Chilly bedroom

[Mark-B]

Hello all, I'm after some advice on how to make our bedroom warmer!
The house is ten years old and the room in question is a single storey suspended over the entrance to a residents car park and has two radiators, its about 5m x 3m.
At this time of year the room is always a lot colder than the rest of the house. The only way to make it a bit warmer is to leave the door open but that's not practical as we need to keep pets out.
When I laid laminate flooring in the room a couple of years ago there was a noticeable draught coming from the the join between the floor and walls. (I removed the skirting to refit after laying the floor)
So, cutting to the chase, I'd like to call someone in to see what is best to do to sort this problem. Thing is I'm not sure what sort of trade I need to call on, is it as simple as calling a builder?

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks

Mark

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

A few questions, what height is the room, what sq metre area is taken up by windows, how many external walls, what is above the room (ie another heated room, pitched insulated roof, flat insulated roof) and what type and size of radiators do you have? (ie height and length, single or double panel) and what are the walls made of?

 

[^woody^]

At the most you'll need to lift the floorboards and either fit insulation, increase the insulation that's there or replace it with better insulation. And seal any gaps in the floor void.

At the least, caulk around the bottom of the skirting.

100mm rockwool on the bottom and 100mm celotex on the top is a good spec.

A general builder or carpenter is the person to do this.

The alternative is to upgrade the heating radiators.

Carpet and good underlay with a foil bottom sheet is always the best floor covering for these bridge rooms.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I would have thought that with the property being only 10 year old that heat loss would have been dealt with, if the property is less than 10 years old? There could well be in place an insurance to correct any failure of the builder to comply with NHBC requirements.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There could well be in place an insurance to correct any failure of the builder to comply with NHBC requirements.

NHBC is no use against such items, subsidence yes, poor workmanship and maybe some missing insulation no. Building warranties like NHBC are in place at the convenience of the lenders not the owners.

woodplops has covered it anyway really.

 

[^woody^]

I would have thought that with the property being only 10 year old that heat loss would have been dealt with

Yes. 60mm of Celotex and 140mm or more of nothing would have satisfied the regs.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

One thing you could is to wander around underneath the bridge to see if there are any obvious defects that are letting in the draught, like missing light fittings. There is a good likelyhood of the draught coming from the cavity via joists that have shrunk and poor mortar joints. Its the advantage of a modern construction.
Frank

 

[Mark-B]

Thanks for all of the quick responses everyone. Some useful advice.
In answer to the questions posed, the room (ceiling) height is about 2.4m and there is an insulated pitched roof above. The window area is about 3 - 4 sq m (uPVC frames, double-glazed) and there are two small single panel radiators approximately 750x400mm and 540x400mm. There are two external brick walls plus two breeze block walls between the room and the rest of the house and between the room and the neighbouring property, all covered with the usual skimmed plaster board.
The insulation in the floor I have caught sight of looks just like the yellow stuff that is in the loft.

We had talked about replacing the laminate flooring with carpet and good quality underlay to combat the problem, maybe we should look at that again and make sure the edges of the floor are well sealed.

Mark

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

We had talked about replacing the laminate flooring with carpet and good quality underlay to combat the problem, maybe we should look at that again and make sure the edges of the floor are well sealed

That will help but its maybe a 3-4 days work to skip the laminate, lift whatever boards are down, seal any gaps, insulate to the max, refit the boards, seal up everything again. Then carpet. To avoid doing that seems short-sighted.