insulating car port

joeturbo · 8 Feb 2016

I purchased my 12 year old 1st floor apartment just over a year ago and have noticed that the floors get very cold during the winter months and I assume this is due to the ground floor being my large open air car port housing 4 cars.

The flat originally had laminate flooring throughout, we replaced this in the bed rooms for thick carpet with good underlay but even then the carpets feel cold.

On closer inspection of the car port I see that the ceiling is boarded, I am now considering replacing this boarding and maybe any insulation beyond this boarding for better products, are you able to advise?

many thanks

theprinceofdarkness · 8 Feb 2016

I would expect that there is a layer of some fire proofing material between the ceiling of the carport and the woodwork of your bedroom floor. Have a look above any light fitting/ceiling rose. The standard material used would be Celotex. Once you have stripped of the boarding and perhaps the fire proofing, then look very carefully at where the joists go into the wall, seal up any cracks with silicone goo. There could be exposed steel beams which are thermally very conductive, they would need insulating as a separate project.
Frank

joeturbo · 8 Feb 2016

many thanks, I will try to take one board down in the morning if I have time, I will take a photo and post here.

photo of flooring in hallway/living room, laminate, fibre board, hardboard? polystyrene

joeturbo · 9 Feb 2016

here is the carport, I have not had time to remove a board but will try tomorrow

Tipper · 9 Feb 2016

My town house has a garage on the ground level with a suspended floor and plasterboard garage ceiling above. The kitchen and dining room floors immediately above the garage were very cold. I had the joist interspace insulated with blown waste-paper cellulose fibre called Warmcel. I expect there are other makes too.

This was done by drilling 100mm holes and the installer blowing fibre into the spaces between joists. The holes were then filled by refixing the cut discs and a skim of plaster put across them to maintain the integrity of the plasterboard fire lining, etc. The fibre is in itself treated to be fire resistant. This resulted in a much warmer floor above.

joeturbo · 5 Feb 2017

Evening all,

I just wanted to follow up on this thread as I have only just got around to taking down one of the carports ceiling boards.

The board itself is only around 5cm think, behind the board is nothing but wood battons and concreate. The gap between the board and the concreate is around 8cm. Looking from the outside of the building there are small air vents but these are placed above the concrete so would not be effected by any insulation.

Could anyone advise if I would benefit from adding some type of insulation between the board and concrete? What are my options? Many thanks

joeturbo · 15 Jan 2018

Hi all,

Just wanted to follow up on this thread as we are installing a new kitchen and the chipboard flooring will need to be replaced due to it having water damage. I thought this would be a good time to find out what is currently under the chipboard and install new insulation. The kitchen installer has suggested knauf eko 200mm and replace the chip board with plywood. Does this sound the best choice?

From what I know the flooring is as follows

Chipboard
White polystyrene
Void ? (Won’t know this until chipboard up)
Concrete
Void
Plasterboard
Open carport

If this turns out correct I would be tempted to pay some one to do the rest of the flat a room at a time

endecotp · 15 Jan 2018

The knauf mineral wool product will have similar thermal properties to your existing white polystyrene, for the same thickness. How thick is the polystyrene?

tomfe · 15 Jan 2018

joeturbo said:
under the chipboard and install new insulation. The kitchen installer has suggested knauf eko 200mm

You are going to use a fiber insulation under a floating floor? You'd have to batten it out.
100mm of PIR is similar to 200mm of fiber insulation, if you have to make up 200mm, then 200mm of eps would give you around building regs.

joeturbo · 16 Jan 2018

Evening both,

Many thanks for the replies,

I am not certain what the thickness is of the polystyrene as everywhere is now carpeted. I assume the polystyrene is held in place by batons with a void beneath to allow airflow? (as per the vents in the photos in my previous post)

Would the better choice be to replace the polystyrene like for like depth with something like this rather than the fiber?

http://www.diy.com/departments/jablite-premium-insulation-board-1200mm-450mm-50mm/26831_BQ.prd

I assume it’s also pointless insulating from underneath in the carport as the void above the concreate/below the polystyrene is where the cold is coming from (so insulating beneath the concreate would accomplish nothing?)

endecotp · 16 Jan 2018

That Jablite product is a slightly better polystyrene (the dark grey indicates that it contains graphite, which improves its performance by about 20% compared to normal white polystyrene). To get a more significant improvement, use a PIR insulation board like Celoex or Kingspan, or even better a PUR board like Kooltherm. They're about twice as good as polystyrene or mineral wool for the same thickness. Of course they also cost more. Look for "seconds & co" for cheaper ones.

Regarding gaps, hopefully someone else will comment; you may be able to fill the entire space.

joeturbo · 16 Jan 2018

Really appreciate your feedback on this. Thing is we love the apartment but the cold chill from the floor drives me balmy. Don’t mind paying out for the best product if it fixes the problem.

joeturbo · 16 Jan 2018

I see Kingspan do a few things in kooltherm. This the sort of thing I would need?

https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en-gb/p...ards/kooltherm/kooltherm-k110-fm-soffit-board

joeturbo · 16 Jan 2018

I have been able to get under the kitchen units where the chipboard does not meet the side so can see

20mm chipboard
50mm white polystyrene
Concrete
(Guess void where the external vents are)
Concrete
Void
Plasterboard
Carport

endecotp · 16 Jan 2018

As it's only 12 years old, I would have expected a decent amount of insulatiin to have been fitted.
I'm really not sure what you do with those voids.

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insulating car port

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