Free loft insulation for over 70

loulou41

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Friend will be 70 this week and I told him he qualifies for free loft insulation, may be a top up as he did it himself two years ago. His concern is he will not be able to store empty suitcases, xmas decoration etc unless he part board the loft. His friend who had the free insualtion done last year was told he is not supposed to put anything in the loft as the loft will be covered with insulation and he will not be able to see where he can walk . To have a loft ladder fitted and the floor part board with a light, he was quoted nearly £500. He does not know whether he should leave it or get a survey. Any advice, pl? Thanks

margaretclare

loulou41 wrote: »

Friend will be 70 this week and I told him he qualifies for free loft insulation, may be a top up as he did it himself two years ago. His concern is he will not be able to store empty suitcases, xmas decoration etc unless he part board the loft. His friend who had the free insulation done last year was told he is not supposed to put anything in the loft as the loft will be covered with insulation and he will not be able to see where he can walk. To have a loft ladder fitted and the floor part board with a light, he was quoted nearly £500. He does not know whether he should leave it or get a survey. Any advice, pl? Thanks

Our loft was boarded many years ago and a light fitted. How on earth can you get up there, to store decorations or anything else, if you run the risk of falling through the ceiling because there's no floor, or see what you're doing if there's no light?

We had our new boiler put in the loft in the winter of 2007/8. That wouldn't have been possible without boards and light. It was exactly where we wanted it to be put.

We had the loft re-insulated at the start of 2010, but we didn't get it free. We also paid the guys who did it to clear out a lot of stuff that we no longer wanted or needed. We couldn't have had all that lot done free.

Errata

loulou41 wrote: »

Friend will be 70 this week and I told him he qualifies for free loft insulation, may be a top up as he did it himself two years ago. His concern is he will not be able to store empty suitcases, xmas decoration etc unless he part board the loft. His friend who had the free insualtion done last year was told he is not supposed to put anything in the loft as the loft will be covered with insulation and he will not be able to see where he can walk . To have a loft ladder fitted and the floor part board with a light, he was quoted nearly £500. He does not know whether he should leave it or get a survey. Any advice, pl? Thanks

The current recommended depth of loft insultion is 270mm (10 inches). The height of the joists is much less than that which means there's nothing solid to fix the boards to.
Perhaps a solution might be to store suitcases and Xmas decorations under bed ?

Newly_retired

Sorry,no advice to offer. No room under our bed for storage as it has drawers which are already full.
We have a fair bit of stuff hoarded in our loft which is not boarded. There is some insulation but not 10 inches. DH's opinion that as the bedrooms are always hot ( we have a very efficient combi-boiler) he has no intention of getting further wall or loft insulation. Is he right?

scotsbob

Approx. 5" of insulation allows you to have boards on the joists for storage. 10" of insulation means you cant have boards.

How much is saved by the extra 5" of insulation? According to the Energy Saving Trust going from 2" to 10" saves £40 a year, I guess that going from 5" to 10" may save about £20 a year. Personally I would rather forego the £20 and have the storage space.