Loft Insulation Under Boarding

[dglad]

I am about to board an area in my loft for storage and I have removed all of the very old fibre glass which was very dusty and very thin.
As I intend to use 22mm 2400x600 boarding, is it really necessary to install insulation to the area being covered?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks

dglad

 

[JohnD]

yes

the thicker the better

 

[dglad]

Would another option be to insulate between the rafters?

 

[JohnD]

this is a loft, where the timbers were designed to be strong enough to hold up the ceilings, and not strong enough to be a habitable room?

If you insulate the slope it will take more than twice as much insulating material and effort, and will keep warm an unoccupied storage area while allowing heat to escape from the heated rooms below.

What have you got in mind?

 

[dglad]

I want to create a storage area for items that I do not use on a regular basis using some lightweight plastic racking and have a new condensing boiler fitted. As I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort cleaning up the loft, I want to be able to keep it that way. I did consider boarding the whole loft area thinking that this may strengthen the loft space, but I really only need to board a section from end to end through the center to suite my requirements. My concern about the insulation was mainly due to not being sure of the best place for it to be installed as the boiler will be fitted at one end above the bathroom. It seems that I would need to insulate below the boarding and between the rafters.

 

[JohnD]

if it's a central walkway, you might consider counterbattening along it. If you use e.g. 50mmx50mm this spreads your weight across several loft timbers as you go; can avoid trapping cables under the flooring, and gives you space for extra depth of insulation that would otherwise get squashed down.

When all screwed together, it makes the floored area much more rigid.