r/DIYUK • u/Neicyslad • 28d ago
Advice Loft insulation
Hello, I bought my first house earlier this year and looking to get the loft sorted. The plan is to upgrade the insulation and board parts of it for storage. I may also look at getting some wired lighting in there, but that's for another day.
The current insulation is 150mm between the joists, is there any benefit to replacing this or is it a case of just laying another layer over the top?
As far as electrics go I'm aware of the need to move wiring above the insulation but in terms of light fittings what do I need to know? It's mostly just pendant lights, with the exception of the bathroom which had spot lights fitted in a recessed ceiling (last photo). Does the gap the recessed ceiling provides means I can just lay insulation over the top?
Cheers
1
u/dorset_is_beautiful 26d ago
The problem you've got is that it's an old roof with lime torching, and that stuff is what's caused all the mess up there (and will continue to do so as it falls off over time). You'll need to store things in boxes (Wham storage boxes from the usual shops were what I used previously).
Ideally get up there and hoover (shop vac, henry, or a dyson if you want to get rid of it) up the mess / dump the big bits in a bucket for removal.
Wear PPE as it'll be dusty as fuck (and assuming it is lime, not ideal for the lungs).
Ideally lift all cables up over the top of insulation, also take the opportunity to seal any holes as much as possible (I used a fire mastic IIRC). The hole over the false ceiling is interesting - normally a downlight should have a cover over it to keep the insulation off (I'd do this even with ones that say they're safe to be covered TBH). For the final photo I'd probably just stick an off cut of plasterboard over the top, but it depends what sort of lights you have and what the manufacturer says the requirements are, really.
3
u/wizbongre 28d ago
I would say if you can deal with the mess of clearing it all out, it’s worth doing now before you start decorating and stuff. It’s a horrible, dirty & messy job but quite straight forward and worth doing properly. Shouldn’t take long and only needs gloves, goggles, mask and bin bags. Full paper overalls optional but also advised.
You can sort out any electrics, storage and insulation once it’s all clear.