Your loft is either lined or open such that you can see the whole structure. The latter is still the most common, although more and more people are undertaking loft conversions.
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Unlined lofts
This is the insulation of the ceilings of the uppermost floor from above. If your loft space is not used except for water storage tanks and services, then you have a simple job to insulate between the joists. Most people in this situation already have some form of Loose Fill Insulation Installation, but if you are installing from scratch lay 150mm or 200mm of insulation depending on what you have space for. If you have less than 100mm, it is worth topping it up; otherwise work on other areas of the house first and come back later when you can afford to. According to roofing contractors, the main principle to follow here is to cover over any pipes or tanks that contain water, as the air temperature above the insulation can go below freezing.
Lived-in attic space or lined lofts
If your attic space is habitable – whether it is heated or not – it is advisable to improve its insulation. In this case, we are concerned with insulating the roof rafters and not the joists. Our home feels comfortable because of attic insulation. According to Elkhorn Insulation there are different ways of doing this, depending on the construction. Insulation can be fitted:
- Below the rafters
- Between the rafters
- Above the rafters or
- Some combination of the above
Below the rafters
If the rafters are open and unplastered, it is a simple matter to place sandwich insulation boards on the inside and fix plasterboard underneath. This method of insulation reduces the room height and may inhibit the thickness of insulation possible.
When selecting the best TPO roofing for your home, You may want to add insulation between the rafters as well, to increase the thickness of insulation. In this case, it is necessary to leave a gap of 50mm between the insulation and the roofing felt, to allow the rafters to breathe. This may well determine the thickness of the insulation possible. There is an advantage if at least one of the insulation boards is covered with a layer of aluminium foil to add to the effectiveness of the insulation. It is also necessary to place a vapour-proof barrier between the insulation board and the plasterboard. If your attic space is already lined, and you do not want to go to the trouble of removing it (and headroom is not critical) the insulation could be placed directly on the underside of the lining.
This is the most usual place to install the insulation: the main problem here is often that the rafters are not deep enough to accommodate a reasonable thickness of insulation. However, with this method it is possible to increase the depth of the rafters by adding a lath underneath each of them to whatever thickness is necessary to allow the 50mm gap between the insulation board and the roofing felt. For example, if you have a rafter of 75mm depth and you want to add 50mm of insulation board, you could attach a lath of about 25mm underneath. The same would apply with the silver foil and the vapour-proof barrier.
Above the rafters
According to Flat Roof Repair Dublin | Flat Roof Contractors | Flat Roof Installation | Flat Roofers Dublin – Flat Roofing Dublin, this particular option is only worthwhile if you are having your roof renewed. It is also the most complicated method because it almost certainly involves the redesign of the eaves to allow for the added thickness of insulation. The basic principle is to strip the roof of tiles and tile laths, to lay a rigid insulation board on top of the rafters (with a vapour-proof barrier in between) and then lay a building board or roofing laths on top of this to attach the tiles or slates.
In some cases it may be necessary to employ an architect or someone who can competently produce details of how the construction at the eaves can be altered. If the task seems to difficult for you, you don’t have the means to access the roof, or you’d rather avoid incorrect installation, simply have a professional roofer take care of this for you. This type of insulation enhancement is likely to become much more common in the future, and with routine construction details being developed for the eaves, it will allow almost any thickness of insulation to be installed on the roof.
