Reclaimed insulation

[K78]

Has anyone ever used a reclamation yard/company to source insulation?

 

I was discussing timberframe with a friend who is a joiner last night. I told him I liked timberframe as I could do a lot more work myself. Such as installing insulation. 

 

He mentioned kingspan insulation boards, which I wasn't planning on using due to cost. He told me of a local reclamation company who sell kingspan "at a fraction" of what it costs new. 

 

My main concern is what condition it arrives in and how much is actually usable. 

[Crofter]

Not exactly what you are describing, but I got my insulation from 'seconds and co' who claim to be the only seller of kingspan seconds. Basically if a batch has too many flaws, Kingpan have to landfill the whole lot and these people take it off their hands for free, then bundle it up into pallets and sell it on at about a third of the normal cost.

 

i got eighty boards this way. Two of them are closer to 40mm rather than the 50mm I require; about half a dozen more are a bit skinny but close enough that I will just use them anyway. Two have big voids within the foam, one was right at the edge and the other in the middle- you can tap the skin and play it like a drum. I will fix these using expanding foam. Many of the others have creases or slight hollows running in lines down the length of the board, where the foam filling has not fully risen (I guess they inject it from a row of nozzles about six inches apart?). Perfectly usable. And then there are the lengths of the boards, almost all are a little under 2.4m; sizes vary a lot but the majority are about 2.27m. 

[jamiehamy]

We used Seconds and Co for PIR - however we ended up not able to use it. They sell the boards are 'x - y' sizes and therefore the luck of the draw what you get. IN our case, we got about three different type boards and 3 different thicknesses - useless for a flat roof! But for walls that will have battens or filling spaces, then ideal and a huge saving to be made. 

 

Funnily enough, I put 15 of the boards on Gumtree for £150 and could have sold them ten times over! 

 

 

[Onoff]

I had to remind myself I'd bought from Wickes and NOT Seconds & Co such was the variance on thickness of some 50mm Celotex I bought. It was bloody awful. Well over / under 50mm in the same board!

[CC45]

Hi all,

 

I've had the same experience with celotex. 140mm sheets were plus or minus 10mm. A right pain when they needed to fit into a timber frame.  The second issue is that they aren't flat either - some of them are so bowed in both planes they rock an impressive amount. Over order and return the worst.

 

Glad all that is over on our build!

 

CC

[frasermcquade]

On 01/10/2016 at 18:33, Crofter said:

Not exactly what you are describing, but I got my insulation from 'seconds and co' who claim to be the only seller of kingspan seconds. Basically if a batch has too many flaws, Kingpan have to landfill the whole lot and these people take it off their hands for free, then bundle it up into pallets and sell it on at about a third of the normal cost.

 

i got eighty boards this way. Two of them are closer to 40mm rather than the 50mm I require; about half a dozen more are a bit skinny but close enough that I will just use them anyway. Two have big voids within the foam, one was right at the edge and the other in the middle- you can tap the skin and play it like a drum. I will fix these using expanding foam. Many of the others have creases or slight hollows running in lines down the length of the board, where the foam filling has not fully risen (I guess they inject it from a row of nozzles about six inches apart?). Perfectly usable. And then there are the lengths of the boards, almost all are a little under 2.4m; sizes vary a lot but the majority are about 2.27m. 

 

@Crofter We are converting our loft into a second bedroom. We are very reluctant to use new plastics anywhere in our build, but because of limited headroom we are unable to specify any natural insulation materials. Do you have any more information on what happens to these 'seconds' insulation boards if they are not used in construction? Do you now if Kingspan, Celotex etc profit from the sale of seconds boards in any way? If these are truly a reclaimed product which doesn't fund the production of new PIR insulation, then it seems like a win-win situation!

 

Many thanks

[Crofter]

On 13/05/2018 at 10:11, frasermcquade said:

 

@Crofter We are converting our loft into a second bedroom. We are very reluctant to use new plastics anywhere in our build, but because of limited headroom we are unable to specify any natural insulation materials. Do you have any more information on what happens to these 'seconds' insulation boards if they are not used in construction? Do you now if Kingspan, Celotex etc profit from the sale of seconds boards in any way? If these are truly a reclaimed product which doesn't fund the production of new PIR insulation, then it seems like a win-win situation!

 

Many thanks

 

All I know is what the driver happened to mention to me, as related above. I don't think PIR can be recycled so saving it from landfill has to be a good thing.

If you're after a natural insulation product, blown cellulose is pretty high performance and with good green credentials- I would probably have used it if it had been available locally (a contractor has to install it).

[MikeGrahamT21]

Seconds and Co sell through ebay too, sometimes even cheaper than their website.

 

Question: Some of their boards of non foil faced, so no vapour control layer, would this be OK for suspended timber floor, where we don't need the reflective coating for heat, and we are putting in a proprietary AVCL anyway?