B&Q Supplemental Loft Insulation

Jan 24, 2010 21 Replies

Hi,



Both B&Q and Homebaseare selling rolls of "supplemental loft insulation" in my local stores with a 2 for the price of one offer. Would anyone car to comment on the quality of this insulation?



My loft currently has 100 mm insulation between the joists and I was thinking of laying some of this stuff at 90 degrees to the joists on top of the existing stuff. Would I be better taking the old insulation up and starting from scratch?



Thanks, BraileTrail


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If you mean 'Space Blanket' you'll get a better price at Wickes (currently

3 for the price of 1 @ £13.98p - £4.66p each) and it's 150mm.

It's easily laid on top of the existing layer and it's very clean and easy to lay. Mine seems to be very effective but I'm putting in an extra layer soon as it's so cheap.

Cic.

Space Blanket to me means a sheet of tinfoil like stuff ...Is that what it is ?

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Tinfoil isn't usually 150mm thick.

Cic.

And neither are Space Blankets !!!

Obviously Knauf put a lot of thought in to finding a name for their product .

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'Space Blanket' insulation is:

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I know what a Space Blanket is ..lol

I've just put 15 rolls of it in my loft. It was considerably better than the stuff that was there already.

No, just lay the new stuff on top.

In message , Huge writes

Thanks for that. Although looking at the Wickes offerings mentioned by Cicero, particularly:

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might go for that instead as it looks even better value.

OK.

BraileTrail

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didn't care as their product is more accurately described by the name.

We've been bumping into mountains of the Knauf product for months in B&Q, Wickes, etc. so it's probably better known than the earlier foil blanket which is pretty useless even as an emergency blanket.

Cic.

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I had no idea I was introducing so much confusion into this simple subject. This is the one I was thinking of:

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Cic.

In message , Cicero writes

You didn't, I googled for the product you mentioned, decided it was not as good a value / square meter as the one I mentioned; no confusion. If Wickes want to call it a Space Blanket, fine with me!

Thanks, BraileTrail

Anyone know please how well do the encapsulated "space blanket" insulation passes water?

I ask because our loft is above some old plaster & lath and more old plaster board without a built-in vapour barrier [1]. So (relative to a modern house) a lot of water vapour passes into the loft. When I put dust sheets down for a week, on top of the traditional fibre glass insulation, while the roof was done there was a *lot* of condensation under them. Would the small perforations in space blankets cope with that? Or are they best avoided for old lofts which have to vent a lot of water vapour??

[1] I know I ought to do something about this but the ceilings were coated (not by me) with Polytex :(

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Cicero saying something like:

They've picked up on the name and developed a meme around it and stuck it on their tragic website. Mylar sheeting has been known colloquially as Space Blanket for decades before the shysters at Knauf came along.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Usenet Nutter saying something like:

Marketing wankers.

LOL....( thumbs up sign)

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If you're unhappy with the marketing name chosen by Knauf for one of their products I suggest that you make your complaint direct to them. I'm sure they will give your complaint the attention it deserves.

I am quite happy to use the trade name used by the manufacturer for a product which is prominently displayed in large quantities in several major DIY / Trade stores. Anybody who is likely to be misled by a possible confusion of the trade name with a generic name would surely know that generic space blanket is not 150mm thick.

Cic.

I don't think that space blanket would act as an effective vapour barrier, water vapour would find its way around the edges unless the edges were taped together to form a complete membrane over the whole of the ceiling.

I have 100mm of loft insulation between my joists and am planning to lay more joists at 90 degrees to the exising with a further 100mm of insulation then board over that.

What I am wondering is, should I lay a damp proof membrane down before doing this? If the dewpoint is reached within the first 100mm then I would in big trouble. Has anyone tried this?

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Rednadnerb saying something like:

I'd vapour-barrier the existing ceiling first. Simply prevent moisture from getting up into the insulation in the first place. Of course, if you leave the top of the insulation free to breathe, it won't be a problem.

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