Insulating small loft space left from old loft conversion

[Woozle]

Hi all,

 

New to this forum, reading some of the other posts has been super helpful!

 

I have a small loft space which is what's left over from a loft conversion built around 2010, way before we moved in. This small space is just big enough to crawl around on hands and knees and is used for storage. Our loft conversion is cold in the winter, I'm sure mainly due to loss of heat into the loft space, but our boiler is also in there. We look like the local growers...

 

 

The current state of insulation is old fibre on the floor which has been packed in under the boards (ceiling on lower room, and some wedged against the ventilation?!) and badly fit/completely uncut Celotex against the loft conversion wall. The loft space door is flimsy as anything and has no insulation which bleeds heat into the space.

 

Door opening

 

Boiler pipes has some lagging.

 

 

Main space, fibre wedged in ventilation gaps has resulted in some condensation issues from what I can see on beams. Nothing major, no real damage and moisture levels are low.

 

 

Some fitted and some uncut celotex against loft conversion wall

 

What I'm looking for is some advice. I'd like to keep this as a cold loft for storage and retain heat in the loft conversion, not convert to warm loft as this seems like a huge waste of money.

 

My main intention is to do the following:

 

• Remove all fibreglass from ventilation gap to reduce moisture/condensation.
• Lift the boards and replace the fibreglass insulation with Eko-roll, and re-board.
• Lag all boiler pipes throughout.
• Cut Celotex where possible to fit correctly.
• Use remaining Eko-roll to fill any spaces not filled with Celotexac
• Use Airtec reflective bubble across the loft conversion wall and beams to seal.

 

 

Will any of this cause any issues or not be fit for purpose?

 

At some point we are going to have to check and replace the insulation in the loft conversion roof as I'm sure this is also poorly done and probably damaged due to the amount of heat we loose and how hot it is in the summer, but that's another job!

 

Thanks, any and all advice is welcome!

 

Juli

 

 

 

[ProDave]

The biggest issue appears not to be the low down heat loss from your small eaves storage space (even though that is probably bad).  That would lead to the lower part of the roof losing it's snow.

 

Instead, it is the upper part of the roof that is loosing heat like it is going out of fashion i.e. the sloping part of the bedroom ceiling.  To address that you will need to strip off the plasterboard to first see what is there and then improve it.

[saveasteading]

I'm not a fan of superfoil or the bubblewrap insulation sheets, but might that not be easy and useful under the rafters?

[Woozle]

On 08/01/2022 at 15:11, ProDave said:

The biggest issue appears not to be the low down heat loss from your small eaves storage space (even though that is probably bad).  That would lead to the lower part of the roof losing it's snow.

 

Instead, it is the upper part of the roof that is loosing heat like it is going out of fashion i.e. the sloping part of the bedroom ceiling.  To address that you will need to strip off the plasterboard to first see what is there and then improve it.

Hiya, yes I see what you mean. We had someone pop over and suggest removing the plasterboard and filling it with spray foam and replacing the plasterboard but spray foam scares me due to the mortgage issues that seem to crop up, not that a surveyor would see it behind plasterboard. This'll be the next job. Maybe I can block the loss of heat from the loft conversion walls and door and then in a few months deal with the ceilings of the conversion to make it more insulated. This way we curb heat loss from cold seeping into the room.

[Woozle]

On 08/01/2022 at 15:50, saveasteading said:

I'm not a fan of superfoil or the bubblewrap insulation sheets, but might that not be easy and useful under the rafters?

Yes, that was original idea along with adding roll with this over the top, but I keep reading about the potential for condensation on the rafters and rotting battens so I'm a little worried adding there for that reason.

[saveasteading]

38 minutes ago, Woozle said:

filling it with spray foam

Glad you know the reasons against this stuff.