# insulation behind skirting boards



## dobbins (9 Feb 2009)

Hi,

Advice appreciated. I have a 3 bed SD house, approx 17 years old. Excuse my un-technical terminology here but the walls consist of one layer of cavity blocks, a gap, a couple of inches of insulation (looks like the stuff you'd see a stereo or tv packed in) and plasterboard. I know this is probably quite poor insulation wise but I'd like to do as best I can with it.

We are doing a bit of renovation at the moment. I've recently had the walls skimmed and as part of this process I pulled all the skirting boards off.

In most places neither the plasterboard or insulation reach the floor and I can see the bricks through where the skirting was. There is a few inches gap between the floor and the bottom of the skirting and insulation.

Before I put new skirting back on, has anyone any recommendations regarding this? Would it make much difference trying to do something insulation-wise here? Can I use some kind of foam? If I do something should I try and maintain the gap between the bricks and whatever insulation I use?

Cheers.


----------



## magicbeans (10 Feb 2009)

It would help stop drafts etc. Handiest might be a roll of attic insulation it can be packed into the gap (need gloves etc.)

It doesnt need to be too tight as it traps more air in its layers if its not too compressed.


----------



## Male Doon (10 Feb 2009)

Another possible solution might be to put strips of carpet along the edge. I did this recently with the skirting boards in place and it made a noticeable difference re draft elimination and the carpet strips are not visible.


----------



## Towger (10 Feb 2009)

I would go with Magicbeans, or the strips of carpet if they are handy. Try to keep away from the foam, it has its uses but can very messy


----------



## DublinHead54 (27 Jan 2021)

Hi,

I'm renovating (minor) a 1950's Semi D. I'm installing a new wooden floor over a suspended wooden floor. I've just taken the skirting boards off and there are quite a lot of drafts coming up between where the wall meets the suspended floor. I'd like solutions for closing the gap and any issues it may cause?

I was thinking about getting some either plastic or laminate underlay and fitting it in an 'L' shape around the wall such that the new wood floor wood sit on the '_' and the skirting board would go over the 'I' piece of the L shape if that makes sense? I haven't found anything about this method online. It makes logical sense to me but not sure if it works in practice or creates moisture issues. The suspended floor is in very good condition and feels relatively airtight and this should improve with the laying of tongue n groove wood flooring. *Edit upon further research this approach seems to be using a damp proof  polyethylene plastic sheet that would usually be laid over the joists with the excess up the wall. 

The other options I see are using some form of sealer like silicon, or stuffing holes with insulating wool.

The house is BER F, and I am doing minor renovations to move in before doing larger works to improve insulation. I grew up in a house with a suspended wooden floor, and don't feel the need to fill it or put insulation between the joists.


----------



## elcato (27 Jan 2021)

You can get a roll of expandable tape nowadays which fits in at the start and starts expanding up in a few minutes. Haven't tried it but may be a solution.


----------



## DublinHead54 (27 Jan 2021)

elcato said:


> You can get a roll of expandable tape nowadays which fits in at the start and starts expanding up in a few minutes. Haven't tried it but may be a solution.



Thanks, I have gone down a rabbit hole and now considering whether I should installed engineered wood on top of the existing floorboards at all!


----------



## TrundleAlong (27 Jan 2021)

We have coving at the top of our walls. Behind the coving they have left a gap between wall and ceiling of about 3 inches.  I shudder to think of the amount of heat escaping through here and the skirting boards.

Same with the windows.  The windows didn't quite fit so they filled the area with a foam type product in the gaps.


----------



## DublinHead54 (27 Jan 2021)

TrundleAlong said:


> We have coving at the top of our walls. Behind the coving they have left a gap between wall and ceiling of about 3 inches.  I shudder to think of the amount of heat escaping through here and the skirting boards.
> 
> Same with the windows.  The windows didn't quite fit so they filled the area with a foam type product in the gaps.



I just don't know what is overkill and what is not. I grew up in a house with a suspended wooden floor and we took the old floor up, put down plywood over the joists, filled in the gaps at the wall and lay the floor and it has been grand. 

I think my bigger problem is the fitting of a thick engineered wood over the existing suspended floor.


----------



## Zenith63 (27 Jan 2021)

I did quite a bit of work on a fairly modern house we bought a few years ago.  Found similar issues of insulation and plasterboard not reaching the floors behind skirting boards.  I used cans of expanding foam and found it great.  Just spray it into all gaps, leave overnight, cut off the excess with a long blade or hacksaw blade the next day.  It has made a huge difference to the comfort of the house and the cans of foam are very cheap.

@Dublinbay12 if you're going with a floating engineered floor you'll be rolling out a foam/seal layer under the flooring anyway, you could just roll that up the walls a couple of inches.  However considering how easy it was to put the expandable foam in, I'd be doing that first and see where it leaves you.


----------



## Zenith63 (27 Jan 2021)

Dublinbay12 said:


> I think my bigger problem is the fitting of a thick engineered wood over the existing suspended floor.


What's your concern with that out of interest?  Mine were over concrete downstairs but over plywood floorboards upstairs, all OK.


----------



## DublinHead54 (27 Jan 2021)

Zenith63 said:


> What's your concern with that out of interest?  Mine were over concrete downstairs but over plywood floorboards upstairs, all OK.



The concern is two fold, first from a correctness perspective and secondly from a cost perspective. The first concern is what is the correct way to do it and aesthetics and different levels across the house. For example, the engineered wood sample is 1 inch thick and when laid over the existing floor will be much higher than the carpet impacting the doors etc. Then transitioning to the tiled kitchen will not be level. I assume in your case the concrete floor was designed to have a floor laid on top of it. So is the correct way to lift the floorboards and place plywood and keep the levels roughly the same.

