Key Post: Attic Insulation.

Attic Insulation - Sheeps Wool vs Conventional?

Hi Folks,

I'm about to close on my house, tomorrow if all is well. The first, of the many things I want to do, is the insulate the attic. We had a survey done before our purchase and he recommened we attend to this.

There are lots of great posts on the appoach. But I am interested in using sheeps wool and would be like to here opionions/actual experience with this compared to more conventional materials.

I've read the material from the retailers but would love to hear more independent advice/pros/cons. Including longevity.

BTW - house has double glazing, including the doors front and back and has GFCH. I'm unsure about the quality of insulation ofthe external walls as the house is 30+ years old. I add this in case people suggest priorities :)

Thanks
 
Re: Attic Insulation - Sheeps Wool vs Conventional?

In terms of priorities the attic insulation costs a lot less than dry-lining/retro fitting insulation to the walls, is far far less messy, and has a more noticeable effect on your heating bills.
 
Re: Attic Insulation - Sheeps Wool vs Conventional?

Sheepswool is expensive (I'm sure you've priced via sites like http://www.sheepwoolinsulation.ie/) but I decided to go with it as I just can't abide fibreglass. The stuff is very very easy to work with and you can easily do it yourself - no scratching for days a la fibreglass. The marketing bumph says better U value, longer life etc etc - not sure how true this is, time will tell. But it certainly works! I also used their sound insulating joist strips and underlay, by the way, that works well too.

In terms of priorities, heat rises so attic insulation is the first thing to do. What did your surveyor say about the external wall insulation?
 
Re: Attic Insulation - Sheeps Wool vs Conventional?

Make sure to take into account sagging by whatever insulation type you go for. If you start off with 300mm, in ten yrs you may have a decreased depth which will affect the U value. If you google on this you will get more info.
Icyene looks like a good insulation type and it doesn't off gas / sag.
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

Could dust in the attic be an issue, the latest edition of self build mag has an article on a self builder who did something similar lately.
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

Heat recovery ventilation expells air from the rooms of the house and takes in fresh air from outside. The heat recovery part is related to the internal heat exchanger which transfers the heat from the expelled air to the fresh air coming into the house.

I don't think you'd want to consider a system which takes air from the attic into the house due to dust, etc. Also, during the summer when the attic reaches these high temperatures is generally the time when you want to keep the rest of the house cool, not make it warmer.
Leo
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

AFAIK, the loft intake has dust filters fitted as standard and the rationale is that the fresh air is dragged into the loft from outside through the trickle flow vents in the soffit
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

Geegee said:
Would it be better to keep the heat out of the loft in the first place by fitting the above-mentioned insulation or leave it as it is and fit the heat recovery system?
Click to expand...

Why spend money on either. The heat in the attic doesn't affect you, so why pay to keep it out, in the summer you don't want it to heat your rooms, so why pay to heat them?

In the winter the attic is as cold as outside.
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

I'm just wondering if anyone could please post the name of the Irish Distributer for Iso Mega 6? I've done a search on google and cannot find anything.
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

Actis insulation agent at Tel 018365299
 
Re: Loft insulation or heat recovery system.

Thanks for that.
 
Insulating attic in old house

A friend has an old farm house and was wondering what was the best way to insulate the attic. There is no hatch to access the attic.
The ceilings are reasonably high so putting in the insulation from below would be possible.

Would it be a case of putting up battons then insulation and then screwing on plasterboard ?, or would there be an easier way ?.
What type of insulation, rock wool or some kind or rigid polystyrene.
It would probably be easier to work with a board type insulation over the head than something like rock wool?

Any suggestions hints appreciated;
Pat
 
Re: Insulating attic in old house

First you should determine how much insultion you need.
That depends on what is there, if nothing is there and you want to put it below the existing ceiling than you should put in about 200mm to be in compliance with the building regulations. And this is to be recommended , the resale value and the comfort to live in it would be enhanced.
So if when you have decided the room height is good enough for that - for old buildings the building regs make exemptions from the mandatory 245cm - then you have to find the beams in the ceiling.
If there is realy no access to the attic think about creating it, simply smash a hole into the plaster.
That is to find the beams and check their loadbearing, if they are rotten etc..and check the roof struckture if the house is worth the job. Then you small make holes from above with a drill at the left and at the right of each beam at each end.
That is to give you a hint where you have the centres of each beam when you stand below them.
Then you mark the beam centres at the ceiling below and fill the drilled holes back again with some gipsum.
This is the first step, if you are still interested how it goes on (smiley) we go on tomorrow, o.K.?
 
