No access to "attic space" above living room in bungalow: how to insulate?

[caljane]

Hello,
We live in a bungalow with an attic accessed via a stira in the hallway. At the front of the house, the living room juts out about two foot beyond the rest of the house. A plumber working in the attic brought our attention to the fact that the "attic" doesn't extend as far as this jutting-out section of the living room. So, I suppose, it is just empty space without any access to it from our attic. As a result, it isn't insulated at all.

That section of the room has had some mould on it. I am now thinking the lack of inslation might be the reason? How could I go about insulating it?
Thanks!

 

[Micks'r]

Is the 'jutting-out section' roof pitched or flat?

 

[caljane]

Thanks for replying. It's pitched.

 

[Clamball]

Put a hole in the ceiling for access, insulate and close back up the hole? Our garage juts out to the side and there is an access square in the ceiling to get into the space. All that is up there is insulation.

 

[Micks'r]

Yes, the mould is most likely because the lack of insulation.
Your options to remedy this are:
1. As said above, access from inside by temporary opening and make good
2. If ceiling height allows, add insulated plasterboard with skim finish below current ceiling
3. Depending on the roof age and condition, access from outside and insulate as part of other substantial roof works.

 

[llgon]

A plumber working in the attic brought our attention to the fact that the "attic" doesn't extend as far as this jutting-out section of the living room.

What is blocking this section from the rest of the attic? Maybe it can be removed or partly removed for access.

 

[ClubMan]

Yes, the mould is most likely because the lack of insulation.

And/or lack of ventilation?

 

[Micks'r]

And/or lack of ventilation?

Yes perhaps but assuming there is no mould on the other insulated ceilings then adding the missing insulation should solve this mould issue. Improving ventilation efficiency is always a good idea in any case.

 

[caljane]

What is blocking this section from the rest of the attic? Maybe it can be removed or partly removed for access.

I wondered this. I'll have to check again. Plumber felt he couldn't easily access it in any case but I'm not sure what exactly is there. Thanks.

 

[caljane]

Yes perhaps but assuming there is no mould on the other insulated ceilings then adding the missing insulation should solve this mould issue. Improving ventilation efficiency is always a good idea in any case.

Thanks. There are some spots of mould elsewhere but I think they are explained by cold patches, e.g. near a draughty front door. This spot is the only place where it's been a recurring issue.

In terms of ventilation there are open vents and daily opened windows. We have a LOT of condensation and I heard about some sort of mechanical ventilation we might look into.

What's the best advice for attic insulation these days? Seems to be a big variety of opinions and costs..

 

[Monbretia]

I'd check if as mentioned there is a blank bit of plasterboard wall blocking off access to just that bit, it would have probably been easier just build that way, I have an area of attic something similar that there is no access too as they just didn't bother providing access when it was being converted, more convenient for builder I would think.

In the rest of the attic I had to open two extra access panels last winter in two bedrooms because I wanted to check on insulation and improve it. There was in theory access to this area but you had to crawl past the water tanks and while doable in an emergency was not an option for doing work. There was evidence of dots of what looked like mould/damp on the ceiling close to edges in two rooms downstairs and sure enough there was practically no insulation covering those areas when I looked. I could actually see the light from downstairs coming in around downlighters so you could say it was ventilated but not insulated! There is no such problem in the area I have no access to so left that bit alone.

It's relatively easy cut a hole in the plasterboard between supports for which you will usually see the nail marks on the plasterboard to identify where they are, the width between 2 supports is usually around 16" give or take so sufficient to crawl in for average size person or even firing in the insulation might do you if it's a small area. I just bought the rolls of insulation in Woodies similar to what is already there as I wasn't changing the lot, they were as cheap as anywhere else for it at the time if only buying a small quantity. Then you can either just screw on a panel again to close up or I put doors on the new access points, not fancy ones, just mdf and lined back of it with polystyrene to insulate.

 

[Leo]

I have an area of attic something similar that there is no access too as they just didn't bother providing access when it was being converted, more convenient for builder I would think.

Common enough when tying in another section of roof to the main structure roofed with prefab trusses. Unless the attic space is significantly large they won't bother with the extra work of making access.

It's easy enough to cut a new attic hatch into the smaller attic space, framing off the hole in case of a need to access in the future. Depending on the size it might be easier to pump insulation into the space, but care needs to be taken to ensure they don't block ventilation.

 

[caljane]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like it's definitely beyond our DIY capabilities but that we should look into sorting it, so! Thanks again.