Insulating Floored Loft

officeguru

Hi All

I was plagued yesterday with phone calls about insulation and I finally relented and let the man come to visit..

I knew I wouldn't be entitled to cavity walls as the house was built in 1910 and I didn't think he could insulate the loft as it is 3/4 floored.. It was insulated under the flooring about 20 years ago... I can't remember what thickness it was... Anyway, the man said that they could insulate on top of the wooden flooring and off he went..

I have since thought about it and I am not sure that it would be such a good idea.. As the loft is floored with tongue and grooved floor boards it would not be practical to lift them and my husband's hoards takes up about 1/3 of the attic space, which would have to be moved...

I decided to ask on the forum as I know I would get sound advice.

Thanks in advance...

MX5huggy

It's a good idea to insulate over the boards if you dont use the space. Leave an area for the stuff.

officeguru

MX5huggy wrote: »

It's a good idea to insulate over the boards if you dont use the space. Leave an area for the stuff.

Thanks very much for putting my mind at rest..

cheers

benjus

If you want to use the space for storage, one technique that works quite well is to buy some lengths of 2x4 or 2x6 to act as "false joists", nail them to the real joists at right angles, then insulate between the false joists on top of the insulation between the real joists. Then you can board over the false joists.

Avoriaz

benjus wrote: »

If you want to use the space for storage, one technique that works quite well is to buy some lengths of 2x4 or 2x6 to act as "false joists", nail them to the real joists at right angles, then insulate between the false joists on top of the insulation between the real joists. Then you can board over the false joists.

Nailing them risks cracking the ceiling below.

Use screws rather than nails.

cattie

The loft in my last house was boarded & I had insulation fitted before it was boarded and was mainly used for storage. When I was given the opportunity of free additional loft insulation, the guy who came suggested that I consider having the insulation laid over the boarding, in a part of the loft where I wasn't actually storing anything, seeing as it wasn't practical for me to have the whole loft laid with the insulation.

As this actually was over a bedroom & bathroom that were north facing, it turned out to be a very good idea, as I immediately saw, from the thermometer I kept in the bedroom, that the room certainly benefited by being warmer, thanks to the additional insulation.