Changing the Script

When I was trying to get cavity wall insulation in my house I started by phoning a cavity wall insulation firm. Well it seemed like a good place to start. The man told me that they could do my house for £450.00 but if I went through my energy supplier I would get it a lot cheaper because of a government grant.
I phoned my electricity company and the guy asked me for the age of the property.
"1905" I told him.
"Ah sorry that's too old."
"What do you mean too old?"
"It won't have cavity walls. They didn't start putting cavity walls in until around 1936"
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"Because it is written on my sheet"
"Well I can assure you that my house has got cavity walls"
"That will be very unusual"
"No it won't there are thousands of them in my area all built before the 1st World War and all with cavities.
"No they won't be proper cavity walls"
"What sort will they be?"
"I don't know but we need 50mm cavities ".
"Mine are two inches which is 50mm"

After a little more persuading he took my details and told me a surveyor would be in touch. Nobody called and after a couple of months I called back. There was no record of my call so I started again. It was all going so well until we reached the question about the age of the property.
"Oh no sorry that is too old"
"You are going to tell me that cavity walls were invented in 1936 by a man named McCavity."
"I don't know who invented them but 1936 is the oldest property we do."
"Look I don't want to appear pushy but I have cavity walls and I want them insulated so can't you just forget the date and fill in the form."
"It's no good the computer will reject it."
"So tell the computer 1936."
"I can't. These calls are recorded."
"Yes I know, for training purposes."
"Yes."
"So why don't they tell the people they are training with these calls that cavity walls go back to just after the turn of the century? "
"I don't know the answer, I can't help you any further. I'm sorry. If there is nothing else......"
I left it for a few months and called them back
"Age of property?"
"1936"
"OK, how many bedrooms does it have."
"Is there a right and wrong answer here because now I've got to level two in this game I don't want to blow it?"
"We just price the job on the number of bedrooms the surveyor will check".
That turned out not to be the case. In fact the surveyor didn't even turn up and I was beginning not to care.
I was worn down by the whole process. I left it a few months and in a fit of enthusiasm and annoyance I called up. The man explained that they were busy and I would just have to be patient. I thought I had been but he means more patient but I was grateful that my name was still on the list. Eventually a surveyor turned up.
"This house looks old when was it built?"
"1905"
"That's too old. It says here 1936"
"A mistake probably but don't worry it has cavity walls and they are the right size, it is a perfect house. It is crying out for insulation. My neighbour has cavity insulation in his 50mm cavity and they were built in the same year".
"OK I'll put it through but don't blame me if they can't do it."
The guys that eventually came and did the job were unphased by the age of the property. In fact they told me that they preferred older houses because the mortar is sand and lime so it is easier to drill.
"We wish they were all like this"
"Well I can tell you why you don't get more of them". I said.
In truth after all the fuss and delays it was worth the wait. The house is a lot warmer, especially on windy nights when the wind used to whistle around the cavities and found its way in through the small gaps around the joist ends and up through the floor boards in the bedrooms. Stopping that air movement is really a large part of the saving. Cavity walls were after all initially designed to trap air in between two skins of brickwork so, in theory, they should form an insulating layer but they could never make them airtight without mastics and neoprene seals. The air could still run in and out through shrinkage gaps around windows and tiny gaps in the mortar around pipes etc. Filling them with insulation simply stops the air moving around so much and creates micro pockets of trapped air.

All insulation works in this way and it only works when it is dry. The thing that concerns many people about filling cavities is that damp can travel across the insulation and this needs to be considered especially on walls exposed to driving rain. It hasn't happened on my house and it hasn't happened on my neighbours. The guys that pump in the insulation tell me it is very rare to get problems. They shared my view that the house was well built and the age isn't an issue but I had to lie to get it done.

I wonder how many pensioners, in dire need of cavity insulation to help them reduce their winter fuel bills, have been rejected by their energy suppliers because their property is 'too old'. Unless they happen to have some knowledge of building construction they would probably take the word of the kid in the call centre and resign themselves to the fact that it is another one of life's little treats that they don't quite qualify for. And the kid in the call centre is just working from a script but I get the feeling that somebody needs to change that script.


Roger Bisby
www.selfbuilder.net