Pitched roof loft conversion insulation, help please!

[rossyl]

Hi,

Moved into a new flat, which is basically a loft conversion.

The rooms with pitched roofs seem to have very bad insulation. When it gets cold the room is almost colder than being oustide! You can almost feel the breeze!

The conversion was done in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

I was wondering what the best method of insulating the roof? Taking down the current plasterboard, and installing what? Any points to bare in mind?

There are also small storage cubby holes in the pitched roofs that seem to be very drafty, what could be done here?

All advice appreciated.

Thanks
R

 

[noseall]

it will take some serious rip-out work to access the space that you will need to insulate successfully, as well as the associated venting issues.

Current regulations require a minimum 125mm rigid foam board plus an air gap of between 25 and 50mm above the insulation on a cold deck application.

Of course you can improve what you already have but whether if offers a great deal of protection from the cold, will depend upon what exists there already.

The cubby holes are likely to be formed with little protection from the cold and will require similar levels of insulation mentioned. If you have the room then you could always fit 300mm of fibreglass insulation into any voids. Venting issues will still be relevant behind the cubby hole also.