Insulation in Downton
Loft insulation, warm roofs and wall insulation across Downton and the SP5 villages along the Avon. We survey before we price, and the visit and the quote are both free.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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In most Downton houses the cheapest thing that actually works is the loft. Clear out what has settled, lay mineral wool back between and over the joists to a full 270mm, insulate and seal the hatch, and you have moved the heat loss more than a new radiator would for the same money.
A Downton house needing its insulation looked at shows it in a cold cottage bedroom, in mould or wet felt, or on a survey. A bedroom in an older cottage that never warms up however long the heating runs. Black mould coming back along the top of a bedroom wall, or water running on the underside of the felt when you put your head through the hatch. Or a house just bought, where the survey said the loft insulation was thin and nobody has said what to do about it.
They are the same visit. We look in the roof space and in the room underneath it, and tell you what is wrong: not enough insulation, insulation in the wrong place, or a roof that cannot breathe. Then it goes in writing, itemised, and you decide. We are not going to sell you a wall job to cure a draught coming under a door.
The work
There is no height left at the wall plate
Loft insulation, and taking out what is already there. Much of old Downton went up before 1900: brick cottages along the Borough and the terraced rows behind it, sitting under shallow purlin roofs with almost no height left at the wall plate.
That is the whole job in one sentence. Getting depth across the middle of the loft is easy, and getting it into the last half metre at the eaves without choking the airflow is what takes the time, which is the part a cheap quote quietly leaves out. We run mineral wool between the joists and then a second layer over and across them, so the timber is covered rather than left as a cold bridge. Old material that has compressed or settled comes out first, is bagged, and leaves with us.
Ceilings that will not take any weight. A good many ceilings under those older roofs are still lath and plaster. You do not walk on them and you do not stack boxes on them. Where you want the loft usable, boarding goes on raised legs above the insulation so the depth is not squashed flat, because a roll pressed down to half its thickness has lost most of what you paid for. Storage and full depth can both be had, but not in the same 100mm.
Where a cottage roof has been converted, or where a tank and a boiler need to stay in the warm, the insulation moves to the rafters: PIR rigid board cut tight between them with a second layer under, or a foil faced multi-layer quilt where the headroom under a sloping ceiling will not take board. Done carelessly at the dormer cheeks and where the slope meets the flat, you have only moved the cold spot somewhere you cannot see it.
The post-war housing on the edges of Downton mostly has a cavity wall, and that can be drilled and filled from outside in a morning once we have checked the cavity is clean, dry and actually empty. The older brick is solid, so there is nothing to fill: internal wall insulation battened and boarded on the inside, or external wall insulation rendered over the outside. Both are proper building work rather than a morning, and with 107 listed entries and a conservation area over the village, the outside option is often not the one you are allowed.
Then vent trays at the eaves so the roof space still breathes, covers over the downlighters, lagging on the tank and on every pipe that now sits above the insulation, because a properly cold loft is a loft where pipes freeze, and a draught seal and an insulated panel on the hatch, which can be the largest gap left in an otherwise finished job.
How it runs
Insulating a Downton house, roof first and walls next
Thomas comes out, goes up into the loft, looks at the walls and asks how the house heats. The quote itemises the survey, clearing the loft, the material and its depth, the ventilation work and disposal. One visit and one quote cover it.
Most houses start with the loft. A post-war semi or bungalow with a hatch on the landing and an empty loft is straightforward. An older cottage with a shallow roof, a small hatch over the stairs or rooms partly in the roof takes more care, and we keep the eaves clear so the roof still ventilates. Mineral wool goes down in two layers, and the tank and pipes above it are lagged. Walls come next: cavity walls on the newer houses, solid walls on the old ones. Nothing is left open overnight and old material leaves with us. If we find damp timber or wiring that needs attention, we show you a picture of it with a price and leave it until you decide.
Nothing inside the roof space needs permission, as Planning Portal guidance on insulation says. External wall insulation is different: on a listed house, or one inside a conservation area if yours turns out to be, it is judged on appearance before it is judged on U-values, and Wiltshire Council should be asked first. We say so before quoting it rather than after.
Cost
Roof, cavity or solid wall: what sets the cost
Which job it is. Topping up a loft, filling a cavity, lining a solid wall inside and insulating it outside are very different prices. We work out which your house can take before quoting.
Getting into the loft. A landing hatch you can stand a ladder under is quick. A small hatch over a stairwell, a shallow cottage roof, or boarding that has to come up and go back takes longer.
What is already there. Old material that has gone flat, got damp or been soiled by birds or mice has to be bagged and removed, and storage has to be moved and put back.
Ventilation and pipework. Eaves must stay clear, and the tank and pipes above the insulation must be lagged. Approved Document L sets what the work has to reach.
The walls. On a solid wall lined from inside, the reveals, sockets, radiators and skirtings all have to come off, go back and be made good.