Re: Insulating attic in old house

Many thanks for that H, still interested all right.
The taught of going into the attic doesn't appeal, due creepy crawlies and the likes, but if it has to be done, so be it.
It would be safe to assume there is no insulation, house 80 yrs old.
Working over head would a sheet type insulation material be better than a roll of rockwool type thing?.
 
Re: Insulating attic in old house

You can get insulation sprayed in through small holes these days.
after the job is done fill the holes with pollyfilla and paint the ceiling
 
Re: Insulating attic in old house

Against the creepy crawleys you can get some sort of boilersuit with a hood, they come in white, are disposeable and some times seen on TV when the authoritys are catching chickens, check the recent TV news from Turkey. These boilersuits cost around €5-10 each. Adviseable is a dust mask as well as gloves.
On we go: After you found the timber structure sturdy and worth it you check with your plaster board supplier for " hangers " , these are strong metall wires divided in two pieces with a bended piece of bended steel plate in between the two. These hangers are screwed with one end into the roof joist at center. This is done on a distance of about 40cm.
When this job is finished your room looks like a modern art gallery with these things dangling down from the ceiling.
Then you fix roof battons onto the other end of these hangers, paralel with the original ceiling beams/joists.
When you have these roof battons fixed then you level them. Here comes the metall plate holding the two hanger halfs: it gives you the possibility to change the height( or lenght) of each hanger. So you get an absolute level ceiling .
Leveling in small rooms is done with the aid of a spirit level, in larger rooms a laser level or a hose filled with water is used. The latter costs around €5-10. The laser is more expensive but can be hired as well, I have seen them in Lidl for €20 as far as I remember. I use the hose for that job, cheaper and less dangerous because there is no chance to burn out parts of the retina.
Then you get the electrician in, for the ceiling lights and maybe vents etc..
Fix all the way around the walls at the height of the new ceiling roof battons as well.This will give you the ability to screw the plaster boards secure to the wall. Quite often the amateur accustic builder saves on this, thinking tape and plaster will hold the ceiling. Which is wrong.
After that you lay your insulation on to the roof battons .
Which material you use doesn't matter, as long as it is doing it's job. Electric PVC insulated cables need protection when using EPS (Aeroboard etc.) which can be provided with a short piece of plastic pipe or ducting.
Sheeps wool or rock wool can be aplied directly to PVC cables.
Done so you aply the plaster board sheets. Better use screws than nails, nails are tricky for the amateur.
Check the plaster board manufacturers home pages for detailed advise on material and workmanship, some material providers have brochures, Collins DIY (library) is also a good resource of knowledge.
When using rock wool or glass wool then wear a mask, better use the wrapped and packed rolls of rock wool. B&Q sell them from the company Knauf , some advice how to use rock wool is to found here: http://www.eurima.org/using_mineral_wool/practical_tips.cfm (thanks to our moderators who foud this site!)
When you closely look at the pictures provided by Eurima then you will see that they use no mask when working with the WRAPPED mineral wool. Otherwise always use a mask and goggles!
 
Re: Insulating attic in old house

Thanks for that advice Heinbloed, I didn't know about those wire hangers, but I have seen I suppose something similar used for stud partitions, when I say similar I mean using metal batons/studs instead of the usual tiber stud.

You have helped me to itemise the tasks involved, so we will investigate the ceiling and attic adn see how we get on from there.
Thanks again.
 
B&Q Attic Insulation

Does anyone know the length and width of a roll of B&Q attic insulation? They can give me a price but nothing else, so I can't work out the cost per sq.metre for comparison purposes.
 
Insulation Provider

I did a search on attic insulation but all I found was reccommendations/information for people undertaking the attic insulation themselves...

Would anyone have reccommendations for attic insulation providers - for my parents house which is approx. 50 years old and had insulation done many years ago...

thanks
 
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