I'm having the pitched slate roof done under a council grant (i have to pay 25%). Part of the job requires that they insulate the roof with Kingspan between the rafters. I live in a fairly old house and the rafters, which were sawn by hand, arent 100% straight (no surprise here). I reckoned it's just about impossible to get the Kingspan to fit exactly between the rafters and that gaps up to an inch or so are pretty inevitable. In anticipation of this problem I asked an Architect friend of mine the proper way to do it. He said that he would insist on beading above the kingspan and attached the length of the rafter to plug any such possible gap.
Well, I told the builder about this and he laughed . He said he'd never done this and that anyway they are very careful to cut and measure the Kingspan precisely so there arent any gaps, and that if there are any they are plugged with slivers of Kingspan.
I asked another builder, a good builder who does a lot of work for the National Trust, what he does in such situations. He said that where necessary they fill any gaps between rafter and kingspan with Polyurethane foam.
I let my builder get on with the job without interference and by the time I got back from work the Kingspan had been done, the waterproof membrane was on and the wooden battens as well. In other words I was unable to get a good look at the work. However although I was able to move some of the kingspan through the membrane other bits were tight, so I didnt bother to say anything (xmas coming up I want to see the end of the job, the best of a not so bad job etc., etc.,)
Since then however the temperature has dropped and the wind has picked up and I'm aware that this part of the job may be worse than I thought . For a start I swear its colder in the house than it was before they started when I had some decently fitted 4" polystyrene fitted between the rafters. Moreover when the wind is strong its coming through at two points. Now I have been able to look up inside at one point and I can easily fit my fingers in the gap between rafter and Kingspan.
What should I do? (The slates are now on the roof which makes the matter more complicated). Should I (a) just accept it and move on (b) insist that its re-done (c) offer to cut a deal with the council whereby I let them get away with this so long as I dont have to pay anymore (66% of my 25 % share still owing).
There is a part of me which wants to confront the council. There's bucketful's of funding coming from government to insulate people's homes and they can't be botherered to do it properly. I hate to think how many hundreds of homes across the county they've done this to, how many hundreds of people are sitting in their house thinking it's nicely insulated and they've only got a 50% job.
So what advice can you give me? How should I proceed, if at all? Comments please.
Well, I told the builder about this and he laughed . He said he'd never done this and that anyway they are very careful to cut and measure the Kingspan precisely so there arent any gaps, and that if there are any they are plugged with slivers of Kingspan.
I asked another builder, a good builder who does a lot of work for the National Trust, what he does in such situations. He said that where necessary they fill any gaps between rafter and kingspan with Polyurethane foam.
I let my builder get on with the job without interference and by the time I got back from work the Kingspan had been done, the waterproof membrane was on and the wooden battens as well. In other words I was unable to get a good look at the work. However although I was able to move some of the kingspan through the membrane other bits were tight, so I didnt bother to say anything (xmas coming up I want to see the end of the job, the best of a not so bad job etc., etc.,)
Since then however the temperature has dropped and the wind has picked up and I'm aware that this part of the job may be worse than I thought . For a start I swear its colder in the house than it was before they started when I had some decently fitted 4" polystyrene fitted between the rafters. Moreover when the wind is strong its coming through at two points. Now I have been able to look up inside at one point and I can easily fit my fingers in the gap between rafter and Kingspan.
What should I do? (The slates are now on the roof which makes the matter more complicated). Should I (a) just accept it and move on (b) insist that its re-done (c) offer to cut a deal with the council whereby I let them get away with this so long as I dont have to pay anymore (66% of my 25 % share still owing).
There is a part of me which wants to confront the council. There's bucketful's of funding coming from government to insulate people's homes and they can't be botherered to do it properly. I hate to think how many hundreds of homes across the county they've done this to, how many hundreds of people are sitting in their house thinking it's nicely insulated and they've only got a 50% job.
So what advice can you give me? How should I proceed, if at all? Comments please.