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Reclaiming underfloor insulation (built 2010)


MortarThePoint

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I've been dismantling a cold store type barn ~300m2 in footprint. I have exposed the makeup of the floor and it looks like there is a screed ~50mm thick below the floor tiles, a DPM/VCL and then 100mm of Celotex insulation. It would be great to reclaim this insulation as it is expensive and would save on waste. Does anyone know how I can go about extracting the insulation intact without it taking forever?

 

I have attached a photo, this is the worst bit as it was below an exterior door. The rest looks like it was built yesterday.

 

 

Floor_Insulation.JPG

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Do you have a fork lift or tractor with forks? Jam under the screed and lift!

 

You might achieve the same effect with a 6' pry bar and something to pivot on.

 

Otherwise bfo sledge hammer and see if the screed will crack up in manageable pieces. Assisted by that nice orange crow bar. Then shift, peel of the vcl and reclaim all that lovely pir.

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Thanks Onoff, I have a fork lift paying me a visit soon so I can ask them to try that.

 

I fear the sledge hammer will do too much damage to the insulation. The 300m2 would also be pretty daunting by hand.

 

I had wondered about using a walk behind saw to cut rectangles and lift using concrete anchor eyes. Even that would take a long time.

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If you can chuck it down for the base of a road and track it in it may be better than muckaway.

 

I like your thinking Mr Punter, can screed become MOT Type 1 as I need plenty of that?

 

Quote

Is the blue stuff another layer of insulation?

 

The photo is probably a bit confusing. I think you're referring to a thin draft strip in a metal channel that the perspective makes look thick.

 

Wall_Floor_Parts.jpg

Edited by MortarThePoint
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A road saw will cut that up into your rectangles pretty quick. Won't be cheap by the time you factor in the blade and the hire of the saw though.

Speedy look to do one for about £110 a week, but I don't know about the blade. I think it would take an age to lift all the rectangles though. If they were 1m2 they would weigh about 100kg each and there would be 300 of them. That's 5 hours if it took only a minute to shift each one and I think it would be more 5 five minutes each though.

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49 minutes ago, MortarThePoint said:

Russel griffiths, you must be pretty nifty with it as it would scare me trying to get the right height without gouging the insulation.?

 

I would chuck a chunk of 18mm ply on top of the insulation, slide your bucket across the surface quickly and stab into the screed face, then lift

sweep surface and repeat. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for all the suggestions. I gave it a try using a mini digger and after about 2.5 hours I had freed up 5 whole panels and 2 half panels so I'd say it's it's not worth the effort. The panels are not it great condition either, but will hopefully be useful for something. It was interesting to see that the interface between the panels and the underlying concrete was completely wet.

 

Some pictures of how I got on:

 

IMG_20150102_192831.jpg

IMG_20150102_192837.jpg

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1 hour ago, MortarThePoint said:

Thank you for all the suggestions. I gave it a try using a mini digger and after about 2.5 hours I had freed up 5 whole panels and 2 half panels so I'd say it's it's not worth the effort. The panels are not it great condition either, but will hopefully be useful for something. It was interesting to see that the interface between the panels and the underlying concrete was completely wet.

 

Some pictures of how I got on:

 

IMG_20150102_192831.jpg

IMG_20150102_192837.jpg

 

Tbh if you just lay a bit of pir on a cold concrete surface, like a drive, the underside will get wet. 

 

I'd say keep going, how big an area has pir underneath? That's a good few quid a sheet that. 

 

You can always repair pir with expanding foam and heavy duty Bacofoil and silver tape.

 

 

Edited by Onoff
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The total area is 300m2 (~100 panels) so it would take about 5 days (~40 hours) to liberate the lot. As new it would be worth a pretty penny, but in this sort of condition there are occasional listings on eBay at around £10 a panel. I wouldn't need that much and I've already learnt that I can't chase every opportunity even when it's tempting to do so. I hate to have it go to waste, so I will talk to the demo guys about whether they can get it out faster with a 20 ton digger.

Edited by MortarThePoint
typo
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1 hour ago, MortarThePoint said:

The total area is 300m2 (~100 panels) so it would take about 5 days (~40 hours) to liberate the lot. As new it would be worth a pretty penny, but in this sort of condition there are occasional listings on eBay at around £10 a panel. I wouldn't need that much and I've already learnt that I can't chase every opportunity even when it's tempting to do so. I hate to have it go to waste, so I will talk to the demo guys about whether they can get it out faster with a 20 ton digger.

 

All fair points. Do what you feel best. (I just hate waste). I'd be weighing the job up in terms of diesel used rather than my time. 

 

Dont forget to store those panels weighted or otherwise secured against them taking off!

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  • 6 months later...

Well the demolition guys did a pretty good job of lifting all that 100mm Celotex. Most of the foil has come off and many are a bit curvy. I think its GA4100. It's going a bit brown in the sun and rain, but I guess that's only on the surface.

 

The garage plan uses 100mm mineral wool insulation in a 100mm cavity. I am wondering about the merit of ripping this down to 450mm wide slabs and widening the cavity to 150mm to include this. It would save about £1000 and make use of about half of this pile.

 

I think if I had to add the foil back on it would end up being more hassle than it's worth.

 

image.png.3ae2532ce0312a2b25b3f3224f009b14.png

 

 

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7 minutes ago, MortarThePoint said:

Well the demolition guys did a pretty good job of lifting all that 100mm Celotex. Most of the foil has come off and many are a bit curvy. I think its GA4100. It's going a bit brown in the sun and rain, but I guess that's only on the surface.

 

The garage plan uses 100mm mineral wool insulation in a 100mm cavity. I am wondering about the merit of ripping this down to 450mm wide slabs and widening the cavity to 150mm to include this. It would save about £1000 and make use of about half of this pile.

 

I think if I had to add the foil back on it would end up being more hassle than it's worth.

 

image.png.3ae2532ce0312a2b25b3f3224f009b14.png

 

 

 

Table saw if you do rip them down I would, with dust extraction. I've spray glued extra strong Bacofoil onto boards before where the foil has come off. Works well.

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It looks like it would be OK under a concrete slab, protected by polythene.  Left exposed it will get damaged v. quickly.

 

I would not want them as cavity wall insulation.  Nor would Building Control as the foil does a moisture // heat reflecting / fire resistance job.

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+1 to the above.

 

Note the damaged foil will adversely affect the lambda value of the foam and will not give a low emisivity surface anymore.

 

The foil does nothing for the fire performance, look at Grenfell.

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