insulating under floor boards/ceiling space

[sharknose]

hi. does anyone have any ideas on insulating the cavity between the first floor ceiling and the second floor without having to take the ceiling off or taking the floor boards up. I am thinking about pumping some if that wooly insulation that is normally pumped into cavity walls. Does anybody have any input?

 

[r896neo]

You could in theory pump it with polystyrene beads but it would be a terrible idea as it could make your electrical cables overheat and catch fire.

Not to mention if you ever had to replace the ceiling below.

If its purely for heat loss then over boarding the ceiling with insulated plasterboard is probably your easiest option. If its for sound though you may need to spend a bit more.

 

[sharknose]

problem is we have large victorian achitrave on ceiling which would be impossible to get of in tact. is there not an insulation that is a bit like cotton wool

 

[mointainwalker]

Wouldnt affect the basic problem that you should not cover electrical wiring with insulation of any type , although the electricians forum says ( paraphrased) that there is sufficient spare capacity on a normal lighting circuit to cope with this.

The real potential danger comes with cables feeding electric-showers, immersion-heaters or other large consumers.

Do you know what cables run in the void ?

 

[sharknose]

the only wires would be one that leads to the one ceilng light in the room below and also there are four double wall sockets on each wall so there would be cables running to them also. but that would be all. No electric shower

 

[geraldthehamster]

hi. does anyone have any ideas on insulating the cavity between the first floor ceiling and the second floor without having to take the ceiling off or taking the floor boards up. I am thinking about pumping some if that wooly insulation that is normally pumped into cavity walls. Does anybody have any input?

Are you saying there is an inhabited room below, and an inhabited room above, both presumably with heating? If so, why do you want to insulate?

Cheers
Richard

 

[sharknose]

we live in a victorian house and the lower room (living room) struggles to retain any heat as we are an end terrace so the any warmth just seems to leak straight through the exterior walls . Also have have a large bay window. Just thought if I insulated the ceiling at least it would help retain some heat

 

[geraldthehamster]

we live in a victorian house and the lower room (living room) struggles to retain any heat as we are an end terrace so the any warmth just seems to leak straight through the exterior walls . Also have have a large bay window. Just thought if I insulated the ceiling at least it would help retain some heat

How many storeys? You mentioned the second floor but possibly you meant the first floor ?

Yes, you could insulate the ceiling and it would keep some of the heat downstairs, though possibly might make the room above colder.

If heat is being lost through the exterior walls, you might consider insulating the gable end wall with 50mm Celotex between battens, plasterboard over and skim. That might be more expensive than you're considering, and I guess would give you issues with skirting (easily fixed by removing and reinstalling) and coving (less so). Do you have fireplaces that you don't use, that could be a source of draughts?

Heavy curtains over the bay window would probably be as effective as secondary double glazing.

Do you have stripped floorboards? Consider heavy rugs to prevent draughts and make the floor warmer to walk on.

If you want to insulate above the ceiling, you could possibly take up four floorboards across the width of the room above, and drag space blanket between the joists. As others have commented, you'd really want to know where the wiring was and avoid covering that.

Cheers

Richard