Air tightness in A2 rated house

mitra

Hello folks,

We moved into a new build A2 rated house in the middle of June. I feel we might have an insulation issue. So posting in this forum, if this is not the right forum, please route it to the correct one.

After moving in, I noticed that a section of floor on one of the corners in the kitchen where we have a kitchen counter & dishwasher was colder than the rest of the floor. I mentioned it to my wife but she declined my claim. This was particularly noticeable when it was windy outside. I could even feel constant air hitting my feet when I stood there. So I decided to pull out the board covering the bottom of the kitchen counter to see what was going on. I could find a gap between the drywall and the floor, from which the air stream was blowing inside. At times, it was so strong that even the flame on the lighter went off.

I had a foreman to fix it and he mentioned that there shouldn't have been a gap in the first place, but he told that there will be gap in the roof for air circulation between the wall. I still see some gaps around the wall, but i'm not sure there is draught. Now the temprature is dropped a bit, i feel home is not holding heat and kitchen seems to be always bit colder in the morning.

• Is it true that there will be a cavity in the wall to circulate air?
• How are these houses are called air tight when they are not? isn't circulating air removes the heat around the wall?
• Isn't BER assessment reveal these issues like draughts, heat leaks?

Attaching a video & pic for reference.

rdhma

Have you had a survey done? Probably about €400 but if there are obvious snags already, the surveyor may find more issues for the builder to fix. A surveyor is not the same as a BER assessor.

mitra

Yes got the snag done by an engineer, but I don't think it included an airtightness check or anything like that. All issues reported were minor issues, i was told there was noting major.

reubenreuben

Shouldn't be draughty like that. If it was 100 yr old maybe. Get onto builder.

10-10-20

Is this a timber frame house? Don't let anybody come in and just fill that gap with expanding foam as it won't address where the gap is in the insulation envelope.

homewardbound11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122654986#Comment_122654986

What a great user name 10-10-20.
Good question . Depending on timber frame or block construction either could have this problem . Both are potentially a strip down of the plasterboard and redoing the air tightness . Hopefully it’s just a bad hole cut for waste pipes after the airtightness was done .

MicktheMan

Is it true that there will be a cavity in the wall to circulate air?

How are these houses are called air tight when they are not? isn't circulating air removes the heat around the wall?

Isn't BER assessment reveal these issues like draughts, heat leaks?

1. Is it true that there will be a cavity in the wall to circulate air? Whether there is a cavity or not, there should be no leakage of air from this space into or out of the conditioned space (heated space).
2. How are these houses are called air tight when they are not? The required air tightness standard in our building regulations is in fact poor enough to allow this level of air leakage in buildings. so it is quite likely that your house would pass the air tightness test as specified in the regs, believe it or not.
3. Isn't BER assessment reveal these issues like draughts, heat leaks? See No 2 answer above.

My concern would be the issue you've found in the kitchen is repeated throughout your house. A telltale is if your house cools relatively quickly when heating is turned off especially on windy days. The only way to know what's going on is an air tightness test with resulting practical solutions depending on findings.

The issue at play here is that our current building regulations have very high/exacting insulation requirements (conductive heat losses) and very poor air tightness requirements (convective heat losses). Lucky we don't live in a relatively mild but windy climate eh!!!

Rant over.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122658031#Comment_122658031

And a fine rant it is too. No word of a lie.

Is this type of feedback being passed back up the chain and being looked at, or is it a case of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil..?

MicktheMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122658142#Comment_122658142

I don't know tbh (poli-thicks was never my thing😉) but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the powers that be are fully aware of the issues and there wasn't significant lobbying by our leading (ahem!) insulation manufacturers and other vested interests. And besides, sure aren't we installing loadza heatpumps, solar panels and insulation; why would we be bothered addressing silly stuff like the real heat loss causes (air leakage) for?

The whole implementation of the EPBD back in 2007 using our BER/Deap methodology is fundamentally flawed, yet has become the cornerstone of decision making since. SEAI 100% own this fiasco. Nothing will change (and more likely will get worse) until this is recognised, BER scrapped and a proper method developed that is actually fit for purpose. I'm not holding my breath!

mickdw

In a housing estate, the builder only has to test some of the builds whereas a self builder has to do the airtightness test on every build.

The requirement is very easy to meet but I'd imagine your build does not reach the standard

Biker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122658373#Comment_122658373

That clause was scrapped in the 2019 regs. All new builds are required to have an airtightness test carried out. On another point, it is common practice by some builders to demand that the tester produces a test result between 3 and 5m3/hr/m2 at 50pa so they can use natural ventilation in the houses. I myself have been asked to do this but declined the request.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122658532#Comment_122658532

Yes but I've been seen builds claiming compliance with old part L up to very recently due to planning application date and builds being substantially constructed back in 2020.

mitra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122654986#Comment_122654986

Yes it is a timber frame house.

The exact thing happened. A guy from construction company came in and filled the gap with expanding foam. He claims that house has gone through all the tests and has passed with 3 points on air tightness.

I’ve asked all the questions I could possibly ask and he says there will be some air and if there’s a gap I’ll be pushed out from the gap when there’s wind outside. I know it doesn’t make any sense but unfortunately I’m not an engineer to confirm what he claims is wrong 😓

mitra

yes this happens, it does loose the heat quiet quickly. House is in west, close to coast, so i’d say its windy almost 300 days a year

Biker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122665878#Comment_122665878

Request a copy of the airtightness test report from the engineer. This will inform you of the result and should highlight the leakage areas.

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122666646#Comment_122666646

I don't believe they are entitled to provide it as they are not the client.

Probably falsified

OP, have you stated the house construction type as asked?

I have been solving theses issue for 30 years but need to know wall construction