Converting attic - what insulation to use?
 

Hello,

My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like Rockwoll,
or a solid insulation? I was planning to clad the ceiling with wood
panelling, and I thought that glass fibres might escape through the cracks
between the panels and contaminate the air.

Should I also use a plastic sheet between the insulation and the wood
panelling? I suppose that this should also seal the glass fibres in place?

Many thanks,
Paul

My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like
Rockwoll,
or a solid insulation?

Conversion of a loft comes under building control. There are many, many
issues that must be addressed to make it legal. You'll need to consider the
following (and loads more I've forgotten).

1. Insulation (for maximum thinness, this is best done with
Kingspan/Celotex. There are loads of rules about air gaps, cold bridging,
thickness, breathable membranes, vapour barriers etc.)

2. Fire escape (usually you need to make your stairway fire proof (no open
plan lounges) and install an escape window in the loft. There are many other
methods of complying.

3. Fire alarms. You'll need mains powerered linked smoke detectors.

4. Fire protection. You'll need fire resistance between the top floor and
the others.

5. Foundations. They will have to be strong enough for the extra weight.

6. Walls. They will have to be strong enough for the extra weight.

7. Floor joists. They will almost certainly need replacing or supplementing
with much stronger examples.

Christian.

In article ,
says...
My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like
Rockwoll,
or a solid insulation?

Conversion of a loft comes under building control. There are many, many
issues that must be addressed to make it legal.

Are they pretty much the same in Belgium as in the UK?

Rob and Christian,

From what I've seen here, what regulations there are are usually ignored!


"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like
Rockwoll,
or a solid insulation?

Conversion of a loft comes under building control. There are many, many
issues that must be addressed to make it legal.

Are they pretty much the same in Belgium as in the UK?

Paul Moore wrote:

My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like Rockwoll,

Nope (except for under the floor where it will let you meet the fire and
noise transmission regs)

http://www.internode.co.uk/loft/images/wool.jpg

or a solid insulation? I was planning to clad the ceiling with wood
panelling, and I thought that glass fibres might escape through the cracks
between the panels and contaminate the air.

Use PIR foam, it is one of the few ways to meet the required u Values
and not lose too much headroom.

http://www.internode.co.uk/loft/insulating.htm

Should I also use a plastic sheet between the insulation and the wood
panelling? I suppose that this should also seal the glass fibres in place?

No need - it is foil covered. You can tape the joins with foil tape to
keep them air tight.


--
Cheers,

John.

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Paul Moore wrote:

From what I've seen here, what regulations there are are usually ignored!

Looking at the UK regs, they are to be honest mostly just common sense.
They are also pretty easy to comply with.

You may choose to ignore them but since they are primerily concerned
with ensuring you are able to escape from a fire, and you have a room
that is quiet, and maintains a comfortable temperature all year round,
the only people you ultimately end up cheating if you avoid complying
with them is you and the family.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Paul Moore Wrote:
Hello,

My next home project is to convert the attic. I was wondering about
insulation. Should I use loose stranded fibreglass insulation like
Rockwoll,
or a solid insulation? I was planning to clad the ceiling with wood
panelling, and I thought that glass fibres might escape through the
cracks
between the panels and contaminate the air.

Should I also use a plastic sheet between the insulation and the wood
panelling? I suppose that this should also seal the glass fibres in
place?

Many thanks,
Paul

Hi,
we are just having a loft conversion done and the insulation we used
was tri-iso super 9 its 14 layers but only about 20mm thick
uncompressed its good stuff.
Its not cheap but depends on what your using it for


--
leon

leon wrote:

we are just having a loft conversion done and the insulation we used
was tri-iso super 9 its 14 layers but only about 20mm thick
uncompressed its good stuff.
Its not cheap but depends on what your using it for

If as expected we have a very cold winter do come back next summer and
tell us all exactly how it performs.


--

Converting attic - what insulation to use?
 

Lads,

Belated thanks for the ideas here.

Cheers,
Paul