hello
i'm trying to figure how to insulate the bedroom and living rooms in my flat. the flat is on the top floor of the building in the roof space and a lot of the (sloping) ceilings of both rooms are made of uninsulated plasterboard which is attached to the roof rafters with no insulation in the gap between the plasterboard and the roofing felt.
the gap between the plasterboard and the roofing felt is just about accessible from around the edges of the floor of the (cramped) loft.
so far i've considered:
1. pouring loose fill polystyrene beads down into these gaps (this was advised to me by a chap british gas sent round to assess my insulation).
and
2. sliding insulation batts/boards (celotex, thermafleece (breathable apparently?), kingspan) between the rafters down the gap between plasterboard and roofing felt .
i've read on here that you need to leaving a 50mm ventilation gap between the insulation and the roofing felt which would seem to rule out the poly beads.
i've also read that sliding the insulation batts/boards down between the rafters might be tricky because the rafters are "unlikely to be parallel". The distance between the rafters varies (is that normal?) so i would have to cut the batts/boards to width accordingly.
The space between the plasterboard and the roofing felt is approx 100mm. So, if i need to leave a 50mm gap, the thickest insulation i could have would be 50mm.
I stripped, skimmed and decorated the whole flat before realising there is no insulation in the sloping parts of the ceilings so would really like to avoid taking out the plasterboards if at all possible.
i'd be grateful for any advice on what would be the best method of insulating these areas and what is the best (easiest/most effective) material to use.
all the best
thanks
paul
i'm trying to figure how to insulate the bedroom and living rooms in my flat. the flat is on the top floor of the building in the roof space and a lot of the (sloping) ceilings of both rooms are made of uninsulated plasterboard which is attached to the roof rafters with no insulation in the gap between the plasterboard and the roofing felt.
the gap between the plasterboard and the roofing felt is just about accessible from around the edges of the floor of the (cramped) loft.
so far i've considered:
1. pouring loose fill polystyrene beads down into these gaps (this was advised to me by a chap british gas sent round to assess my insulation).
and
2. sliding insulation batts/boards (celotex, thermafleece (breathable apparently?), kingspan) between the rafters down the gap between plasterboard and roofing felt .
i've read on here that you need to leaving a 50mm ventilation gap between the insulation and the roofing felt which would seem to rule out the poly beads.
i've also read that sliding the insulation batts/boards down between the rafters might be tricky because the rafters are "unlikely to be parallel". The distance between the rafters varies (is that normal?) so i would have to cut the batts/boards to width accordingly.
The space between the plasterboard and the roofing felt is approx 100mm. So, if i need to leave a 50mm gap, the thickest insulation i could have would be 50mm.
I stripped, skimmed and decorated the whole flat before realising there is no insulation in the sloping parts of the ceilings so would really like to avoid taking out the plasterboards if at all possible.
i'd be grateful for any advice on what would be the best method of insulating these areas and what is the best (easiest/most effective) material to use.
all the best
thanks
paul