John Mcnamara

It does seem that EPC's are not worth the paper they are written on. Is it worth getting a full SAP survey done? Is that likeley to be more accurate? It is certainly a lot more expensive.

I have tried that but they just came back with a load of B****S to justify their rubbish. That is not really the point in this instance anyway. I am trying to get a grant under the Great British Insulation Scheme. The energy provider after a mere 6 or 7 months sent their own assesor who overrode the original D rating and gavebthe property a C rating. They must be on drugs (or backhanders).

Hi Guys, I am looking for some advice as we have moved into a bungalow that is rather cold. Actually, the advice i need is to do with a couple of supporting issue rather than "how do I". Last year I insulated my garage to make a workshop and storage area. It's about 10x 6m internally. I had no clue as to how to do it, but after hours of watching videos and particularly with the fantastic advice from Insulations UK (who were amazingly helpful and patient with me, as I knew nothing), we got the job done. We want to insulate the insdie of all external walls and I now know how to do it. Moreover, I think I can do most of the work myself, but I am 70 and it will be slow work for me. So the real topic is funding. I am hoping to get help from some form of government grant. So we applied to our energy supplier who went out of their way to make this process difficult, but we pushed on and they eventually sent an assesor. The criteria for the Great Bristish Insulation scheme is to have a low enough income, and to have an EPC rating of D or worse. The property has a D rating and we are certainly below the income threshold as we are pensioners. As an aside we challenged the D EPC rating on the property as our last property had a D rating based on a proper survey for the buyers mortgage company. That old property had cavity wall insulation and full 300mm of insulation in the attic. This property has no cavity wall insulation (we have had it surveyed and cameras put in the walls) whilst the attic is partially insulated and rather badly, to maximum depth of 200mm. The original assesor who gave the house an EPC rating of D, assumed that the house had cavity wall insulation due to its age, but had no supporting evidence, and in any case was wrong. The home owner told him that the attic was insulated fully. Also not true. So, I think if it was done again properly it may fairly get an E EPC Rating. The energy company's assesor gave us a C rating. Apparently, having now fitted LED lights, this has a big impact of the EPC rating given the massive imapact they have on heat loss.🙄. The whole thing screams scam to me and I get the impression that EPC Certificates should have a punch hole in the top corner so that they can be hung on the back of the toilet door. At least that way they would have some use. Is it possible to get an accurate and fair EPC Rating that actuallyn reflects the reality of my property. Is there any point in persuing goverment grants or am I wasting my time? Any advice will be welcome. John

Regarding the garage, it has a concrete floor so that was covered in Visqueen. Then it has 50mm Celotex on the floor and 18 mm caberboard over it, as it's a floating floor. The walls and roof have 100m Celotex fitted. This has the metallic film on both sides and has the metallic tape to seal the gaps. The plasterboard is 12mm and has been fitted using the foam adhesive, which takes some mastering. Timing is the main thing with this adhesive. It has to be allowed to set just enough. Anyway, its worked well. Warm and dry. It still has a roller shutter door and that is the coldest part despite it being a n insulated one. I may fit a thermal curtain over it.

Hi all and thanks for allowing me to join. My wife and I are retired and last year we moved to a stone built cottage bungalow. It has turned out to need a lot of work. It is extremely cold and I intend to insulate it inside the walls. One of the things that the property had was a very large garage and since I needed a workshop and storage area, it ticked this box. I had to insulate this first as I needed to move equipment into it. It was even colder than the bungalow, and damp too. So I set too dealing with the damp and then adding Cellotex over 2x1" battens, followed by fireboard and finally skimmed. It has a warm loft covered in with 1/2" plywood. There are a series of hatches allowing access. Terrific for storage. Its quite cosy in here now. I have learned a lot about insulation in a year. Still, everyday is a school day and I am here to learn. John