Should we add insulation under our first floor?

[deshg]

Hey everyone,

We are currently renovating our c.1900 Victorian terraced house in London. We have stripped out the entire property and are sanding the pine floorboards on the ground floor. The master bedroom will have painted floorboards and everywhere else (apart from the kitchen/bathroom!) will have carpet. On taking up some of the floorboards upstairs to replace some bad ones downstairs it appears there is no insulation at all between the ground and first floor, just a gap between the ground floor ceiling and the floor boards.

I have read that people recommend adding insulation below the ground floor (particularly if it's wood with no carpet) as a lot of heat is lost/draughts are caused by this which makes sense. What i can't work out is should we also be adding insulation between the ground floor ceilings and the first floor or is this generally left without insulation as it's internal and above other heated rooms? If we are going to do it we need to do it now and i wanted to see your thoughts, partly in reference to keeping it warm and partly with regard to sound insulation (particularly for the master bedroom as they'll be no carpet and it's directly above the sitting room)?

In these situations do people normally put insulation (or even sound proofing?) down, or do you generally leave this without insulation and just insulate the outer walls/ground floor/attic? Are we likely to have a lot of noise coming up from the ground floor without any kind of insulation in the floor as this is also a concern?

Thanks so much,

Dave

 

[JohnD]

it will muffle airbourne sound a bit (e.g. TV noise or talking), especially if you ever go to bare boards. I did mine when I replaced the floor. The heavier, denser wool batts sold in builders merchants are more effective against sound than the lightweight rolls used for loft insulation.

The heat loss probably won't matter much, as the heat remains in the house, but it will reduce the amount of heat that leaks into the upstairs rooms. If, for example, you like to keep your bedrooms cool, or open the windows every morning to air them, that will be an advantage.

Heat insulation to the ground floor will save more money and increase comfort, especially if you ever have bare boards. Remember to put thick Climaflex or similar on all water and heating pipes in unheated spaces such as under the ground floor. Clear out the air bricks and sweep up rubble, and especially scrap timber, while you are down there.

 

[deshg]

it will muffle airbourne sound a bit (e.g. TV noise or talking), especially if you ever go to bare boards. I did mine when I replaced the floor. The heavier, denser wool batts sold in buiklders merchants are more effective than the lightweight rolls used for loft insulation......

Hi John,

Thanks for your speedy response! We will have painted floorboards in the master bedroom so it's probably a good idea to put some down in there to prevent too much talking/tv etc noise coming into the bedroom from the sitting room? The other bedrooms and upstairs hall will have carpets so would you say it's probably not worth bothering to insulate them as the carpet should deaden some of the sound anyway?

Thanks so much,

Dave