Insulation question

StephenHF

Quick question as part of a huge set of issues with my new build developer and the absolute state of the property in relation to insulation.

With the recent cold weather we’ve noticed it is absolutely freezing in our flat (top floor new build completed circa 6 months ago) all emails to developer fall on deaf ears and are we are told to “turn the heating up” as we have high ceilings (11’ at the peak).

Loft area is not accessible either through the flat or common areas but managed to get a camera up into the ceiling through the spotlights today and there’s no insulation at all on the ceiling of my flat - just the actual roof of the building in the loft (we are directly below the eaves). Some of my ceilings are part of the pitch and others are flat and have loft space above. 

My research has confirmed this is a “warm roof” set up and developer has confirmed this in previous email in which they say that the rafters are all insulated with a vapour barrier over the ceilings. However the vapour barrier has holes cut in it to allow the spotlights in the ceiling to fit through and there are no hoods over these. Massive cold drafts coming into the flat as a result and seems a pointless thing to do.

My questions are these. Do UK building regs require insulation to be placed on the ceiling on my flat between the joists or will the developer get away with this by having insulation on the main roof itself which (and I don’t know if it does) meets the U value for the property? Secondly, this makes zero sense to me to have a warm roof and no ceiling insulation which means I’m heating both my flat and the loft above me in order to stay warm. I’ve spent over £700 this winter trying to keep the flat warm and despite this I can never get any rooms above 20 degrees with the electric heaters installed in the flat (we have no gas).

Any advice welcome before I kick off with the developer again. Want to make sure I’m not walking into a fight that I’m technically wrong on. I would think I just need to put insulation over my roof between the joists but don’t want to cause issues if this will mess with the warm roof set up. 

grumbler

StephenHF said:

... this makes zero sense to me to have a warm roof and no ceiling insulation...

I agree - if the loft is inaccessible. Can you see any insulation for the roof? For the loft floor it has to be about 30 cm of rockwool. For a warm roof it has to be the same or, typically, 10 cm of rockwool between the rafters and 10 cm of Celotex-like insulation under the rafters.

That said, I don't see how this can cause 'Massive cold drafts'. Recessed lights usually have a sealing gasket. Pots are needed only to provide space for lights if  the loft floor is covered with insulation.

StephenHF

There’s foil backed Kingspan looking insulation between the rafters but nothing on the flat parts of the ceilings so I’m assuming all my heat is just flowing into the loft area and then eventually heating the whole space. I get this is the norm for a liveable attic space but while parts of my flat are right up against the pitched roof (we are on the top floor and have sloped ceilings on one side of all the rooms) the other part of the ceilings are flat and have a big space above them (probably about 4 feet of vertical space or so). As such, I assume we need insulation above the plasterboard ceilings to stop heat loss? Developer has stated the panel heaters installed are sufficient for the room sizes they’re in but if you add in the space above we’re heating no wonder we wake up some mornings with rooms as low as 9 degrees! 

StephenHF

grumbler said:

StephenHF said:

... this makes zero sense to me to have a warm roof and no ceiling insulation...

I agree - if the loft is inaccessible. Can you see any insulation for the roof? For the loft floor it has to be about 30 cm of rockwool. For a warm roof it has to be the same or, typically, 10 cm of rockwool between the rafters and 10 cm of Celotex-like insulation under the rafters.

That said, I don't see how this can cause 'Massive cold drafts'. Recessed lights usually have a sealing gasket. Pots are needed only to provide space for lights if  the loft floor is covered with insulation.

All I can say is sitting in the rooms during the winter I could feel cold air coming in through the spotlights and from pulling them out I can feel loads of cold air in the loft above the ceiling: I know it has been cold recently but my god I’ve never known anything like it. Cold beyond belief and I thought new builds were warm.