Insulating beneath bedroom floorboards.

Mar 02, 2014 7 Replies

Bog standard north London semi (Laing built) Bay fronted with tiles on battens between upper and lower windows.



Having lifterd some carpet in the bedroom, I realise how cold the floorboards are. Is it possible or advisable to put some insulation between the ground floor ceiling and the bedroom floorboards? Seems to be quite a draft between the two. Or is the draft keeping everything dry? Joist direction is front to back.



TIA


You could try some of that super foil stuff. one layer on the ceiling and one under the floor boards to still give plenty of ventilation.

If you have underlay and carpet in the bedroom then possibly just foil over the ceiling will do.

There's no reason not to. It's long been standard practice where living space is above a built-in garage. And when I converted a built-in garage to a kitchen, the BCO insisted on keeping the rockwool - for sound rather than thermal insulation.

There shouldn't be a draught beyween the ground floor ceiling and the first floor. It doesn't need ventilating because it is part of the warm space of the house. So I would find out where the draught is coming from, and stop it.

If you insulate in there, it will stop some heat rising from below, so the ground floor rooms will retain heat better, but the bedroom might be colder. If you have central heating it's not going to make a lot of difference.

The usual reasons to insulate between floors are for sound insulation, and in the case of loft conversions, for fire prevention. Rockwool type acoustic insulation is usual.

Cheers Richard

Mostly this comes from air bricks. The problem is the draught coming up through the boards. Good fitted carpets will stop this I'd imagine. Brian

Air bricks, "between the ground floor ceiling and the bedroom floorboards"?

Cheers Richard

The cold is probably coming through the tiles between the two bay windows, if it's anything like the bay we had at the last house which was just a tim ber frame between the windows with under-felt, battens, slates to the outsi de and just plasterboard on the inside. It was bloody cold and the radiator hung there struggled to heat the area. The best solution if yours is a sim ilar construction, although it involves losing a bit off your bay floor are a is to build a studded dwarf wall leaving at lest 25mm air gap to the exis ting wall, I would remove any existing plasterboard to aid ventilation. Ins ulate between the studs with Rockwool bats or Kingspan foam. Take the insul ation below floor level, so you will have to shorten the floor boards. Then put a vapour barrier on the inside again taking it below floor level. The vapour barrier need only be polystyrene sheet but make sure you seal any ga ps vapour getting through will condense on any cold surface and that could cause rot. Finally replace plasterboard and fit new window boards. That mad e a hell of a difference at our place.

Richard

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