Loft Insulation: Is This Normal?

kittycatface

Hi we live in a rented house where the attic has recently been converted into a bedroom. The landlord seemed to have blocked off part of the roof eaves and in the contract it said tenants are not to enter the remaining loft space, which has been blocked up with a small piece of plasterboard. We have been having a lot of problems with moisture and generally it is a very cold house so I poked my head in and realised that the eaves are NOT insulated at all. There is some fibreglass stuff on the flat, floor part, but just bare brick work and timber on the diagonal eaves. As a complete novice in this area and having always rented, I didn't know if this was normal.

Another big part of the attic is blocked off and I have my suspicions that wont be well protected either.

Should I ask the landlord to insulate the eaves (Eon were doing a free offer) and could this be contributing to our cold wet house? after all we are paying through the nose to heat the house loads and all of it is disappearing out the roof and rotting windows! Thanks in advance.

keystone

I think you have a cowboy landlord.

I think you should move somewhere else at the earliest opportiunity.

Sorry.

Cheers

munchings-n-crunchings

I'm sure someone will comealong that knows more than me, but I'm sure it's not normal practice to insulate the sloping eaves.

When a loft is insulated, it runs between the flooring joists, or if extra is added, it can go over the joists.
When a loft conversion is done, then the space between the eaves and any internal plasterboard is insulated. This is one of the criteria the councils consider when deciding if an acutal conversion has taken place. I looked at buying a house, to discover there was no insulation between the plaster and the external roof, and thus not a conversion and couldn't be used as a bedroom. Other councils may differ. It sounds like your landlord has converted one half, and left the remainder. I would possibly question whether the conversion conforms to building regs, you can google to find the things that are considered.

Good insulation in the loft flooring is where it's supposed to be, as this stops the heat escaping from the upper floors of the house. Go for cavity wall insulation, as many companies have offers on this at the moment, it was described to me as putting a warm coat on your house, and I must really agree.

Regards
Munchie

Mistral001

The fact that there is only partial insulation cannot be seen as a fault with the house in itself. Many houses have only partial insulation and many have no insulation at all. Were you told that the house was fully insulated before renting?

SailorSam

You need some ventilation in the loft, so when laying insulation it's quite normal not to push it fully into the eaves but to leave a few inches.
It's similar to having an airbrick in your kitchen, or if you've got raised wooden floors you'll find airbricks going underneath.

kittycatface

thank you everyone: I knew there would be people in the know on here! I take it from everyone's answers that it is normal just to insulate the flat floor part, but will consider talking to the council about building regs etc. It's good to have the information to hand (for deposits, bargaining power etc!) MSE is worth its weight in gold and very reassuring for a complete novice like me, so thank you thank you thank you!

Mistral: I didn't even think to ask about insulation before we moved in, that's how silly I am! will definitely do so next time as I do think it has big heating cost implications. thanks

reggie_lampert

Hi Kittycatface,

I'd just like to add that your landlord maybe be eligible for a grant to cover the cost of insulating the loft if any of the tenants are aged 70 or over, or receive a qualifying benefit / tax credit.

I can't link to the websites which contain this info as I'm a newbie but you can do a quick google.

Even if your landlord isn't eligible for a grant, you can pick up insulation really cheap, for instance nPower have an offer on at the moment where you can get insulation for £3 a roll plus free delivery. I don't think the landlord is obligated to pay, but if you do all the legwork and offer to install it he/she may pay for it after all it is an upgrade to their investment.

I hope this helps. Good luck and keep warm!

arachne

kittycatface wrote: »

Mistral: I didn't even think to ask about insulation before we moved in, that's how silly I am! will definitely do so next time as I do think it has big heating cost implications. thanks

If you've moved in in the last few years, the landlord has to provide you with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the property as a legal requirement. This should tell you whether it has loft insulation and if it's deep enough (although it's possible they've made assumptions rather than actually checking). Have a look at it anyway because it may give you some other information about things the landlord could do to improve the energy efficiency of the house. Also, tell your landlord about the Landlord Energy Saving Allowance (google it) for him to get a tax allowance on any energy saving measures installed.