# Attic and cavity wall insulation top up



## PauloMN (3 Nov 2010)

Am considering getting the above work done.  The house is a 1950sqft  detached bungalow with the attic converted (but not yet in use).   Unfortunately the house was built in 2006 - does that completely rule me  out of €650 grant money, or have people managed to get their 2006  builds through?

Is this work worth doing?  I feel the house gets cold quickly after  having the heating on and I'm hoping this will make a difference.

Is €1000 a good price for the extra cavity insulation?  The guy who  looked at it said there's existing insulation board in the cavity but  that there's still a gap which should be toppped up with the stuff they  pump in.  Also the insulation around the crawl space of the attic is not  sufficient (only around 4") and he has recommened adding another 8" on  top in the crawl space and in the space on top of the converted attic  (basically in the attic roof space where the tank is).


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## Fiskar (17 Nov 2010)

Am getting this work done too, house is 20 year old. Did internal insulation to north facing and window walls last year which has imensley improved things in those rooms, however kitchen and extension get cold very quickly. Did top up half the house with 170 mm on top of 100mm and that too has increased warmt.
Job will complete attic to 300mm of insulation and walls being pumped so hope this will improve the rear of the house. Hard to insulate that part of the house internally given the fittings etc.


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## Whiskey (18 Nov 2010)

PauloMN said:


> The guy who  looked at it said there's existing insulation board in the cavity but  that there's still a gap which should be toppped up with the stuff they  pump in.


Interesting  for a house built in 2006
Did the house pass building regulations ?  Did you get a certificate of compliance with the regs from your building professionals

I guess if it had passed building regs, you wouldnt need to top up the cavity, there shouldn't be any gap anywhere,

There should be a complete uninterrupted envelope of insulation all around the house including the floor

 You should deal with the gap, with the priviso that filling cavity gaps completely can be a bad idea in certain circumstances, i.e. it means if the insulation gets wet, it cant easily  dry out, causing damp, and making the house colder not warmer




PauloMN said:


> Also the insulation around the crawl space of the attic is not  sufficient (only around 4") and he has recommened adding another 8" on  top in the crawl space and in the space on top of the converted attic  (basically in the attic roof space where the tank is).



Yeah 12 inches is around 300mm,   which is exactly the loft insulation in the UK to meet building regs.  Not sure what the recommended loft insulation is in Ireland.

When they built your house 4  years ago, they put in 100mm,  very poor, not nearly enough


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## PauloMN (22 Nov 2010)

Whiskey said:


> Interesting  for a house built in 2006
> Did the house pass building regulations ?  Did you get a certificate of compliance with the regs from your building professionals
> 
> I guess if it had passed building regs, you wouldnt need to top up the cavity, there shouldn't be any gap anywhere,
> ...



I bought the house 2nd hand, only moved in last year.  No idea on the regulations.  It's a house in an estate.  If the plumbing setup that was here is anything to go by, I'm not surprised that the insulation is lacking also.  We had no room thermostats at all, and no heating zones.  That's been upgraded now with thermostats, TRVs on rads, separate heating zones and a 7 day timer.



Whiskey said:


> You should deal with the gap, with the priviso that filling cavity gaps completely can be a bad idea in certain circumstances, i.e. it means if the insulation gets wet, it cant easily  dry out, causing damp, and making the house colder not warmer



I've read this, and also the counter argument that even if water does get in, it should only get in so far and the beads have a natural drainage allowing the water to run off.  Nobody seems to know for sure.  All I can do is use a proper company to do the work (which I'm doing - I'm getting the work done this week).  There is insulation board in the cavity at the moment but the company that came out said that the cavity should still be filled as there's often gaps around windows and openings that will let the heat out.



Whiskey said:


> Yeah 12 inches is around 300mm,   which is exactly the loft insulation in the UK to meet building regs.  Not sure what the recommended loft insulation is in Ireland.
> 
> When they built your house 4  years ago, they put in 100mm,  very poor, not nearly enough



I'm not sure if it was originally 6" that went in that has just sagged a bit, but it's definitely not enough either way.  The additional layer put on top should help anyway.


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## BOXtheFOX (7 Dec 2010)

PauloMN said:


> All I can do is use a proper company to do the work (which I'm doing - I'm getting the work done this week).


 
How did the job work out?


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## PauloMN (17 Dec 2010)

It has worked out well, heat seems to last longer than before, and the recent cold snap has been a good test for it.  Got the cavity bead pumped in and 200mm of extra insulation in the crawl space and attic roof space (converted but unused attic).

The installers said that it took quite a bit of bead in places, so when the board that was there was cut in those place, it was obviously cut too much (around windows/doors etc.).

I'd say it's worth getting done overall.


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## etar (30 Jan 2011)

Hi PauloMn, I am just wondering were you successful in applying for the grant.  as we are now in the same position. our house was very badly insulated by the builder.


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