Your Energy Survey

To determine whether your home needs an insulation top-up the YES surveyor will need to check inside and outside and therefore the home owner should be present.

Cavity Wall Insulation.

The first thing the surveyor will do is check if the house has cavity walls or not. This is usually determined by looking at the brick pattern. Houses built before the mid 1920's rarely have a cavity wall and therefore can't be insulated by this method.

To check if this important home improvement is already installed in a house with a cavity the surveyor has to look for signs of previous installation points. Occasionally these are hard to see, especially if made a long time ago. In this situation and where there is no known insulation in the walls the surveyor will drill a 12mm hole through the mortar joint of the outer leaf of the wall. A boroscope is then used to look round inside the cavity. The surveyor looks for any obstructions such as badly cleaned surfaces where the mortar protrudes into the cavity. If a wall cavity is badly obstructed the surveyor will advise against wall insulation. This is because there is a danger that the material may clog up and leave void areas, which can possibly lead to "cold spots" on the inner house wall that in turn can lead to condensation attraction.

Loft Insulation.

The surveyor will measure the depth of any existing materials and assess the quality and insulation value. He/she will also check the joists, walkways, any boarding etc. and note the position of tanks and pipes if any. He/she will also assess whether the hatchway and headroom are suitable for men to access the loft. The area to be insulated is then measured and recorded.

Heating and Hot Water.

The surveyor will need to see the boiler and heat sources for the property to enable him or her to advise on improvements and grants available. The surveyor will not carry out any internal inspections of boilers or fires as that is a specialist task for CORGI registered engineers.

General Observations.

The surveyor will observe and report on any damp or structural damage that may affect the buildings integrity and/or energy efficiency, and report to the owner with general advice as required.

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