Missing weep Vents

[Rmichie]

 

I had posted this in general construction but maybe better here

 

Hi 

 

We have noticed that we are missing weep vents where we have a cavity barrier on the gable end of our house. We have them everywhere else that we have a cavity barrier round the property. Is this likely to be a big issue to fix? And indeed do we need to have this fixed?

 

On a separate note  - all our weep vents project around 35mm from the rendered finish on our property - it doesn't look very good - is there a standard that they should meet? I had assumed they should be flush with the wall. 

 

Thank you. 

 

[BadgerBadger]

Is it a stepped cavity tray? We're using preformed units for our stepped tray and they have integrated weep vents in the bed joint which might not be immediately obvious once installed.

[Rmichie]

No I don’t think so - we have them on every other wall of the property. I think it’s more that they have forgotten to put them in. 

[ETC]

45 minutes ago, Rmichie said:

 

 

I had posted this in general construction but maybe better here

 

Hi 

 

We have noticed that we are missing weep vents where we have a cavity barrier on the gable end of our house. We have them everywhere else that we have a cavity barrier round the property. Is this likely to be a big issue to fix? And indeed do we need to have this fixed?

 

On a separate note  - all our weep vents project around 35mm from the rendered finish on our property - it doesn't look very good - is there a standard that they should meet? I had assumed they should be flush with the wall. 

 

Thank you. 

 

I would assume that if you have a cavity barrier to the perimeter of the dwelling at first floor level that there would be a cavity tray above the cavity barrier.

 

If there is a cavity barrier and if there is a cavity tray then you should have bedweeps at approximately 900mm centres.

[Rmichie]

Thank you for your reply 

 

is this a big issue to not have them?

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Rmichie said:

is this a big issue to not have them?

That depends. If the wall is brickwork with poorly jointed perpends (vertical joints), and if it's an exposed wall in heavy wind-driven rain, you can get a constant flow of water down the inside face of the external leaf and looking for somewhere to go - which could be a big problem. If it's rendered and sheltered then it's unlikely to be a problem.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Mike

[Rmichie]

The wall is rendered but it is exposed - the house is in Scotland and we regularly get high winds and an awful lot of rain. 

[Rmichie]

[Rmichie]

Here’s an image of our weep vents and how much they project from the building 

[TonyT]

They are the same length as a block/brick is thick( without extension pieces which you do get)

So for brick finished walls should be flush

for render probably easier to protrude a few mm past the finish, as long as they are all consistent 

[Rmichie]

Hi Tony , 

 

so some of them project 30mm some are flush  - they all vary in how much they project out  going a long where I presume the cavity barrier is on the same length of wall. 
On a similar property they are all flush the entire length of the wall. 

[JackofAll]

Have never seen them fitted to any houses that I've watched being built here on this side of the pond, be it one off or housing estates, well in our area that is. Laziness? lack of knowledge? Are they essential?

[TonyT]

Just the usual lack of care / poor workmanship 

[Brickie]

A bit of dialogue between the Brickies & the renderers would’ve avoided this,but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I tend to ask the renderer how they want them,or leave them loose so they can be rendered around & then pushed flush to the finish. So long as they are free from mortar build up behind them,they should still perform their function as they are.