Has my loft insulation been laid correctly?

[kerryj]

Can anyone tell me if my builders' approach to laying loft insulation is a problem or should I let it go? My husband laid 200mm of glass mineral wool before the builder raised the joists to then lay a further 200mm in between and then lay boards on top to provide loft storage.

The problem, I think, is that the builder has left some old boards on top of the first layer of insulation and he's then laid the new layer of insulation on top of the boards (in the opposite direction to the first layer). I can't understand why he hasn't just laid the new insulation on top of the layer my husband laid and removed the boards.

Can anyone tell me if this will cause problems or reduce the effectiveness of the insulation, giving me good reason to ask him to take the boards out before carrying on or will it have no detrimental impact? He's coming back to finish the job tomorrow!

 

[ladylola]

There's no real advantage to removing the boards , indeed sometimes the resultant vibration can end up cracking the plaster of the ceiling that is assuming these old boards were up there and fixed prior to all this. The only real reason to lift the boards would be if there was no insulation underneath . Or am I not reading this correctly and your husband has insulated the loft and the builder has placed the old boards there which doesn't seem to make sense.

 

[kerryj]

Yes - the boards were just laying unfixed on top of the joists to provide crawl boards for my husband / the builders to get up there and move around. The one's I've spotted are around the door hatch and I could see this insulation sandwich with a board filling which makes no sense to me either. I see no reason for these not to be moved out of the way before laying the top layer of insulation but now half the loft is boarded I don't know if this has been the approach throughout. The question is do I ask the builder to take it up and do it properly or is it fine as it is?

 

[Burnerman]

Just forget about it, Kerry......whether the boards remain or not won't affect the value of your insulation.
There's nothing to stop you removing them if you want, of course but you won't notice any difference heat wise.
John

 

[kerryj]

Great - thanks both. I just needed the reassurance. Looks like lazy work to me (based on other issues with quality of work) but if it's not a problem I'm not going to make it one. Thanks

 

[ladylola]

One other thought , you say your husband has laid 200 mm of insulation . How deep are the original joists? I'm assuming not 200 mm in which case the boards could very well be compressing the insulation your husband has just laid. Compressing insulation reduces the effectiveness . It works by trapping air as you probably very well know but squeeze the air out......
If it is compressed then you are well within your rights to ask for the boards to be removed , it shouldn't even be that much of a job to be honest.

 

[kerryj]

Yes ladylola that was one of my concerns. The boards are squashing the first layer of insulation a bit. I'll query with the builder tomorrow and see if he knows this.