Cavity Wall Insulation ...Poss OT

[Usenet Nutter]

I don't know if any of you live in or are familiar with Glasgow Tenement properties but I live in one and this thought came to me recently because of something that happened . My upstairs neighbour some months ago got her window frames pointed because of issues with rain ingress coming from one particular window (during heavy rain combined with high winds from one direction) which found it's way down to my flat and that sorted the problem but recently ( at the time of the flooding in Cockermouth) rain was again coming in . Recently my neighbour had UPVC DG windows installed and I asked the Factors to send someone out and inspection of my neighbours windows found that the exterior sill on the window immediately above mine had not been sealed properly so this is getting sorted next week.

.During this time I had to rebuild the facing around my window and I had to remove some plaster between the facing and the ceiling .Now I knew that there was a huge void between the ceiling of each flat and the floor of the flat above but I had not realised the amount of cold air swirling around in this space ...it was like a hurricane . This got me to wondering in these energy saving times if anyone had ever investigated if these voids could be filled ,even partially,with some form of insulation as the amount of heat loss must be considerable .I realise that all this air does help to prevent dampness although quite where it comes from is a mystery to me ...the only vents I know of are at the ground floor to help keep the solum aired. A few minutes ago I put my hand on the floor near my windows and the boards are freezing which will be caused by the void below my flat and my downstairs neighbour !!!

Anyone got any thoughts if these voids could be filled in without causing problems .

[js.b1]

Area beneath the floor could be insulated with PIR foam on "netting".

- Basically cut to size and wedge between the joists.

- Buy "Seconds" as much cheaper than the usual stuff.

Alternatively polyurthane underlay has a Tog rating of about 3 whereas tredaire or rubber-crumb is about 1.3. The gain is there, but obviously it isn't going to do anything magical compared to say 50mm of PIR foam.

Sounds like the cavity might be open the underfloor space, either that or there are other "vents". In which CWI would be fun - they know how much they should put in and do actually charge IIRC for "filling the rooms as well" :-))

[NT]

Sure they can, as long as any water ingress is sorted first. I guess you're looking at blown loosefill / CWI if no access, or rockwool if access.

NT

[David J]

I think that you might have invented a new Industry.

Cavity Floor Insulation....

[mogga]

You can ring the energy body that's supposed to know all about insulation and ask them about insulating under floors. They don't have a clue.

[Usenet Nutter]

Well it's not really under the floor ..well only sort of .

I have just used a cooker temp probe to check the outside air temp and the temp in the void I referred to . Outside it is around 0 to -1 Deg C and in the void it is about 1-2 deg higher ....all that seperates the void from the upper parts of the living room above my windows is a thin stretch of lath and plaster.

[Usenet Nutter]

I can get limited access if I strip away the plaster and cut the laths away as well.....enough to get my arm in or something push the insulating material in .......could I use the material used for loft insulation and stuff it in to the void then I can plaster it up again .?

[NT]

Sounds like you need to use loosefill then - though from here we can't rule out the possbility of some hole the wind might blow it out of. Polystyrene bead CWI is often injected along with glue.

You can use any material you choose, and gain access any way you choose. Insulation values vary, but I think the abilty to get it in there is going to be the ruling factor here.

NT