Loft insulation in Bashley

Getting the depth right. Most lofts around here have one layer laid between the joists and nothing over them, which leaves every joist bridging the cold through the ceiling. The second layer is cross laid at right angles over the top, so the timber is covered and the two layers together come to about 270mm, the depth a renovated loft is expected to reach under Approved Document L. Mineral wool roll does most of it, rockwool or glass wool depending on the product, batts where bracing chops the space up, loose fill where a roll will not go, sheep wool if you would rather have a natural product. Depth is only the means: what it buys is a lower U value across the ceiling, which is the biggest single heat loss in a bungalow, and that is what shows up on the heating bill and the EPC.

Trussed roofs, which is most of them here. A lot of Bashley went up in the 1990s, and a modern trussed roof is a lattice of thin timbers with bracing running through it. You cannot walk about in one, so the material goes in from the hatch outwards and the far corners take the time. The older cut roofs, where you can stand between the rafters, are the easy ones. Either way the access is one hatch, and working out of it is still work at height.

What comes out first. On the edge of the forest, lofts pick things up. Old material that is compressed, settled, patchy or contaminated with droppings is bagged and taken away before anything new goes down, and if birds or squirrels have had a way in we tell you where it is rather than laying wool over the top of it.

The eaves and the air gap. Insulation finishes at the wall plate. Vent trays keep the gap open above it so cross ventilation can carry moist air out under the ridge, and where a roof has no breathable membrane and only old felt underlay, that airflow and the ridge vents are the only things keeping condensation off the underside. Push the wool into the eaves and you have a wet roof by February.

The services. Recessed lights and downlighters get fire rated covers rather than wool over them, cables and wiring are lifted onto the insulation instead of buried in it, and the cold water tank and its pipework get lagged, because once the loft is insulated properly it is a genuinely cold space. In a bungalow that pipework often runs a long way, so it is worth doing all of it.

Chalet bungalows and rooms in the roof. Plenty of houses here have rooms built into the roof, which means sloping ceilings, dormer cheeks and little triangular voids behind the knee walls. That is rafter level work: rigid board such as PIR or Celotex cut tight between the rafters with a clear air gap above it, a layer under the rafters, and a taped vapour control layer. The voids behind the knee walls get insulated and the small doors into them draught sealed.

No rate per square metre, because the floor area is the easy part and the awkward edges are where the time goes.

Getting to it. A bungalow with a landing hatch you can stand a ladder under, a 1990s detached with a trussed roof full of bracing, and a chalet bungalow with rooms already in the roof are three different jobs before a roll is opened. A hatch on a landing you can stand a ladder under is one job. A hatch over a stairwell, a crawl space you can only move through on your knees, or a loft full of boarding that has to come up and go back, is time before any material is laid.

What is up there now, and what it is sitting on. Old material that has to come out, be bagged and taken away is a cost before anything new goes down, and so is a loft full of boxes that has to be emptied and put back. Joists at 400 centres with a flat run across them is a different afternoon from a trussed roof full of bracing.

Ventilation, and the edges nobody reaches. Insulation stops at the wall plate and the eaves have to stay clear, or you trade a warm bedroom for a wet roof. Getting depth right into the corners and around the hatch, boxing over downlighters and lagging anything that now sits in the cold, is most of the labour. Approved Document L sets what the work is expected to reach.

Comparing quotes? Ask what depth is actually being laid and in how many layers, whether the old material is coming out or being covered over, whether the eaves are being kept clear, what happens to anything you store up there, and whether the hatch and the pipework are included. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.

We cover Bashley, Wootton, Tiptoe and the BH25 addresses towards New Milton, with the New Forest National Park Authority for planning and New Forest District Council for building control. 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.