loft insulation

sheilavw

Our loft is in bad need of insulating. It only has little polystrene pieces in (like quavers) and in winter you can see our roof clears of ice as the heat is going straight up. Anyway, yesterday council called about incentives on offer for insulating lofts. It was free to people over 60s or with young children, but we dont qualify, but it is just £75 so we are keen to get it done (can get it done through our energy supplier but a lot more expense that this). The guy said they use the 10 in thick stuff off a roll but would need to do a free survey, but he did say we could leave the polystirene pieces down. Is this correct? Would they not need to be removed? Any advice would be appreciated

mickog

no point in removing them, they will act as a second form of insulation with the new insulation.unless you intend to take any of the ceilings down in the near future then leave well alone.

d900

i did my loft and left the old insulation down - every little helps

ic

I had 10" thick insulation rolled over the existing 4" layer. Even more toasty than they recommend! One day they'll nodoubt recommend that the entire roof void be filled with the stuff!

belfastgirl23

I recently had insulation done, the only problem with the grant scheme type of insulation is that it is applied on top of your rafters thus making your loft space largely unusable.

hewhoisnotintheknow

yes in my nans roof they rand it across the rafters rather than along them/inbetween!

It makes no odds to her, as she can not get up there

Optimisticpair

Can anyone tell me if you are stuck with whatever type of insulation material the installer prefers when getting a grant?

rustyjemma

Just thought ~I would let you know B&Q have cheap spaceblanket. If you cant get it done via the council

jebervic

rustyjemma wrote: »

Just thought ~I would let you know B&Q have cheap spaceblanket. If you cant get it done via the council

Good stuff and very east to lay

paddy's_mum

For your own safety, get that polystyrene out of your loft NOW!! It is deadly if you ever had a fire - it melts and rains down, sticking to what or whoever it touches, giving off great clouds of deadly fumes and it carries on burning even if you douse it with water. Can you imagine what would happen to a child asleep underneath a collapsing ceiling ... ?

Fires often start in lofts since that is where electrical cables run and it is also the place where few householders ever venture to check electrical safety. I would rather be cold than ever again run the risk of having melting polystyrene pouring down on me .. and yes, sadly, I do speak from experience.