Loft insulation in a flat

anthonykeates

I live in a top floor flat in a converted late Victorian hospital.

I've been told that there is no insulation in the roof space (it's a pretty high pitched roof) and that it's not divided by partition walls.

I've been searching around the forum to see if the answer's on here anywhere, but can't see it. My question is: Is there still a benefit to be gained from insulating the area just above my flat, or would the whole roof area need to be done?

Logic would say that just insulating the area above my flat would help trap heat in, but then I'm no expert!

hewhoisnotintheknow

yes, if you did the bit just above your flat it would help with your heating bills

who is incharge of the roof, i would speak to them about getting it all done

Dualcyclone

Speak to the freeholder - or the company you pay maintenance to; see if they have any plans to do it.

Might be worth seeing if you can get all of the tenants on-board, could get the lot done on the maintenance account.

anthonykeates

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

yes, if you did the bit just above your flat it would help with your heating bills

who is incharge of the roof, i would speak to them about getting it all done

Cheers, I thought it probably would. The ceilings are 10ft and it's a pain trying to keep the place warm.

We run the management co ourselves (each leaseholder owns a share) so may be able to get a decision reasonably easily. Shall get a insulation co to do a survey and get them to price it on both bases - might be able to sell the idea of getting the whole lot done to the other flat owners then!

anthonykeates

Dualcyclone wrote: »

Speak to the freeholder - or the company you pay maintenance to; see if they have any plans to do it.

Might be worth seeing if you can get all of the tenants on-board, could get the lot done on the maintenance account.

Thanks for the tip

[Deleted User]

Hi,

the folks in the lower flats should be involved as well, as they will gain also, though

maybe not to the same extent, because if a new roof was needed, for instance, all

would have to pay a share.

Maybe some way of having a percentage arrangement, (for the insulation) getting

less as the floors get lower, everybody needs a roof, but some of the folks in the

bottom flats might be reluctant to pay the same as the folks in the top flats for the

insulation.

27col

Yes, it will make a big difference to your flat if it is insulated. Are you sure that there is non already. If the conversion is a recent one I would have thought that there would already be some insulation. Even if there is, it would be a good idea to upgrade it to 250mm. If there is not any at present then do it as soon as possible.

anthonykeates

27col wrote: »

Yes, it will make a big difference to your flat if it is insulated. Are you sure that there is non already. If the conversion is a recent one I would have thought that there would already be some insulation. Even if there is, it would be a good idea to upgrade it to 250mm. If there is not any at present then do it as soon as possible.

The conversion was around 1985 - I don't know what the building regs were like then, must have been some sort of requirement to insulate. The lady downstairs who's been here since then doesn't think there's anything up there and says the management co's never paid to have it improved.

Have arranged an insulation co to come round and take a look (pretty sure we've got a load of bats living up there and I'm no big fan of them!) so we'll take it from there.

Pyewacket338

Contact the council and see if you're eligible for a grant to insulate the loft.

never_enough

anthonykeates wrote: »

The conversion was around 1985 - I don't know what the building regs were like then, must have been some sort of requirement to insulate. The lady downstairs who's been here since then doesn't think there's anything up there and says the management co's never paid to have it improved.

Have arranged an insulation co to come round and take a look (pretty sure we've got a load of bats living up there and I'm no big fan of them!) so we'll take it from there.

If that's the case you could be in for even more expense as bats are a protected species & any work will need to be carried out very carefully.
Have a look at this:
http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bats_and_the_law.html

You may have a fight on your hands in getting leaseholders in lower flats to contribute to something that will not benefit them. From my knowledge of flat management it's always hard to get money from people if they don't consider it their problem. Does it mention anything relevant about this in your lease?

illzlee

to be honest i would be more concerned that the roof space is not divided up. are you the sole flat on the upper floor? if not the roofspace should have fire-breaks between each property or at least over the staircase(s).

and as has been said before, the bats issue will make this a LOT more expensive/complicated.