Loft insulation in Stone
The layer your builder never laid, the eaves kept clear, and an itemised written price before anything is ordered.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
A house in Stone that came with insulation still needs a second layer. The job is to straighten what is between the joists, close the edges and cross lay fresh mineral wool over the top to a finished 270mm. The eaves stay clear, a storage platform is built up on legs, and the tank is wrapped. Walls and floors are on our Stone insulation page.
In Stone the state of a loft usually comes to light by chance. A cold room that the heating never really fixes. A trip up the ladder that shows thin material lying flat between the joists with the timber standing proud of it. And condensation, seen as damp patches on a ceiling or droplets under the felt. A lot of the housing around Stone is recent enough to have been built with insulation already in the roof, which is exactly why so many of these lofts have never been looked at since. We look at yours before quoting. The site visit is free, and so is the written itemised quote.
The work
Adding the layer the builder never laid
The layer that came with the house. A newer roof in Stone usually has one layer laid between the joists and finishing flush with them. That was the standard of its day, and it leaves every joist in the ceiling acting as a cold bridge straight through to the loft.
It has also settled since, so it now sits below the top of the timber rather than level with it. Straightening that and closing the gaps is the first hour of the job.
The cross laid layer is the actual work. In a loft in Stone the second layer goes across the joists at right angles, not between them, which is what covers the timber and brings the finished depth to 270mm. Mineral wool in a roll, glass wool or rockwool, does most of it. Batts suit uneven or trussed centres, loose fill goes where nobody can crawl, and rigid board such as PIR or Celotex is for the places headroom will not take a roll. Sheep wool and multi-foil are for exceptions.
What comes out. Not everything is worth keeping. Material that is wet from an old leak, crushed flat under boarding or contaminated with droppings is bagged and leaves with us. Patchy runs where a cable or an aerial lead was pulled through get made good. Nothing new goes down over something that should have come out, because you cannot inspect it afterwards.
The eaves, and the ventilation. Insulation stops at the wall plate. Trussed roofs in Stone are shallow at the edge and that is precisely where somebody is tempted to pack it in. Vent trays hold the air gap open under the felt so cross ventilation still works, and where a roof runs on breathable membrane the detail differs slightly. A ridge vent covers the case where the eaves cannot be opened. Blocking them buys a warm bedroom and a wet roof.
Services, storage and slopes. A cold water tank and its pipework want lagging once the loft is a cold space. Cables are lifted and clipped over rather than buried, because wiring that cannot lose heat carries less current, and recessed lights and downlighters get fire rated covers. The hatch is insulated on the back and draught sealed. Storage sits on a raised floor of loft legs and boarding above full depth, with a platform by the hatch and the loft ladder left usable. Sloping ceilings and dormers follow the rafters instead.
How it runs
A loft job from the first look to the last roll
Thomas climbs into the loft to see what insulation is there, how deep and how dry it is, and how air gets in at the eaves. Most of the eighties houses in Stone have a low trussed roof with the original wool between the joists, and a small roof space like that turns damp quickly once the eaves are blocked.
His written quote for a loft in Stone sets out the survey, removing any old wool that has to go, the new rolls and the depth they reach, eaves trays, an insulated and sealed hatch, and jackets for the tank and pipes, with disposal at the end. A dust sheet runs from your front door to the loft ladder, we kneel on boards laid across the joists, and the landing is vacuumed before we go. Old wool leaves in sealed sacks. For a top floor flat the roof space may be the freeholder's, so we check who can say yes. Wet underlay, droppings or a cable that needs an electrician are photographed and priced before anything else is touched.
Insulation inside a loft in Stone is not development and needs no planning application, which Planning Portal guidance on insulation sets out. The standard comes from Approved Document L, with Dorset Council for building control, and where a roof is renovated regulation 23 brings the element up to standard. HMRC VAT Notice 708/6 covers VAT on insulation.
Cost
Low trusses, shared roof spaces and the loft price
Getting up there takes planning. A landing hatch you can stand a ladder under is quick. A small hatch over a stairwell, or a crawl space you can only move through on your knees, adds time. A bungalow in Stone is easy to get into but has a lot of floor.
Shallow pitches. Many eighties roofs in Stone are low pitched, so the space at the eaves is tight and it is hard to get the depth in without blocking the airflow. Eaves trays hold a gap open, and they have their own line.
