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Windows & Door fitting

New doors no cavity closers timber frame house help!

Anonymous user 21/02/2024 - 2.30 PM

We have a timber frame house with brick skin. Our French doors were getting damp on the plastered reveals we believe to be cold bridging as the doors are in the outer skin. We hired a builder to put in new doors and open up the reveal to insulate and help against cold bridging. We have been working during installation and not been able to check every detail but he has removed the original timber cavity closer, shoved 4 inches of Celotex into the cavity and closed up the reveal with plasterboard and plastered. When I asked him did he fit a cavity closer he asked me to define what I meant as he hasn’t heard of them. Builder for 40 years 🤦🏻‍♀️ There’s a huge draught coming round the skirting and it’s freezing. Is our only option to hire someone else to cut it al away again, pull out insulation and retrofit a cavity closer? Can they be retrofitted?

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

4 Answers

Esskay Homes

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Bracknell

Yes it is possible. Better to have someone double check and see if there is an interim solution than the rip out.

Answered21 January 2024

Millbeck Masonry & Construction

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keighley

At least he’s put insulation in & hopefully with a vertical dpc to stop the original problem. You would still board & plaster a cavity closure. Which isnt has well insulated has 100 mm of celotex. You don’t know what he’s done really. Remove reveal skirting & look for signs of gaps . Then seal up. Hope this helps

Answered21 January 2024

Cos

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Aylesbury

YES! That would be the best thing to do! in the same way it cannot guarantee 100%

Answered21 January 2024

Anonymous user

The doors should never be fitted between the brick reveals ,even though it’s a timber framed house ,when the house was being built ,all frames would have a 50x50mm baton fixed around the outer frame ,then first fixed to the the face of the building ,were there would have been a breathable membrane enveloping the house ,then the brick outer skin would have been built ,with vertical Dpc to stop damp or water ingress ,if the frames which would be fitted wrong are between the brick reveals , the frames have been measured wrong ,no need for any insulation which will not cure the problem ,the frames need to go behind the brickwork ,like a normal conventional build , a very easy fix for someone that knows what they are doing ,I also never heard of a cavity closure ,u maybe mean a cavity tray ,no need for that ,if you don’t get it sorted ,please send me pics and I will send you a detail drawing of how to fix it ,I hope this helps .

Answered13 February 2024