Trusted Basement, Foundation & Crawlspace Waterproofing Contractors in Burnley

Cavity wall ties were introduced into the construction of the walls in order to tie the inner and outer leafs of the wall together and to add additional strength and wind resistance to the property walls. On the older cavity walls with thicker internal walls the wall ties were introduced during construction in order to give a higher wind resistance to the outer leaf as well as preventing the outer wall from buckling or failing under high wind loads. With later cavity wall constructed buildings the wall ties were designed and introduced so that they would mutually support and transfer the applied lateral and / or vertical loads through to the foundations of a property. If cavity wall ties do not exist then the outer leaf wall may fail under wind loads causing the inner leaf wall to become unstable under vertical loads. It is important to remember that the wall ties should be flexible enough to allow for the differential movement that occurs between the inner and outer wall leaves by settling and thermal movement. Differential movement generally decreases with time. Within buildings that are 20 years or more it is generally accepted that future movement will be minimal.

The new cavity wall ties are made from stainless steel and are inserted into the brickwork, through drilled holes, or by removing individual bricks, at set intervals. The new stainless steel wall ties are secured to the inner and outer wall using various methods. The most common methods used are mechanical, cementitious grouting, polyester resin and epoxy resin.

The original cavity wall ties have to be isolated from the outer leaf in order to prevent them from corroding any further and causing more damage. The isolation works are carried out by locating the original wall ties with a specially calibrated metal detector, opening up the mortar joints at the tie location area, and then physically removing or encapsulating the tie ends.

Condensation always occurs when humid air is cooled before water starts to condense. The more water held in the air, the higher the temperature at which condensation starts, and in very humid conditions condensation will be found even in quite warm surfaces.

Curing severe condensation can be complicated, because it is temperature, humidity and ventilation and also because the source of the water in the air is often unavoidable we cannot usually cut down on things like washing and cooking and definitely not breathing. There are three main areas of attack, and all should be looked at if you have a problem.