Insulation in Holton Heath

Topping up an eighties loft. A lot of the housing here went up between 1983 and 2008, much of it in the eighties, and houses of that age came with insulation fitted, which is why they get overlooked.

The depth that counted as generous when Holton Heath was built is roughly a third of what is expected now, and it has settled since. The roofs are trussed rafter, so instead of an open space with a purlin you work through a row of timber triangles with steel plates at every joint, and the material has to be fed along the bays rather than walked in. We lift and straighten what is there, then run the between and over layer of ordinary eco roll across the joists so no timber is a line of heat loss. Aim at 270mm, with 250mm carried right to the wall plate worth more than a deeper pile in the middle, and 0.16 the u-value expected of a renovated roof.

The cavity that may already be half done. Cavity walls of this era were often built with partial fill boards against the inner leaf and a clear gap left in front of them, which is a completely different starting point from an empty cavity. Injecting more into that can bridge the gap that keeps the outside wet and the inside dry, so the borescope goes in and somebody looks before anybody quotes a fill.

The bedroom over an integral garage is always the cold one, because its floor sits over outside air, and rigid board, foil faced PIR, between the garage ceiling joists, boarded over, makes a difference you can feel within a day. A ceiling that follows the roof slope takes a multi-layer foil quilt such as TLX instead. A lot of these houses have boarded soffits with very little airflow through them, and deepening a loft without opening a real air path is how condensation starts on the underside of the felt. Vent trays hold the material clear of the eaves, and background ventilation is a regulation in its own right, with Approved Document F the document behind it. The tank and its pipework get lagging, loft legs keep storage clear of the new depth, and downlighters get fire rated covers.

Square metres are not how this is priced; the area is the easy part. These are the things that change the job.

The loft. An eighties house with a trussed roof and a boarded loft means lifting the boards, or raising them on legs, before any quilt goes down. A bungalow with a low hipped roof has tight eaves where it takes careful work to keep the airflow open.

The room over the garage. A bedroom above an integral garage loses heat through its floor. The fix is insulating the garage ceiling from below, lining it with fire rated board and making good, which is a different job from a loft top-up.

The walls. Most houses of this age have a cavity. Whether it is empty, partly filled or already filled decides whether a cavity fill is even possible, so we check before quoting.

The standard. Approved Document L sets the U-value a renovated element has to reach, and that decides the depth and the material.

Ask any other quote what finished depth they are laying, whether the eaves are being kept open, whether the hatch is being insulated and draught stripped, and what they found when they checked the walls.

We are based in Boscombe, 10.7 miles from Holton Heath, and insulate homes here and in Sandford, Organford, Upton and Wareham, across BH16 and BH20. Dorset Council is the building control authority for Holton Heath.

The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. As owner, Thomas Hannen goes into the loft himself to price the job. A verified customer rated the firm 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. Both the survey visit and the written quote, with every item listed, are free. Before you book a visit in Holton Heath, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Holton Heath 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.