Before you choose, ask each firm what depth of insulation they are laying, whether they remove the old material or bury it, and whether they include the hatch and the pipework.
If it is urgent
A cold room, condensation or mould coming back
If the loft is dripping with condensation, mould keeps coming back on the same wall, or a room will not hold heat before a cold snap, call us instead of sending the form. Do not add more insulation to a wet loft first, because a roof space that cannot breathe gets worse with more depth.
On the first visit we find where the moisture is coming from, whether that is a blocked eaves vent, a leaking felt or a bathroom fan venting into the loft, and tell you what to fix first. Booked jobs run Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For something pressing, pick up the phone, and if nobody answers we return the call without delay.
The one local thing
Downton's conservation area, and what it still lets you do
Downton has its own conservation area and there are 107 listed entries in and around the village. That reads like an obstacle and for most of this work it is not one. Everything that happens inside the roof space is invisible from the street: the roll, the boarding, the vent trays, the hatch, the tank and pipe lagging.
None of it is controlled and none of it needs anybody's permission. If your house is listed the inside is protected as well, so the loft is still fine, but anything fixed through an old lath ceiling is a conversation before it is a price.
The line is crossed the moment the outside changes. External wall insulation adds board and render to the elevation, pushes the window reveals back, buries the eaves detail and changes the colour and texture of the wall, which is why Planning Portal guidance on external walls treats it as a planning matter rather than a maintenance one.
Inside a conservation area that is a formal application, and on a listed building there are other permissions you may require on top. So on the solid-walled houses in Downton the sensible order is loft first, draughts second, and internal wall insulation on the coldest room only if it is still not enough. We will tell you at the survey which side of that line your address sits on, and we will not quote you for something you would not be allowed to do.
Who you are dealing with
Insulation from the owner, not a doorstep seller
We work in Downton and the SP5 villages either side of the Avon, from Redlynch and Lover down to Breamore and Fordingbridge, and the drive from our base in Boscombe to Downton is 18.4 miles. Wiltshire Council covers planning and building control.
The firm is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, and it belongs to Thomas Hannen, who surveys the house and writes the price himself. Checkatrade carries a verified customer's score of 10 out of 10 for us. There is nothing to pay for the survey visit or the written itemised quote. Before you book a visit in Downton, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Downton?
Most repairs in Downton need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Downton |
|---|---|
| Who decides | Wiltshire Council is the planning authority for Downton. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Downton Conservation Area. It covers part of Downton, so check whether your street is inside it. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Downton. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Downton. |
Questions
Questions about insulation in Downton
Downton is in Wiltshire. Who do we apply to?
Wiltshire Council, not Dorset or the New Forest, which trips people up because we work across all three. For a loft you are not applying to anyone. It matters when the outside changes, and with the Downton conservation area and 107 listed entries in the village, a change of covering or a rooflight is a real application instead of a formality. We find out which category you are in first.
Much of Downton predates 1919. What does that mean practically?
It means solid walls and roofs that work by staying open to the air. A lot of Downton housing predates 1919, much of it built before 1900, so lime, breathable quilt and clear eaves are the normal specification rather than a fussy option. Cement pointing and foil backed board are what cause the trouble in these houses, usually a few years after somebody fitted them.
Does the River Avon designation affect building work here?
Only where a scheme adds somewhere to sleep. Downton falls in the River Avon SAC nutrient catchment, so a new dwelling, an annexe or a holiday let has a nutrient requirement to satisfy through Wiltshire Council, though an extra bedroom in your own house normally does not. Repairs, re-roofing and insulating an existing ceiling do not engage it. It is worth knowing which side of that line your plan sits on before an architect starts drawing.
Which rooms in an old Downton house feel it worst?
Usually a back bedroom over an unheated space, and a room in a rear extension. In pre-1900 cottages those parts of the house often have no cavity, a thin roof over them and a floor above open ground. Fixing the main loft will not warm them. They need their own answer, which is why we survey room by room.
What should I look at before booking anyone in?
Open the hatch and check whether you can see the top of the joists, whether daylight shows at the eaves, and whether the felt under the tiles is torn or sagging. Torn felt in an older Downton roof lets wind through the whole space and any quilt you lay under it will underperform. Photograph what you see. It saves a lot of guesswork on the visit.
Nearby, and next door
Insulation near Downton
Nearby places we also cover for insulation, with straight-line distances from Downton, and the other trades we offer in Downton itself.
Insulation nearby
Our other trades in Downton
Insulation guides
Part L: do you have to insulate when you re-roof? Black mould on walls: what causes it and what stops it PIR board vs mineral wool: which insulation?Everything we do in Verwood Insulation, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get the house looked at before the cold weather
A free survey in the roof space and in the room below it, then an itemised written price. No obligation and nothing paid up front.