Loft insulation verses boarding

Radshire

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Hi,

Quick question.

I'm due to have my loft insulated by a British Gas subcontractor. They are doing it for free which is great.

I asked the surveyor whether it was possible to board the loft after the insulation was installed. He said no, but I could board up to 25 % of the loft space and still qualify for the free insulation everywhere else. I have now bought the boards to put down over 25 % of the loft space. However…

My house is a semi-detached three bedroom property. My son’s room is the smallest of the three bedrooms, is the only bedroom with two external walls, and is very cold.

I wondered what I should do. I think my options are as follows:
1. Should I board over my sons room in the hope that the boards and the storage items I’m going to put on the boards will be warmer than the loft insultion.
2. Should I board elsewhere and let the new loft insulation sit over my son’s room in the hope that that is the warmest option for him.

One other question:
For the bits of loft I’m going to board, can I buy thinner insulation which can sit under the boards? Currently there is < 2.5 “ of insulation and it sits well below the roof joists.

Any help greatly received

sunshinetours

Radshire wrote: »

Hi,

Quick question.

I'm due to have my loft insulated by a British Gas subcontractor. They are doing it for free which is great.

I asked the surveyor whether it was possible to board the loft after the insulation was installed. He said no, but I could board up to 25 % of the loft space and still qualify for the free insulation everywhere else. I have now bought the boards to put down over 25 % of the loft space. However…

My house is a semi-detached three bedroom property. My son’s room is the smallest of the three bedrooms, is the only bedroom with two external walls, and is very cold.

I wondered what I should do. I think my options are as follows:
1. Should I board over my sons room in the hope that the boards and the storage items I’m going to put on the boards will be warmer than the loft insultion.
2. Should I board elsewhere and let the new loft insulation sit over my son’s room in the hope that that is the warmest option for him.

One other question:
For the bits of loft I’m going to board, can I buy thinner insulation which can sit under the boards? Currently there is < 2.5 “ of insulation and it sits well below the roof joists.

Any help greatly received

Option 2 and yes!

Your sons room if it has two external walls may not be hugely improved by loft insulation of any sort as it may be north facing external wall for instance which may need sorting and any draft proofing done including windows etc. Is radiator suitable size for room and is there decent underlay and carpet?

grizzly1911

Option 2 definitely.

Board around the access trap door to make access easy to stored items.. Yes you can put extra insulation underneath, even if it needs to be compressed slightly.

Why not get it insulated fully, then board over the top of the bit you want? You can always remove some of the insulation and put extra over your sons bedroom.

My DDs room is the same, and does have a north and east wall. It has Dg, Wall Insulation and when I added extra insulation in the loft I had some left over -she has 570mm over her room. I know that over a certain amount it doesn't make too much difference.

ic

I'd let them fully insulate, then move any insulation out of the way where you want to board, doubling up on other areas - it won't do any harm, as long as you don't block ventilation in the loft space. Where you do board, use something like this: http://www.space-insulation.com/board.html. Are you not getting the cavity wall insulation for free too?

Radshire

Thank you!

I'd never thought about getting the whole thing insulated then moving the bit's I didn't need! I feel a bit dim!

Sunshine tours,
what do you mean by 'may need sorting'.
The room does have north (ish) and an east (ish) facing walls and I appreciate that this may limit the effectiveness of the loft insulation. However, I'm keen to get this room warmer.

The room does have an air brick, but I'm asking about this on a different thread (and Grizzly1911 has replied to this already!).


Thanks for the tip on the space board ic. I might just return the chipboard I bought from B&Q the other day and pop down to Wickes and buy this stuff instead.

Unfortunately, I don't have cavity walls, so I'm not having those filled.

har0ld

I have built a suspended floor several inches above existing joists partly to allow for the insulation and partly as I didn't want to be putting any weight on ceiling joists which weren't terribly robust.
Remember that the wood that you use chipboard or otherwise is also insulation!!
Option would be to insulate the roof in addition to or as alternative to standard insulation on floor. Slightly dearer but you have options available such as laminated insulation blanket (different authorities have differing specs on this) and a closed cell hard foam and foil insulation board such as "Kingspan". - the disadvantage is cost - the advantage is that the whole loft area becomes insulated which means that in the winter no danger of any pipes or tanks suffering in the cold, when the loft hatch open no heat loss into loft, the loft is warm in winter and cool in summer.
Also, you might consider cavity wall insulation to help your sons room and if that is not enough you can use a foil backed and foam insulated board in your sons room on the external walls (this does reduce the size of the room by 25mm or so)

nickcardwell

i bought some of these from b&q a few years ago (never paid £10 each, waited till they dropped in price, as every time i went in they where still there and hadnt shifted)

got them at £2.50 each.
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10647753&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372016}%2fcategories%3C{9372050}%2fcategories%3C{9372230}&isSearch=false

if the above link doesnt work google "B&Q Insulated Timber Loft Board"

Insulation boards and storage in one.

sunshinetours

Radshire wrote: »

Sunshine tours,
what do you mean by 'may need sorting'.
The room does have north (ish) and an east (ish) facing walls and I appreciate that this may limit the effectiveness of the loft insulation. However, I'm keen to get this room warmer.

The room does have an air brick, but I'm asking about this on a different thread (and Grizzly1911 has replied to this already!).

Hi - As you mntion the loft insulation may only have limited success as it may be that you have an exposed colder room (north and east facing explains it) and draught proofing and ensuring no cold air is rising from below (what room is below?) as well as ensuring the rad is big enough as mentioned
Also make sure you don't have any damp whch would make the room harder to heat

27col

You can buy stand off supports which will enable you to board over the full insulation depth. I'll put up a link when I find it. In the meantime, get the whole roof insulated to the full depth.

They are called loft flooring legs.http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Loft+Flooring+Legs+/p44016 Not cheap, but a solution to the problem until something better comes along. If you are only doing a small area then you would not need to use many of them.

Radshire

sunshinetours wrote: »

Hi - As you mntion the loft insulation may only have limited success as it may be that you have an exposed colder room (north and east facing explains it) and draught proofing and ensuring no cold air is rising from below (what room is below?) as well as ensuring the rad is big enough as mentioned
Also make sure you don't have any damp whch would make the room harder to heat

Thanks sunshintours
Draft proofing is something I'm looking at. I've just had a new carpet fitted and I chose the biggest, warmest underlay they had. I've had new central heating fitted and the radiator is the same size in this small room as it is in the other two double bedrooms (so I know it's big enough) - it's also a brand new, double thing with a grill on top. Next is to place a shutter over the air brick and see if there are any drafts around the window which I've not felt up to now.

You may be onto something in asking what's underneath this room - the entrance hall. Typically, this is not an area which I would reckon to heat too much as it's not really living space but I'll try turning the radiator up here too.

Thanks again.:beer:

Radshire

27col wrote: »

You can buy stand off supports which will enable you to board over the full insulation depth. I'll put up a link when I find it. In the meantime, get the whole roof insulated to the full depth.

They are called loft flooring legs.http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Loft+Flooring+Legs+/p44016 Not cheap, but a solution to the problem until something better comes along. If you are only doing a small area then you would not need to use many of them.

These look great!
I didn't know that such things existed. I did think about laying wood ontop of the joists to raise their height, but I think these are a much better solution.
Assuming that you've used them....do you know how many I'll need per square metre of boarded area?
Thanks again.:beer: