic interior ventt off recently and behind it was block!! No hole..!! Oddly it did however have a corresponding exterior vent..

2011

I don't want a few examples of poor workmanship to drum up mass hysteria. Besides there is a far better place for this discussion:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=876

Charlie-Bravo

Cheers 2011.

Please bare in mind that both the Wood and the Court relate to a 2001 planning application, and where buildings are substantially completed by end of 2005, need only comply with 1997 Part L regs! There's been massive changes to these regulations in 2002, 2007 and 2011 so it's to be expected that during such a build phase they wouldn't be as good as a house with planning in 2002 as it would have to comply with the better regs for that time! The devil is in the detail unfortunately.

Charlie-Bravo

recedite wrote: »

Well, no. The insulation is supposed to be 60mm mineral wool fitted against the inside face of the blocks you see in the photo, fitted between timber battens. Where the front wall is brick faced there is a very small unfilled cavity between the brick and the block, which is probably best left as a draughty ventilated gap to keep the bricks dry, although some houses in The Wood have had it pumped with retrofit insulation.

That picture has a block wall and probably an outer brick leaf with a cavity. The cavity insulation is probably 50 or 60mm PIR board. The u-value calc is probably touch and go :rolleyes: