Insulation Types : Glass wool or Bubble foil stuff

toshtastic · 11 Nov 2008

Hi,

I am going to be insulating underneath my floorboards on my ground floor. Once under there the space I have ranges from being in a crouched position to crawling (house is on a hill)

I also have restricted access (unless I start pulling up floorboards - which im not going to)

So my two options to insulate are to either use glass wool (by creating pockets which I will put the wool into) or using the bubble foil stuff which I will simply staple onto the bottom of the floorboard

Can anyone tell me any pro's and cons with either method? The total area I am doing is about 60 square m and I think it would be easier to use the bubble foil, but Ive never used it before and I dont know many people that have

Thanks in advance

IJWS15 · 12 Nov 2008

Don't think bubble foil will stop the draughts too well.

Try cavity wall bats cut to the joist spacing. They are fairly rigid and won't need much support.

toshtastic · 12 Nov 2008

the bubble stuff is equivalent to 50mm polystyrene though - surely that should stop most draughts?

Im not going to be stapling it to the floorboards like I originally said, I will be stapling it to the underside of my joists so that I have an air gap (about 200mm in my case) - will that make a difference?

The only reason Im really for the bubble stuff is that its a lot easier for me to do in the restricted space that I have

What are wall bats? are they boards that I need to cut? Is that the stuff that expands out when you fit it? If so then I dont really have the space to get that underneath the floor - not without lifting more boards anyway

Can you give me a bit more info on the wall bats please so I can have a think about it?

Thanks

wsdconst · 15 Nov 2008

yeah i d be temted to use anything other than fibre glass because it aint nice to use in a confined space.i d probably use kingspan rigid fixed the oposite way to the direction of the joists and foam any gappy joints t stop the draughts.it might cost a bit more if thats an issue.

Combover · 16 Nov 2008

I'd create a cradle using chicken wire which you can fix to teh underside of the floor joists and put mineral wool in there.

I'd avoid using kingspan type stuff.

wsdconst · 16 Nov 2008

it would be hard to get insulation in from below it you d already put up the chicken wire as he does nt want to take up the floor and i think it would snag on the wire but you could put insulation up first then add chicken wire it would be perfectly acceptable but still alot of messing in hardly any space

toshtastic · 16 Nov 2008

guys,

just to let you all know that I opted to use some netting (netline or netlon I think its called) and glass wool. I just cut the glass wool to a size that squeezes in between the joists and then stapled the netting on after I had finished putting the wool up

wasnt much fun, but hopefully worth it in the long run! bloody better be

thanks for the replies though

Combover · 17 Nov 2008

wsdconst said:
it would be hard to get insulation in from below it you d already put up the chicken wire as he does nt want to take up the floor and i think it would snag on the wire but you could put insulation up first then add chicken wire it would be perfectly acceptable but still alot of messing in hardly any space

Sorry, bit of a brain malfunction. That's the way round I meant it.

DIYAnswerGuy · 17 Nov 2008

Using a radiant barrier is the way to go for a couple of reasons. One, as you may know, the radiant barrier is made from closed cell foam coated on both side with foil. This makes it resistant to most everything. Two, it's a moisture barrier. Three, it gives you a R-14 with only a 1/4" of insulating material. And the final bonus is it's less expensive and far easier to work with. I have used it in many of my client's homes as well as my own.

Wishing you success.

diynot

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Insulation Types : Glass wool or Bubble foil stuff

DIYAnswerGuy

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