Loft insulation in Merley

The original layer needs topping up. A Merley estate of this age was built with one layer of mineral wool laid between the joists, which was the standard of the day and is nowhere near the standard now. It has settled, it has been walked on, and it leaves every joist uncovered as a cold bridge.

What is sound stays and is straightened out, the gaps are filled, then a new unbacked roll goes over the top at right angles to it. Cross laid, two layers reach about 270mm and the timber vanishes under them.

What comes out. Material that is wet, patchy, compressed under old boarding or contaminated by droppings is bagged in the loft and carried out rather than covered. So is loose fill that has migrated into the eaves. That clearing is its own line on the quote, and it is the line that is quietly left out of a cheaper price.

The edges. Insulation goes out over the wall plate and stops, with the air gap above it held open by a vent tray in each bay so cross ventilation can still run across the loft. Original layers on these Merley houses almost always taper away in the last metre, which is exactly where the ceiling meets the outside wall. Push new material into the eaves to fix that and you close the roof up: condensation forms on the underside of the felt and mould follows on the timbers. A breathable membrane is more forgiving than old bitumen felt, but the eaves rule is the same.

Services that were fitted afterwards. Because the insulation went in first and everything else came later, cabling on these houses often sits on top of the wool or is half buried in it. It gets lifted and clipped above the new layer, since wiring buried in insulation runs hot. Recessed lights added over the years get fire rated covers, and the cold water tank and its pipework are lagged and given a lid once the loft is properly on the cold side.

Storage and roof rooms. If the loft is used, boarding goes on loft legs as a raised floor so the full depth stays uncompressed, with a platform at the top of the loft ladder and an insulated, draught sealed hatch. Where a house has a room in the roof, a dormer or a sloping ceiling, the work moves to rafter level: rigid board such as Celotex cut between the rafters with the air gap kept open above, PIR beneath, taped so the vapour control is continuous. That is a warm roof build up and it is quoted on its own.

We don't price a loft by its floor area. Laying the middle is quick; the edges, the hatch and what has to come out first take the time.

The hatch and the space. A bungalow loft is usually roomy but has long runs of low eaves to crawl into. A trussed roof with bracing across it slows every roll. A hatch over a stairwell needs a platform before anyone goes up.

What is up there. Old insulation that is thin, compressed or dirty may need bagging and removing. A loft full of stored boxes has to be cleared and put back. Boarding over the joists either comes up or gets raised on legs, so the new layer keeps its depth.

Keeping the roof dry. Insulation stops short of the eaves and trays keep the airflow open, or the roof timbers get wet. Pipes and tanks now in the cold need lagging, and downlighters need covers.

The standard. Approved Document L sets the U-value a renovated loft should reach, and we quote to that rather than to a thinner layer.

When comparing, ask what depth is being laid and in how many layers, whether the old material comes out, how the eaves are kept clear, what happens to your stored things, and whether the hatch is insulated too.

Nearly half the houses in Merley went up in the 1970s and early 1980s, and most of the rest are not far off it.

They were built to the same details by the same builders within a few years of each other, so the lofts are near enough identical: the same shallow original layer between the joists, the same small unsealed hatch, the same tank sitting in the middle, and the same last metre at the eaves where nothing ever quite reached.

That makes a quote predictable and it makes comparing two of them easy. The shape of the work is always keep what is sound, clear what is not, cross lay over the joists, trays at the eaves, lag the tank, seal the hatch, and lift the boarding onto legs if you want to keep using the space. If a neighbour has had theirs done, the useful question is not what it cost but whether the edges, the hatch and the tank were in the price. As for listed buildings, the entries near here are concentrated on the Canford School estate rather than in the housing, so they have no bearing on an ordinary Merley loft.

Merley and Boscombe, where our base is, are 6.6 miles apart. We insulate lofts here, in Broadstone, Canford Magna, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne and the BH21 addresses around them, with BCP Council for building control in Merley, Broadstone and Canford Magna, and Dorset Council in Corfe Mullen and Wimborne.

The business is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. The man who climbs through your hatch and prices the job is its owner, Thomas Hannen. A verified customer has rated us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the itemised written quote come free. Before you book a visit in Merley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Merley 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.