What is up there now. Old wool that is flat or dirty is bagged and removed. Boarding or stored boxes have to come up and go back, or the boards are raised on loft legs so the insulation under them is not squashed.
The edges. Getting depth into the corners, boxing over downlighters, and lagging the tank and pipes that will now sit in the cold take most of the labour.
Flats. A roof space over several flats is the freeholder's, and the agent decides what is done.
Approved Document L sets the target. Ask other quotes what depth, in how many layers, whether the old material comes out, and whether the hatch and pipework are included.
If the loft is wet
Droplets under the felt or mould on the rafters
Droplets on the underside of the felt, black mould on the timbers, or insulation that feels damp mean warm, wet air is getting into a loft that cannot breathe. A shallow modern roof space goes damp faster than a big old one, so it is worth acting on rather than watching.
Keep the hatch shut and phone us instead of the form. On that first look we work out whether it is condensation or a leak before anything more is added. Loft work goes in the diary Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Something urgent? Ring, and if we miss you we call back.
Worth knowing
A house built with insulation is why nobody has checked it
The oddity of newer housing is that it makes people stop looking. A house built with insulation in the roof feels like a house where the loft is dealt with, so the hatch stays shut for thirty years. Meanwhile the material settles, so it is thinner than the day it went in. And the depth expected has also moved a long way since, so even at its original thickness it would be well short now.
What that means in practice is cheerful enough. You almost never need to strip a loft like this out. There is a sound first layer already sitting between the joists, so the work is to straighten it, fill in where cables and hatch trimmers have left gaps, and then cross lay a fresh layer over the joists to bring the whole ceiling up together. It is usually a single day, it uses less material than starting from bare plasterboard, and the difference upstairs is felt the first cold evening after.
Who you are dealing with
The person who goes into your loft
We cover Stone, Wimborne Minster, Furzehill, Merley, Corfe Mullen and Broadstone in BH21. Stone is a drive of about nine miles from our base in Boscombe, and Dorset Council handles planning and building control. Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, has company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Stone, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
The business belongs to Thomas Hannen, who climbs up to see the loft and writes the price himself. Checkatrade has a 10 out of 10 from one of our verified customers. Going up to look is free, and the itemised quote in writing costs nothing either.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Stone?
Most repairs in Stone 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.
| Question | In Stone |
|---|---|
| Who decides | Dorset Council is the planning authority for Stone. Dorset Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | None covers Stone, so a like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Stone. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Stone. |
Questions
Questions about loft insulation in Stone
Is this a quick job?
Usually one day, and often less material than people expect, because the layer between the joists is generally worth keeping. Straightening it and closing the gaps comes first, then the cross laid layer goes over the lot. Clearing storage or lifting boards adds a day.
Our house came with insulation. Do we really need more?
Almost certainly: one layer flush with the joists leaves every joist bridging heat out of the ceiling, and it has settled since. The U value of that ceiling will be well short of what Part L expects, and a cross laid second layer fixes both problems at once.
Does the old material have to come out?
Not if it is dry and sound. We straighten it, close the gaps and keep it as the first layer, which costs you less. It only comes out where it is wet, crushed flat under boards or contaminated.
Will more insulation cause condensation?
Not while the eaves stay open. Adding depth lowers the temperature of everything above your ceiling, and moisture from the house then finds those colder timbers. A shallow modern roof holds less air to carry it away, which is why the vent trays are not optional.
Will we see it on the heating bill?
Yes. A thin ceiling is one of the larger heat losses in most houses, so getting the ceiling to full depth is the thermal gain people actually feel, and it lifts the fabric score on an EPC. The draught seal round the hatch is noticed the same evening.
Nearby, and next door
Loft insulation near Stone
Nearby places we also cover for loft insulation, with straight-line distances from Stone, and the other trades we offer in Stone itself.
Loft insulation nearby
Our other trades in Stone
Loft insulation guides
Part L: do you have to insulate when you re-roof? Loft condensation or a roof leak: how to tell PIR board vs mineral wool: which insulation?Everything we do in Corfe Mullen Loft insulation, all areas Every area we cover
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Find out what is actually up there
Thomas gets into the loft, measures the depth you really have and prices the rest in writing. Both are free.