Home insulation companies

Simon_m29

Hi All,

I’m looking at insulating my home. How do I know if the insulating contractors are not going to rip me off and are competent? 

CliveOfIndia

Loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, something else?

Loft insulation is a very straightforward DIY job if you fancy saving a few quid.

Aside from that, it can be difficult to filter out the cowboys from the good-quality businesses.  Personal recommendation is always best - have any of your neighbours had work done recently?  If so, ask them who they used, and were they happy with the work.  Or, if you have a local community Facebook group, you could try asking on there for recommendations.  I guess it may even be possible (potentially?) to see if you can find out who your local council uses for their buildings.

Failing that, one thing you could check is to see if the installer gives an insurance-backed guarantee.  This will at least give you some comeback for substandard work, even if the installer goes out of business.

Nobbie1967

I think the main things to check out are how long they’ve been in business, that they are members of a reputable trade association and have an insurance based guarantee in place that will pay out for shoddy work even if they go bust. You need to actually check this stuff with companies house, trade association and insurance company rather than just accept what it says on their website as some will lie.

It would probably also be worthwhile getting in someone independent to assess what insulation is suitable. If you go straight to a cavity wall insulation company, they will probably recommend cavity wall insulation, although to be fair, the one that came to our house did admit it was not suitable, probably because they knew it would not meet the criteria for their insurance backed guarantee.

Simon_m29

Loft insulation I’m looking for. I’ve currently got wool insulation on the inside of the roof between the rafters but it’s very old and probably only 20-30mm thick! I’m thinking I need to remove the old stuff and install new thicker insulation?

CliveOfIndia

Simon_m29 said:

Loft insulation I’m looking for. I’ve currently got wool insulation on the inside of the roof between the rafters but it’s very old and probably only 20-30mm thick! I’m thinking I need to remove the old stuff and install new thicker insulation?

Do you mean actually on the roof (the sloping bit)?  I have come across that before, but the more important part is the "floor" of the loft as it were - is there any insulation there?  If there is and you want to make it thicker to come up to current standards, then you don't need to remove the old stuff - just bung another layer of new stuff on top of it.  Easy enough to DIY as long as you're OK with crawling around in the loft.  Although do wear a long-sleeved top, gloves and a dust mask.  Fibreglass insulation won't actually cause you any harm, but it itches like mad if you get too much of it in contact with your skin.

Simon_m29

Yes it’s on the sloping bit inside the roof between the wooden rafters. The whole loft is boarded but I’ve lifted a couple of boards and the insulation underneath is the same thin stuff that’s on the roof

FreeBear

Assuming the loft is not a habitable space, you want the insulation between the joists (under the boards), not between the rafters.

CliveOfIndia

Simon_m29 said:

Yes it’s on the sloping bit inside the roof between the wooden rafters. The whole loft is boarded but I’ve lifted a couple of boards and the insulation underneath is the same thin stuff that’s on the roof

Ah, right, sounds like standard insulation then.  The "proper" way to do it is to lift the floorboards and add more insulation on top of what's there (ideally criss-crossing it, if you see what I mean.  So if the existing stuff is laid left-to-right, put the new stuff top-to-bottom, at right angles to it).  Then if you want to put the flooring back down when you've finished, use loft legs/stilts to raise the floorboards so they don't squash the insulation.

Perfectly DIY-able, and you'll save yourself quite a bit of money compared to getting someone in to do it.  Though I do appreciate that crawling around in an often confined loft space is not everyone's idea of fun!

macman

You don't really need a 'company' to lay loft insulation. It's a dirty, cramped and unpleasant job, but normally completed in less than half a day by any handyperson who doesn't mind the working conditions. Either source your own insulation from one of the sheds (Wickes sometimes have offers on it), or ask him/her to supply it for you.