Dodgy loft insulation & no waterproof seal

Dylan80

Been up into the loft for the first time today in our new (1930s) house. Have found it to be a bit of a mess. It has been boarded using chipboard but the former owner has partially insulated the roof. The bottom layer of the roof appears to have been insulated and boarded over, the rest is incomplete.

Has he done the job properly? There appears to be no waterproof seal (inside of slates exposed) on the exposed parts, yet he has put thick insulation into the spaces between the rafters and boarded them over. Reading around, I've found this is not a good idea.

We don't really need the loft space, so I would be inclined to rip out what has been done and lay a space blanket above the chipboard.

Also, should there be a waterproof seal on a house of this age?

Would love to link to a photo, but since i'm a new user, I can't.
Thanks

Carrot007

Can't comment on the rest but for a house of that age seeing the slate is pretty much standard, was like that in my last house.

Kynthia

By waterproof seal do you mean a felt lining? My 1930s house has no felt lining on the roof and we just see the tiles. It isn't a problem other than stuff we store up there gets a little dustier than in previous places. There's certainly enough ventilation to prevent condensation.

27cool

I'm not sure why the previous owner bothered. If you don't need to use the space, just leave it as it is. But make sure that the floor of the loft is heavily insulated.Say 230mm or more.Sarking did not come into common use in England until after WW11.
Putting insulation between the roof rafters and not on the roof space floor, just means that the whole of the roof space is being heated. Which is exactly what you do not want. The insulation needs to be on the top of the ceiling so as to contain the heat in the occupied room below.