Loft insulation - advice needed

[lxndr]

I recently had my ageing roof replaced (on a semi) and was somewhat stunned to receive a letter from the local council a few days after it was all completed demanding 125 pounds for building regs approval. Anyway, the part that I'm really concerned about is having to fit insulation to the loft in order to get approved. It was something I would have done in the fullness of time but like many others I use my loft for storage and am now faced with a massive amount of work to try and clear it out. What I wanted to ask was..

1. Will I be allowed to leave a small portion of my loft which has flooring for storage of items or will I have to cover the entire loft floor with 270mm of insulation material?

2. Do I really have to let council buildings regs people into my house and bedroom to poke their heads into my loft?

3. Given that (and there's no point in pretending) I've no real interest in whether the loft is insulated or not .. what would be the cheapest way I can fulfil buildings regs? (About half the loft has flooring).


Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ian

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

For a long time now if you replace more than 25% of the roof you need to upgrade the insulation.

1. Will I be allowed to leave a small portion of my loft which has flooring for storage of items or will I have to cover the entire loft floor with 270mm of insulation material?

They will expect you to upgrade the insulation across the entirety of your roof, technically if you wish to have boards they may expect (more expensive) rigid insulation beneath the boards wherever you want it. In reality I'd just have 3 layers of quilt insulation across the entirety of your roof for their inspection, once you get the certificate you can then lay some additional joists perpendicular to your existing with the quilt in between and then lay your boards on top of those.

2. Do I really have to let council buildings regs people into my house and bedroom to poke their heads into my loft?

If you want the certificate. If not tell them no, they won't prosecute but will probably mark your address down as having had non compliant works carried out which may show up on a solicitors search when you come to sell.

3. Given that (and there's no point in pretending) I've no real interest in whether the loft is insulated or not .. what would be the cheapest way I can fulfil buildings regs? (About half the loft has flooring).

There are several government schemes or deals from your energy supplier who can supply and fit discounted insulation. Otherwise just go to B&Q or wherever and buy some rolls, its pretty cheap anyway.

 

[lxndr]

There are several government schemes or deals from your energy supplier who can supply and fit discounted insulation. Otherwise just go to B&Q or wherever and buy some rolls, its pretty cheap anyway.

Many thanks for the info, much appreciated. Given I know nothing about the various types of insulation available, is there any particular type of roll you'd recommend? Also, is there any particular better way of achieving the 270mm insulation, i.e. 1 x 170mm overlaid with a 100mm roll or doesn't it matter?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Any old roll insulation will probably be ok tbh look for the best deal you can get in the sheds or the builders merchants if you can't find a government scheme or your energy supplier is not doing a deal. 1 layer of 170mm and 1 layer of 100m or 3 layers of 100mm, it doesn't matter how the thickness is made up. Just lay the layers perpendicular to each other.