Replace Old insualtion in Old house?

[emilne82]

Hello, I have just moved into a 3 bedroom ex-council house. The house has been used mainly as a holiday home for the last 3 years for 1 month a year.

The problem's)

Inspecting the loft I found that their is very little in the way of insulation. No lagging on pipes, thin hot water tank jacket, and very little insulation between the joists. The insulation that has been laid between the joists appears to be old fiber blanket insulation. The reason that I think it is old is due to the color a dirty black/brown, All of the insulation that I have seen in other properties is a yellow pale orange color. The insulation is only about inch thick.
Also their appears to be holes in the actual roof where birds have moved the roof slates to gain access to the attic and at some point have made nests (although their is no nests at the moment but their is droppings and feathers). These holes are letting in daylight and I am going to assume rain and wind. These 'holes' range in size from about 1 inch to the biggest 2.5 inches.

Solution's);
Fit a new hot water jacket on the hot water tank.
Fit lagging on all pipes in the attic
Install new loft insulation, properly the fiber blanket type. However, do I remove the old insulation first and then lay the new blanket or lay it on top. As an added note I will be flooring the attic for storage purpose, so I will be raising the height of joists by fitting beams running perpendicular to the existing joists and laying chipboard on top of the new beams as a floor. However I doubt if I will be able to install more than 3inch of insulation due to space requirements. Due to this I was thinking of installing insulation in the slope of the roof held in by thin chipboard. Would this cause condensation problems? Is it worth while doing?
What do I do about the holes in the roof? Do I patch the holes with chipboard and replace the missing broken tiles?


Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[JohnD]

What a long post!

See if you can get an insulation Grant. Enquire at your gas and electricity suppliers, who may have special deals, and your local authority and/or C.A.B.

Start by having the roof properly mended. Inspect the loft for insects, vermin and dead birds and remove them. Fit covers to the water tanks to keep out dirt and dead things.

Hoover it out if you intend to go up there much in future.

The old insulation probably used to be yellow but is now dirty. You do not have to remove it unless you want to.


Fit a new hot water jacket on the hot water tank. Yes, that is the first money-saving thing to do. Cheap and easy


Fit lagging on all pipes in the attic Yes, and all the hot pipes, and any pipes in unheated areas.


Install new loft insulation, properly the fiber blanket type. Yes


However, do I remove the old insulation first and then lay the new blanket or lay it on top. If you want to.



As an added note I will be flooring the attic for storage purpose, so I will be raising the height of joists by fitting beams running perpendicular to the existing joists and laying chipboard on top of the new beams as a floor. However I doubt if I will be able to install more than 3inch of insulation due to space requirements. You will be adding counterbattens. You can put insulation to the depth of the old rafters plus the depth of the new timbers (with an air-gap between the top of the insulation and the floorboards) If you existing rafters are only 3" they will not be very strong and you will not be able to put anything heavy up there, or use it as a habitable room. it will be OK for storing the Christmas Tree lights and your collection of Elton John posters.

Due to this I was thinking of installing insulation in the slope of the roof held in by thin chipboard. Would this cause condensation problems? Is it worth while doing? You can insulate the roof slope, but it will be more expensive than insulating the roof floor. You need a vapour barrier on the warm side, and a ventilated airspace.

What do I do about the holes in the roof? Do I patch the holes with chipboard and replace the missing broken tiles? No, you get a roofer in to mend it properly. Chipboard falls apart when it gets damp and is a good food for woodlice.