Insulation in Lilliput

Lofts are the cheapest heat loss to stop. Mineral wool roll laid between and over the joists in two layers to 270mm, where many older lofts have 100mm or less that has compressed and settled. A vent tray at each rafter bay keeps the eaves open, the hatch is insulated and draught sealed, the tank and pipes get lagging, and downlighters get covers. Boarding for storage goes on a raised platform so the depth is not squashed.

Rooms in the roof. A Lilliput bedroom with a sloping ceiling or a dormer needs rigid board, usually PIR such as Celotex, between and under the rafters, with an air gap below the underlay. Where depth is tight, a multi-layer foil such as TLX can top it up. Target U-values are 0.16 at the ceiling and 0.18 at the rafters, and this is a warm roof job, so the plasterboard comes down.

Walls. A borescope shows whether a Lilliput wall is cavity or solid, and what is in it. A cavity fill should be done by a registered cavity wall installer, who issues CIGA paperwork. Internal wall insulation, insulated plasterboard or a breathable stud lining, suits a cold room or a solid wall. External wall insulation, EWI, suits a house being re-rendered anyway.

Floors. A suspended timber floor in Lilliput loses heat through the gaps. Mineral wool held between the joists on netting, with the air bricks kept clear, stops the draught coming up through the boards. Eco roll or a similar roll suits a void you can crawl into.

Ventilation and damp. Every improvement takes away a draught that was drying a Lilliput house, so extract fans, trickle vents and air bricks are part of the job. Insulating a damp wall or a loft with a leak traps the water, so the cause is fixed first. That is how you avoid condensation and a new cold bridge where the old one was.

Wind at the eaves. Wind that has crossed the harbour to Lilliput pushes in at the soffit vents and can blow straight through the first half metre of loft insulation over the outside walls, so the ceiling at the edge of every upstairs room runs cold. Blocking the vents is the wrong answer. An eaves guard or vent tray that keeps the air in a channel above the wool, and a firm edge on the insulation, lets the roof breathe and keeps the depth you paid for working.

What we talk you out of. Sprayed foam on the underside of a roof, which hides the timbers and can make a house harder to sell, and a cavity fill on a wall that takes the full weather. We tell you why on the quote.

No rate per square metre, because the area is the easy part and the awkward part is everything around it.

Getting to it. A loft you can stand up in over a house with a drive off Lilliput Road, a shallow void over a top floor flat up a shared stair, and a room in the roof behind a dormer on the slope above the harbour cannot sensibly be priced as one job. A loft hatch you can stand a ladder under is one job, a crawl space or a room in the roof is another. Where boarding has to come up and go back, that is time before any material is laid.

What is already up there. Old material that has to come out, and be bagged and taken away, is a cost before anything new goes down. So is anything stored in the loft that has to be moved and put back.

Ventilation and the awkward edges. Eaves that must stay clear, downlighters that need covers, a tank and pipework that still need lagging, and getting depth right into the corners rather than just across the middle. Approved Document L sets what the work is expected to reach.

Comparing quotes? Ask what depth is actually being laid, whether the old material is being removed or covered, whether the eaves are being kept clear, and whether the hatch and the pipework are included.

We insulate homes across Lilliput and the rest of BH14, along Sandbanks Road and Lilliput Road to Evening Hill and Salterns, and on to Whitecliff, Canford Cliffs and Penn Hill, from our base in Boscombe, about five miles away.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of 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. Before you book a visit in Lilliput, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Lilliput 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.