Followup: Roof insulation materials

My roof has no insulation at all and I have been looking at the options. On the open market the eco friendly products like sheepswool batts are seven times the price of glass fibre. I'd be prepared to pay a small premium but that is too much for my bank balance to bear

The government is giving grants for insulating old houses so I booked a survey to get a price with grant included and to pick the brains of the surveyor

He has just been to visit and the outcome is that sheepswool is still much more expensive even with the grant. He says that his company priced up the sheepswool option for a client and the cost to his company was 4.5 times what they sell glass fibre for. Add on his company's markup and the cost to me is heading towards 7 times :(

The good news is that material and labour for installing ten inches of insulation in my attic, plus cavity wall insulation in the 1976 extension will cost me just £225 (three bedroom house)

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

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01359 230642

Reply to
Anna Kettle
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In article , Anna Kettle writes

What's so "not" ecologically sound about fibre glass?.....

Reply to
tony sayer

Sheeps wool is 100 pence a flease from the farmer, if you want some drop me an email. Its nautrally waterproof, and bug proof. Its cost the farmers 50 pence to shear the sheep, so they make 50 pence a flease. Even for a big sheep farmer is not much money.

I imagine all you need to do is get the s*1t out of it, which of cource is a haven for nasties.

Rick

Reply to
Rick

Go for Rockwool, not galss fibre. Make the ceiling air-tight before installtion and lay a well fitting vapour barrier. Make sure the loft lid is sealed too.

Reply to
Doctor Evil

Not bug-proof.

There's a bit more to it than that ... your imagination is running riot.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Mary

Do the bugs live by eating the wool, or do they live by eating all the stuff (s*1t and the like) that collects in the wool ? Looking at the local sheep population, the dirtier the sheep the more unhealty they look.

Thanks Rick

Reply to
Rick

In message , Rick writes

Washing enough fleeces to insulate our large loft would be a non-trivial task.

Reply to
chris French

In message , Anna Kettle writes

Who deals with these grants? We have very poor insulation in our loft, which will need sorting out before the autumn.

Not bad at all. I really don't fancy putting this stuff in myself in our large loft, and I've also come to the conclusion that more 'eco-friendly ' products are just to expensive for us.

Reply to
chris French

I hope not. We were getting £2.25 last year.

Reply to
Mike

Ask him for a price for those recycled paper products (Bitvent ?). These have about the same U value as fibreglass. It is sprayed into place so a little more expensive to install but if you're doing a cavity wall then the equipment is there.

Reply to
Mike

I think that it is your local council, but...

My wife works for our local council and because of this, she found out that we could get a discount for loft and cavity wall insulation. The surveyor came round and said that the cavity insulation could be done for just over 100 quid (we live in a small half terraced house).

When it came to the loft insulation, that was a totally different thing. Cos we had 'some' (a scant squashed 2 inches) loft insulation we would be charged more than 250 quid (this was with the council discount). If we had none, it would cost 125 quid. I did it myself for a lot less than

100 quid, including cross battening to allow another 5 inches of rockwool.

Put the rockwool down, but wear a long sleaved shirt, buttoned at the wrist. Do it on a cool day. Make sure that the central heating cannot come on and warm you up in the loft. When you have done for the day, take all your clothes off and take a shower.

For the first few minutes you will have to just let the water run down your body, do not touch any of your skin, as this may rub the fibres into it. Now shower as normal, but make all the washing strokes downward. That way, you will not suffer the big itch of loft insulation.

Dave

Reply to
Dave

How come I can see the replies in this thread but not my original message? I even went and Google Grouped to find it and it isn't there. Wierd

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which listed 16 different suppliers for my area, all selling much the same thing and much the same price so I went for the one who put a flyer through my door and is based in the next village

They are very over subscribed. I requested a survey eight weeks ago and have only just got to the top of the list,so it would be worth asking suppliers how long you need to wait for a survey

Agreed. I'd have paid £225 just for someone else to do the installing

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

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01359 230642

Reply to
Anna Kettle

He suggested that option but loose fill is no good for me cos one day I will have to take up the insulation in part of the house to repair the ceiling from above which is old and historically valuable but in lousy condition. Luckily thats what I do for a living

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

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01359 230642

Reply to
Anna Kettle

Haven't you ever seen clothes moths? Carpet beetles?

Reply to
Chris Bacon

The energy required to produce it?

Reply to
Alan

In article , Alan writes

Is that an answer or a question?. Even so its remarkably durable and lasts for a very long time.

Is sheep's fleece flammable to add to its other seeming disadvantages.....

Reply to
tony sayer

Of course not!

Which are?

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Wool is naturally fairly resistant to fire, which is why a sheepskin hearthrug is a good idea. Wool on top, leather underneath, and the long pile brushes over any burned bits.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Only at gas mark 6 if you leave it on the joint

Reply to
Mike

In article , Mary Fisher writes

Cost ?, for one plus some doubt about insect's ewecetra....

Reply to
tony sayer

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