Insulation in Downton

Loft insulation, and taking out what is already there. A quarter of Downton predates 1919 and the peak of the stock is pre-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 the village, which is nearly half the stock, 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 is regularly the largest gap left in an otherwise finished job.

A post-war house with a landing hatch and an empty loft is an afternoon, a terraced cottage where the only way up is a small hatch over the stairs is longer, and a converted roof where boarding has to come up and go back is longer still. Old material to bag and take away, storage to move and put back, and eaves that must stay clear all come first, and Approved Document L sets what the work has to reach. Comparing quotes, ask what depth is being laid, whether the old material is removed or covered, and whether the hatch and pipework are included.

We work Downton and the SP5 villages either side of the Avon, from Redlynch and Lover down to Breamore and Fordingbridge, and the run up from the yard is a straight one. Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free.