Cost perspective is where the insulation comes in, I am largely doing cosmetic renovations to make the house more liveable, and I don't want to put down an engineered wood floor only to find in 12 months we should have lifted the floorboards and insulated underneath etc. I believe once the floor is down it can't be lifted without damage. Thus I am considering just laying a laminate at a cost of ~4k vs ~8k for engineered and eating a potential lost 4k down the line when major renovations are done. The last concern on laminate is it would reduce the 'warmth' or always be cold vs the engineered floor. 

I have gone down a rabbit hole!


----------



## Zenith63 (27 Jan 2021)

No floors were not specifically designed for the wood floor to go on top in my case, it was all carpets throughout the house before I started.  My engineered flooring was the same size as yours by the sound of it.  Really not that big a deal the transitions between floor types/heights, happy to send you a few photos of the transitions if you PM me an email address.

Correctness wise there's really no rocket science to it.  When you're ordering the floor you'll be asked to order rolls of underlay.  You roll out the underlay to cover the room then begin laying the wooden floor, gluing the tongue/groove joints.  The floor will be 'floating', so all glued together as one big piece but it can expand/contract with the seasons so you need to leave ~1cm around the outside to allow for this.  The 1cm gap will be hidden under your skirting board, architraves/door frames (you'll need to undercut these with a multitool to allow the wood slide under).  Yes once it's down it's very difficult to take up without damaging it.

Certain engineered floors can be used as a floorboard themselves, the 1" version we got for example could be.  But honestly it would be more hassle to lift the existing floor and undercut the walls etc to allow the new floor to slot in, much easier to put on top in my view.  The double layer of wood will also give you a much firmer feel underfoot, which is important for the flooring not to feel poorly laid I think.

I've done 10 rooms or so as a DIYer over the years, very achievable with time and patience.

If it were me I'd take up the existing flooring and insulate under it, but plenty of people wouldn't so it's your call.


----------



## Leo (27 Jan 2021)

If it was me, I'd take up all the old floor boards, add insulation between the joists and seal all joints. Kingspan guide [broken link removed] has examples of how to detail this.


----------



## DublinHead54 (27 Jan 2021)

Zenith63 said:


> Correctness wise there's really no rocket science to it.  When you're ordering the floor you'll be asked to order rolls of underlay.  You roll out the underlay to cover the room then begin laying the wooden floor, gluing the tongue/groove joints.  The floor will be 'floating', so all glued together as one big piece but it can expand/contract with the seasons so you need to leave ~1cm around the outside to allow for this.  The 1cm gap will be hidden under your skirting board, architraves/door frames (you'll need to undercut these with a multitool to allow the wood slide under).  Yes once it's down it's very difficult to take up without damaging it.



This where it is open to debate, the floor installers recommended not floating an engineered work floor but rather glue it and nail it. I think I am leaning towards floating a laminate and longer term lifting original floor boards, insulating and renovating the existing floor boards. 

If I had time I would do a lot of the work myself but not currently living in the house, a new born, full time work and part time college is making it hard to spend time renovating.


----------



## Leo (27 Jan 2021)

Dublinbay12 said:


> This where it is open to debate, the floor installers recommended not floating an engineered work floor but rather glue it and nail it. I think I am leaning towards floating a laminate and longer term lifting original floor boards, insulating and renovating the existing floor boards.



Did they really suggest glue AND nail? It's usually one or the other with planks glued along the tongue and groove to form a floating floor or glued directly to the subfloor with a specialist flexible adhesive.

The NOFMA [broken link removed] on wood flooring installation is a great source of info on the various options.


----------



## shweeney (27 Jan 2021)

Charlie White recommends expanding foam tape for skirting board gaps - if it's good enough for him etc:








						Expanding Foam Tape for Draught Proofing
					

In today's video I use Expanding Foam Tape to eliminate draughts around the house.You can buy me a coffee here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/charliediyte or b...




					youtu.be


----------



## Coldwarrior (2 Feb 2021)

Dublinbay12 said:


> Cost perspective is where the insulation comes in, I am largely doing cosmetic renovations to make the house more liveable, and I don't want to put down an engineered wood floor only to find in 12 months we should have lifted the floorboards and insulated underneath etc. I believe once the floor is down it can't be lifted without damage. Thus I am considering just laying a laminate at a cost of ~4k vs ~8k for engineered and eating a potential lost 4k down the line when major renovations are done. The last concern on laminate is it would reduce the 'warmth' or always be cold vs the engineered floor.



I skimped on the floor insulation a few years ago when doing some house renovations and regret it now. I just put plywood sheets over the existing suspended floorboards, taped the joints and put laminate over that. I did use an "insulated" underlay under the laminate but its too thin really to be of much use. My floor now is often cold to walk on barefoot (annoying especially with young kids), still a bit drafty and I think I'm losing a lot of heat through it. I'm probably gonna rip it up again in a few years and do it right, so I'd say bite the bullet now and do it right the first time.


----------



## DublinHead54 (2 Feb 2021)

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I have just landed on the quickest solution as we need to get into the house, I am taping up the gaps and laying plywood and underlay and the laminate on top. 

We will be doing major renovations in a year or so and will think about it then.


----------



## Leo (3 Feb 2021)

Dublinbay12 said:


> Thanks for all the feedback. I think I have just landed on the quickest solution as we need to get into the house, I am taping up the gaps and laying plywood and underlay and the laminate on top.
> 
> We will be doing major renovations in a year or so and will think about it then.



It's not that big a job to insulate between the joists now. I'd wager it's very unlikely you'll take up a 1 year old floor to address it with the renovations. Are you really going to rip off all the skirting and repair/replace that? 

If you do plan on doing it later and on reusing the laminate after the refurb, make sure you keep plenty of spare boards to replace ones that will get damaged when lifting.


----------

