Another unexpected problem here. Someone left a skylight window open during heavy rain and now some of the loft insulation is very wet. Can I just bring the loft insulation into my flat for a few days to dry out? Will it have come to any harm?
I think I would be more concerned with the plasterboard ceiling which can start to bow and even collapse if thoroughly wet. I would remove the insulation, if it is only a small area it may not be worth waiting for it to dry out so replacement is probably easiest.
Richard
Better left undisturbed I would have thought - it will dry out where it is.
Thankfully it's not plasterboard. It's lath and plaster. I have had worse leaks over the years that have dried out.
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I very much doubt it , personally, I had snow on mine due to the wrong type of snow one year, after filling buckets with the powdered snow this left wet insulation and it dried off in situ actually. I guess there is a chance of something like mould growing but the insulation did suggest it had a fungicide coating. Brian
Well if its really that wet, but I got the impression it was only surface wetness, not the sort that would benefit from a mangle! Brian
I had a dripping loft tank tap and it brought that type of ceiling down, what a mess, bits of soggy plaster and wood all over the bedroom. Sadly it now is plasterboard, so a large pice of plastic is under the tap, just in case. Brian
Buy some canes, normally for runner beans and lift the wet insulation up and support it on the canes at right angles to the joists so that air can circulate over and under your loft insulation.
Loft insulation, unlike cavity wall batts, is not treated with water repellent so can be difficult to dry before it gets a chance to turn smelly.
Does rather depend on that its made out of. Much will be glass fibre - and that does not really hold water that well.
On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 23:37:20 +0100, John Rumm snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.null wrote: [snip]
It doesn't feel like glass fibre. It is very soft and does not affect my skin even if I squeeze it. It is drying out well. I think I have been lucky.
Rockwool is a common one, although there are other products that are becoming popular which are less irritating to the skin.
Its quite common on older places with no sarking, for snow to get blown into the loft - often in significant quantities. Usually that would melt and dry out in time, and you would not be aware of it unless you looked in the loft for some reason.
A fan generally speeds up drying a good bit
NT
Thanks. This is all highly reassuring. I only looked when I became of the rainfall in my flat :-)
The only reason I mentioned the damage to the plasterboard was based on my own experience after the wankers of so called roofers left the boiler flue disconnected. Although water condensed on a considerable area of the loft below the tiles only the area immediately around the flue was wet through. It was the plasterboard bellying downwards and starting to crack alerted us to the issue.
Richard
Thanks. In this case regrettably I was the wanker.
How do you know it's very wet Scotty?
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