Loft and wall insulation. cost and advice.

emmett123

Hi everybody.


Getting reading for winter and have been investigating the insulation in the house. It was built in the last ten years and is your standard 3 bed semi in a development.

The stuff in the attic is yellow stuff about 4 inch thick. the cavity wall, i dont know but a plumber friend suggests that it was probably the minimum the developer could legally get away with.

I had been considering the wood burning stove being discussed in the other thread.. but my friend suggest ensuring insulation was in place first before messy work on fireplaces etc.

so... (eventually) any tips or advice out there as to what is the most effective insulation to get in... wall and/or loft?

and any ideas what the approx price would be for a average 3 bed semi?

thanks.

angelaloveschocolate

Why not try to get it done for free, checkout NIE who are doing this on a grant basis, see this link to another thread on this subject, https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2985532

Also, there are grants available through the 'Warm homes scheme', which I found through google. Each of these schemes have different criteria so worth checking both.

I've applied for the NIE grant and have had the surveyer round this week, so hopefully I'll be warm and cosy when the predicted big freeze comes. Sorry cant give you any advice/info re costs. Hope you get sorted

polpoo

Hi emmett123
Your friend is most likely right about the wall insulation and there isn't really a great deal you can do to improve the situation. Your house will have a 10cm cavity between the inner and outer skins, in which there will be about 5cm of insulation fixed to the inner wall leaving a gap of 5cm. This gap is important as it essentially keeps the water out as it cant cross the void. So it's important not to bridge this gap - people will no doubt suggest blowing in polystyrene beads, but I think this is a bit of a risk because you are potentially providing a path for water to travel along due to the narrowness of the residual cavity leading to damp. You can add additional glass fibre insulation to the loft. It's not expensive and you can do it yourself. What's important to remember is that it's the trapped air within the glass fibre that is providing the insulation, so if it's compressed, ie you are storing stuff in the loft on it, then it looses it's effectiveness. You can lay special insulating boards between the ceiling joists and plywood over this in a section of the loft to store stuff if you need to. The most effective thing you can do is to make sure all you doors and windows are well sealed around the frames to minimize drafts.
If you are really serious about insulating the house better you can install composite insulating panels on the inside of your house. But these are relatively expensive and means the whole house will need redecorated.
Sorry if this all sounds negative but I just don't think there is a magic
solution

Dunwunderin

Got an offer to get free loft and CWI installed by NIE last winter.

Got the loft insulation done some months ago and it appears to be a great job. The winter will tell!

Declined the CWI because of possible damp penetration with coastal rural location and presence of of some block wall insulation in the cavity when the house was built.

GlynD

I'm in Norn Irn too. I had the standard 4 inch in my home. I applied to Warm Front. They came round and decided I needed another 10 inches of insulation which they provided and installed free. I've previously checked up on prices for insulation and reckon I could have done my bungalow for around £250-£400.

A.L.D.A

First try to eliminate draughts, if you can!

Roof insulation; if you have 100mm between the ceiling joists I would suggest another 200mm running in the other direction. MAKE SURE all pipes and water tanks are well insulated in the roof space. Also do not block any air vents from the eaves you want a bit of air movement above the insulation in case of condensation.

Hot water storage next. Make sure it is well insulated and pipes from it are insulated as far as you can reasonably get at.


Boiler and controls on heating next. If you have an old boiler, replacing it and the controls can make a significant difference. You want controls that are time and temperature controls.

Cavity wall insulation, if there is no insulation in the cavity than I would consider cavity insulation.

Replacing windows and double glazing take a long time to pay off, replace as needed is a sensible approach and invest in heavy curtains.

There are some grants as mentioned above, check if you are eligible.

GlynD

A.L.D.A wrote: »

First try to eliminate draughts, if you can!

Roof insulation; if you have 100mm between the ceiling joists I would suggest another 200mm running in the other direction. MAKE SURE all pipes and water tanks are well insulated in the roof space. Also do not block any air vents from the eaves you want a bit of air movement above the insulation in case of condensation.

Hot water storage next. Make sure it is well insulated and pipes from it are insulated as far as you can reasonably get at.


Boiler and controls on heating next. If you have an old boiler, replacing it and the controls can make a significant difference. You want controls that are time and temperature controls.

Cavity wall insulation, if there is no insulation in the cavity than I would consider cavity insulation.

Replacing windows and double glazing take a long time to pay off, replace as needed is a sensible approach and invest in heavy curtains.

There are some grants as mentioned above, check if you are eligible.

Warm Front will do all of this, and/or advise you on grants. http://www.uk-energy-saving.com/warm_homes_scheme.html

A.L.D.A

GlynD wrote: »

Warm Front will do all of this, and/or advise you on grants. http://www.uk-energy-saving.com/warm_homes_scheme.html

It is a good site and well worth a visit, but information of insulation grants etc does not cover NI!

GlynD

A.L.D.A wrote: »

It is a good site and well worth a visit, but information of insulation grants etc does not cover NI!

I thought it did. I followed the NI link!

wifeforlife

Emmett just on the off chance your not on benefits so not entitled to any of the free stuff. We're insulating our loft currently with this

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/product/fragments/skuPopup.jsp?fh_secondid=10647752&action=detail&accessMethod=DisplayName&skuId=11138394

We're in a new build 3 bed semi, 10 rolls is more than enough!

Sorry can't shorten the link, am on the iPad

typhoon

am getting my loft insulated on Tuesday by DCI Installation in Carrick. Not cheap - £550 and then £150 cashback. The area to be covered is 70 square metres. They are using 300mm insulation and also lagging the pipes etc. Am REALLY hoping it makes a difference cos it's costing so much! Not going for the cavity walls as our walls already have a layer of insulation, and was told topping up with beading may cause problems with damp etc in the long run.