Insulating an existing loft room - guidance sought

[maznaz]

Hi there. I'm moving into a strange terrace house later this month. It has empty cavity walls, and a large loft space with 3 rooms separated by stud walls, and the roof is uninsulated (both according to the EPC. I would like to insulate the roof before the winter, and ideally before we start to use that area for living, however as I understand it, it's not as simple as just ripping off the plasterboard, putting insulation in and putting it back up. 

 

Is this something I can reasonably do myself? I have good woodworking skills, am fine with building stud walls etc, but have never done anything with a roof before. Some articles I've found are suggesting I'd need to insulate on the roof side of the roof joists, which seems like it would incur a lot of cost, scaffolding etc and move it out of my area to tackle. Others suggest I can insulate on the room side, but then I'd need to be certain the ventilation was adequate or I could end up with condensation on the cold joists. I'd also be worried about thermal bridging on the internal walls.

 

What's a general MO for tackling something like this? Hire a builder (almost impossible right now) and hope they're competent?

 

Many thanks!

[markc]

How old is the house? 

[maznaz]

2 minutes ago, markc said:

How old is the house? 

 

It's actually not been confirmed yet, but the original leasehold was issued in 1908. Having had a look around though, and given when i see from the EPC, it seems to be a rebuild from last mid-century. I'm pretty sure I saw breeze blocks in the cellar and it's confirmed as a cavity wall build with very neat brickwork on the exterior.

[markc]

1 minute ago, maznaz said:

 

It's actually not been confirmed yet, but the original leasehold was issued in 1908. Having had a look around though, and given when i see from the EPC, it seems to be a rebuild from last mid-century. I'm pretty sure I saw breeze blocks in the cellar and it's confirmed as a cavity wall build with very neat brickwork on the exterior.

In that case i wouldn't worry about thermal bridging - although there is a cavity it will have loads of mortar and other stuff creating bridges.

Nothing to stop you pulling down the plasterboard or even leaving it in place and adding insulation on the inside.

Are the three rooms built as habitable? fire escape etc?

[maznaz]

2 minutes ago, markc said:

In that case i wouldn't worry about thermal bridging - although there is a cavity it will have loads of mortar and other stuff creating bridges.

Nothing to stop you pulling down the plasterboard or even leaving it in place and adding insulation on the inside.

Are the three rooms built as habitable? fire escape etc?

 

Interesting thank you.

 

Two of them are habitable rooms with escapable windows and one is a small bathroom.