Loft insulation in Swanage

The hatch decides a lot. In the older streets of Swanage the hatch is often a small square over a stairwell, cut when nobody expected a person to get through it with rolls of insulation. That decides the shape of the day. Where a ladder can stand on a landing it is straightforward.

Over a stairwell it is staging first and material second, and access like that is work at height in the proper sense, so it gets set up rather than improvised. Once we are through, crawl boards go down before anybody puts weight anywhere, because the ceiling below is frequently lath and plaster and will not carry a knee.

Out before in. Whatever is in a Swanage loft gets judged honestly. Wool compressed under a deck, thinned by years of settling, gone from the last foot before the wall, or contaminated where birds have been in and left droppings is bagged at the hatch and taken away with us. Anything patchy round old wiring goes the same way. Laying good material over bad hides the fault in the middle of the build up, where interstitial damp can sit unseen for years.

Depth in two layers. The first thickness drops in between the joists. The second is cross laid over the joists the other way, so no timber is left proud to run cold through into the room below. The pair finish at about 270mm, the figure Approved Document L sets for a loft being renovated. Mineral wool covers most of it, whether it is sold as glass wool or as rockwool. Batts go where bracing chops the space up, loose fill reaches into a low pitch that will not take a roll, and sheep wool is there if you would rather. All of it is aimed at the U value across the ceiling, because that is one of the biggest pieces of heat loss in the house and the one you notice on the heating bill and on an EPC.

Air at the wall plate. In a Swanage loft, insulation finishes on the wall plate and the air gap over it is left alone. Vent trays hold it there. Cross ventilation enters low, works up the slope and leaves under the ridge, and a ridge vent gives it a proper exit. A roof with breathable membrane behind the tiles has a second route out. One with bitumen felt underlay has none. This close to the sea the air is damp to start with, so a roof that cannot dry itself never catches up between one wet week and the next. Warm the ceiling and the dew point rises into the roof space with it, so eaves that get packed give you condensation, wet material and black mould on the timbers.

Then everything else up there. The cold water tank is lagged on the same visit, and its pipework with it, because the loft has just become a colder place than it has ever been. Wiring and cables are lifted onto the wool rather than buried beneath it. Fire rated covers go over recessed lights and downlighters. A used loft keeps its floor: the boards come off, legs go onto the joists, and the deck goes back at a height that leaves the wool alone, with the loft ladder adjusted to reach the platform. Rigid board and a draught seal on the hatch finish the day, since a bare one leaks heat all winter and pulls damp air up after it.

The floor area of a loft is the easy part. The edges, the hatch and what is already up there take the time.

Getting up there. A hatch over a stairwell in a stone cottage, a hatch on a communal landing in a flat, and a boarded loft in a house up the hill are three different mornings before any roll is opened.

The old layer. Compressed old wool, loose fill or a floor covered in boxes has to be dealt with before anything new goes down. Removing it, bagging it and taking it away is a cost of its own.

The structure. Joists at even centres with a clear run are quick. A roof full of purlins and bracing, or a Victorian loft with deep uneven joists, takes longer to fill properly without gaps.

Airflow and damp. Near the sea, damp air is the enemy of a cold roof. The eaves have to stay open so the underside of the roof keeps drying, and in a roof with old felt and no breathable membrane that matters even more. Approved Document L sets the depth the work is expected to reach.

Ask any other quote the depth being laid and in how many layers, whether the eaves are being kept clear, and whether the hatch and pipes are included.

Swanage is 10 miles from our base on Wolverton Road in Boscombe. We insulate lofts across Swanage, Herston, Durlston, Langton Matravers and the BH19 addresses around them, and Dorset Council is the authority for planning and building control.

Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is registered in England and Wales under company number 15471719. The owner is Thomas Hannen, who climbs into the loft and prices it himself. A verified Checkatrade customer scored us 10 out of 10. The visit costs nothing and neither does the itemised quote. Before you book a visit in Swanage, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Swanage 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.