What they don't point out about loft insulation

So, she comes in from "Dancin", has lunch and goes upstairs to change. She then informs me that there is water dripping from the bedroom ceiling. I investigate the report and she is correct. A slow excavate of some of the loft flooring ( covered in 40 years of her essential memorabilia) reveals that the cold feed main which was plumbed in by the plumber with thinwall copper tubing about 1973 has punctured at a fixing point and spread water over rather a lot of the bedroom ceiling. The thin glass fibre layer of loft insulation has acted as a capillary mat and lots of water has gone some distance in all directions. The 100mm rockwool layer on top of the glass fibre has stayed reasonably dry. Fortunately the stop valve works so water off was easy. I sent her on a quick excursion to Toolstation for a 15mm repair coupler and in spite of the counter staff giving her the wrong itm, she came back with the correct thing. I am very proud that her 50 years of me training her to buy DIY items is still working so well.

It took about 10 minutes to cut and rejoin the pipe in a waterproof manner and then there remained the problem of wet insulation. Having given a small area of the the benefit of a fan for 4 days, there was no sign of the capilliary area drying out, so today, some more of the loft boarding came up and I extracted the glassfibre layer over that area. I am so glad that I laid the loft boarding as a fitted loose lay from cut down 8 x 4 sheets, so that apart from the hassle of moving the rubbish in the loft and storing the boards it is merely a bit of a struggle to get back to the ceiling layer. I've still about another 3sq M of insulation to extract, but at least there are signs of some dry plasterboard. It makes me wish I had fitted PU foam board, but at the time it was just not available.

I do wonder how bad the problem would have been if there had been

300mm of loose blown loft insulation all over.
Reply to
Capitol
Loading thread data ...

A few years ago I had a ceiling collapse in a similar incident in my bedroom. the culprit was the tap which had been turned off then on by the plumber a year or so before to change the ball valve in the tank. The whole lot was a soggy mess for months with a thick dust sheet over the hole while the loft and stuff was dried. Yes insulation had to be removed and thrown. Big mess and not smelling very much. Once it was dry the easy bit ws the plasterboarding and more insulation. I never dreamed that glass fibre could act that way at all.

Still got some money from insurance. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

That's what I pay an insurance company for.

Mike

Reply to
Muddymike

... and that's why I don't have any water pipes in the loft!

Reply to
Phil

From a hydroponics site.......

"The main advantages of Rockwool include its superb water to air retention properties (ensuring roots get the nutrients they need and a vital oxygen supply), compatibility with most growing systems, lightweight nature and cleanliness over alternative options."

Weighs the same as water when it's saturated

Reply to
stuart noble

The leak was down to the pipe puncturing for some reason.

I had similar leak from a pipe under the bathroom floor (pinhole leak in the middle of the pipe run, presumably an impurity in the copper?)

Reply to
chris French

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.