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Two X-Ray viewers say they've been left devastated after work to install cavity wall insulation in their homes appears to have gone wrong.

Louise Burt from Cwmbran and John Littleford from Port Talbot both had the insulation installed by the Mark Group, one of Britain's leading insulation companies.

The idea behind cavity wall insulation is simple - holes are drilled in your walls and then the gaps or cavities between the walls are pumped full of insulation. It stops heat loss through the walls. But it isn't suitable for every house.

Duncan McCombie from the Energy Saving Trust Wales explained why, "There's a number of reasons why you need to explore and do your research before you actually go ahead - there are properties where you don't have a cavity to start with. There are also properties where the cavity is too small.

"Other areas [unsuitable] are cavities full of rubble or where there's a lot of damp or actually there's driving rain against the wall. In which case that moisture would get through and that would be a problem within the cavity.

"So it's useful in a lot of situations but not in every situation at all."

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Back in 2007, Louise Burt decided to have cavity wall insulation installed at her home in Cwmbran.

Two years later damp began appearing on the walls. The Mark Group agreed to remove the insulation in what they described as a gesture of goodwill. They also sealed cracks in the outside wall of her home - which they claim caused the damp.

Since then two separate sub-contractors have tried to repair the damage inside her home. Neither did the job to a standard Louise was happy with. One, she says, failed to properly attach a pipe in her kitchen.

She told X-Ray the whole process has been devastating, "It all proved too much for me. I broke down and then I had a heart attack. I was in the hospital for about a week. I came out and the next day the pipe they hadn't secured properly to the wall came off and flooded the house."

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In Port Talbot, John Littleford has also had to have cavity wall insulation removed and contractors have been in twice to redecorate. He explained, "The Mark Group said to me, don't worry - it'll all be done back to brand new. It wouldn't be a problem. I haven't got to worry at all. But here we are a year on, they've decorated twice, it's fallen off the wall twice."

And he says for the last nine months the dining room has been out of bounds because of the smell of damp.

He complained and the Mark Group sent in surveyors. Their report accepted there had been poor workmanship, but also found that cracks on the outside wall of the house had contributed to the problems and therefore the Mark Group should only pay half the cost of putting it right - £1,750.

X-Ray asked surveyor Tim Davies to take a look at both homes to see what he thought.

At Louise's he told us he believed her house was never suitable for cavity wall insulation in the first place.

And he said the insulation had not been fully removed: "They're supposed to have removed all these fibres, and obviously they haven't. It's still quite damp. There's moisture in those fibres."

In Port Talbot he reached a similar conclusion, "I can still see there's fibre left in the cavity there. It is a problem. It should have all been removed and will cause further dampness."

"You can have a look at the cracking in the wall - one of the symptoms or indicators that this isn't a suitable house for fibre-fill cavity wall insulation."

The Mark Group has responded to both complaints. They say they insulate 250,000 homes a year and that only a tiny percentage have any problems. They describe both these cases as exceptional and say in the rare occasions when there are issues they make it a priority to put matters right.

The Mark Group also deny that the houses weren't suitable for cavity-wall insulation and say they made comprehensive assessments on each one before the work was done.

They say they're happy to consider compensation on the basis of the costs both Louise and John have incurred. So far they've offered Louise £240 and £1,750 for John. Both have refused the offers saying they are inadequate.

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