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DIY blown cavity insulation

ElliotP

By ElliotP
in Heat Insulation

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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Iceverge said:

As the place is being demoed have you considered doing the void under the floor. It would be a tremendous energy saver and suspect would confirm my suspicion that timbers on the warm side of insulation will not rot. 

 

What about under concrete block & beam? That could be a game changer for me.

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ElliotP Member

ElliotP

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On 18/12/2022 at 22:59, andyscotland said:

@ElliotP brilliant achievement!

 

Would you be happy to share where you sourced the beads - were they just generic "packing" beads or something more specific?

 

Sorry I didn't manage to check in over Christmas.  Had a couple of people ask now so I may as well link this (hopefully it's allowed).  I used these guys:

https://ecclestons.com/shop/?filter=true&product_cat=polystyrene-bean-bag-bead-fill

 

They're in Birmingham. I managed to secure a little discount on a bulk order compared to that price.  it was an additional £200 ish delivery for a full LWB transit (35 bags they say they can squeeze in).  Would be cheaper obviously if you're closer and/or have your own van.

 

I shopped around a little, but didn't spend too much time on it, possibly cheaper elsewhere.  I made sure what I got was fire retardant, although I didn't check in too much detail if it was the right spec. 

 

On 18/12/2022 at 22:22, Iceverge said:

 

I commend you on your ingenuity. Bravo. 

 

As the place is being demoed have you considered doing the void under the floor. It would be a tremendous energy saver and suspect would confirm my suspicion that timbers on the warm side of insulation will not rot. 

 

I did consider it - but the cost of beads would be astronomical I think (relative to the cost I was aiming for at least given this is a temporary job).   If it was going to be a permanent or longer term I probably would have done it - it would have been easy enough to fire them in through the vents and/or though some 20mm holes through the floor in places.  Would need to research the rot situation first, but at least if the floor fell through you'd have something nice and soft to land on! 

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andyscotland Regular Member

andyscotland

Posted
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3 hours ago, ElliotP said:

 

Sorry I didn't manage to check in over Christmas.  Had a couple of people ask now so I may as well link this (hopefully it's allowed).  I used these guys:

https://ecclestons.com/shop/?filter=true&product_cat=polystyrene-bean-bag-bead-fill

 

They're in Birmingham. I managed to secure a little discount on a bulk order compared to that price.  it was an additional £200 ish delivery for a full LWB transit (35 bags they say they can squeeze in).  Would be cheaper obviously if you're closer and/or have your own van.

 

I shopped around a little, but didn't spend too much time on it, possibly cheaper elsewhere.  I made sure what I got was fire retardant, although I didn't check in too much detail if it was the right spec. 

 

Brilliant, thanks @ElliotP hope you had a nice warm Christmas!

3 hours ago, ElliotP said:

 

 

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Jinglish Member

Jinglish

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I was thinking to do this myself and found this post. This is exactly what I need to do now and great to see the details of someone else, so well done and thanks for sharing!

 

I have a double detached garage I'm splitting in half with a dividing wall however the envelope of the garage is 100mm brick then 70mm cavity then 100mm block. The current U-Value is around 1.1W/m2K, it would cost too much to insulate on the inside and lose precious volume so I'm going to fill it this way. I already have a leaf blower, compost bin and 32mm swimming pool flex hose. Luckily for me I can access the entire length of the cavity from the inside without having to drill any holes. I only need to insulate 2 walls as the front garage door is being replaced by glazing and the internal partition will be 75mm Kingspan stud wall so I calculate I need 1.6m3 of polystyrene beads. Building control regs says I need to meet 0.7W/m2K threshold for an "existing" element. I calculate it should be 0.39W/m2K after I finish so when the inspector comes round if he does look at this "existing insulated wall done by the previous owner" he will see it's insulated but more so I don't want to waste energy when we heat the new repurposed space.

 

I'll come back and attach some images of my setup maybe in a few months time if I remember :D

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Jinglish Member

Jinglish

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That’s to the OP for the inspiration

 

My setup…

 

>1800W leaf blower
>70mm to 45mm silicone hose

>45mm pipe

>45mm to 32mm silicone hose

>Henry hover adaptor

>2m of 30mm swimming pool hose

>Jubilee clips

 

Hopefully the videos work and says it all.

 

Thanks to this thread I hope my helps others too.

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Jinglish Member

Jinglish

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Posted (edited)

This was just me testing out that my setup works. Sure I'll come back in due course and share the finished result. That wall in the video is going to have a window cut out so I don't want to fill it yet or beads will go everywhere when we do the cut.

 

There are YouTube videos of people in the USA doing the same thing with what appears to be cellulose.

Edited by Jinglish
Missed the cellulose question
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ADLIan Regular Member

ADLIan

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Bear in mind blown in cavity insulation (new build or refurb) is notifiable under the Building Regs. Product should carry 3rd party certification (BBA or similar) and be installed by approved contractor.

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Roger440 Advanced Member

Roger440

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On 13/04/2024 at 11:14, ADLIan said:

Bear in mind blown in cavity insulation (new build or refurb) is notifiable under the Building Regs. Product should carry 3rd party certification (BBA or similar) and be installed by approved contractor.

 

Not sure what this posts contributes. This is about DIY installation.

 

I for one couldnt be less interested in building regs approval in this scenario.

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NandM Regular Member

NandM

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I've been looking into DIY blown-in cellulose and have had a quote from Markham Sheffield to hire a Turbisol 56/2 for £225ex vat. I've asked about additional accessories...but the price for the machine seems quite good. 

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Iceverge Advanced Member

Iceverge

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Thinking about it some more and looking at some you tube videos cellulose is a different beast.

 

It comes in fairly compacted bags and needs the agitation of the blower to fluff it up properly unlike EPS beads. I think the blower hire would be better for this .

 

 

 

 

 

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NandM Regular Member

NandM

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Agreed - i've seen some simple setups using a compressor and vacuum gun that also works really quickly. 

 

I think you could bodge together one of these vacuum guns with a paint spray machine for the pva and have both hooked up into one outlet.

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