Exposed beam roof insulation ?

[DERYN]

Hi again, I've been into a cottage that needs restoring and I have a question about roof insulation. The cottage has ceilings made from cladding and above this cladding are the original roof beams. I know the roof definitely needs re tiling, I havn't seen the roof beams !

After the roof has been re tiled and if the ceiling beams are exposed, is there any way of sympathetically insulating the roof area ?

Now after reading that question back to myself I can see how silly it might sound ! So another question :

When I see cottages with exposed beams, are they totally not insulated ?

Blimey that sounds silly too ! I'll put it out to you guys and see what happens.

DERYN

 

[MurrayPrice]

You could batten down the beams giving you enough room to fit 50mm celotex ect. Another way would be to insulate above the rafters although this would need counter battening causing the roof to be raised is the down fall!!

Murray

 

[MdB]

If this is the same listed building you were looking at then you will need to speak to the CO as they may not allow you to remove ceilings / expose the beams.

If you are completely removing the roof then you could potentially put insulation on top of the current beams. Alternatively there are ways of putting insulation between the beams. There are quite a few options.

 

[vicky whitworth]

What do you mean by roof beams? You talk also about ceiling beams? Do you mean ceiling joists or rafters or roof timbers? If you have ceilings and the building is listed I assume you won't be allowed to take these out so you can presumably put insulation in the loft in the normal way?

Is this a different cottage to the one you had set your heart on? I echo others comments about talking to your CO. I'm sure s/he would be only too happy to offer their advise on the actual property and how it could be restored.

 

[DERYN]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies which all make more sense than my questions !

This is the cottage I have been talking about. You are right, the CO might be able to answer all my questions regarding the cottage. Most of my questions concern what has to be kept, and what changes can be made. The ceiling is one query I have. It is obvious looking at the ceiling that it has been quite a recent addition as it has been made from tongue and groove cladding. The roof guttering is another query, grey plastic ? Surely I wouldn't be expected to replace the broken plastic guttering with more plastic !? I found a nice piece of cast iron downpipe in the undergrowth.

Another point about the ceiling, it isn't a flat ceiling as we normally have. It is more like the bottom inside of a rowing boat. Which makes me think t&g was used as it could be fitted to follow the curve of the roof beams, if that makes sense ?

thanks again,

DERYN

 

[vicky whitworth]

Is it old t&g? Wide boards, perhaps with a beading? Or is it skinny, thin, and from a DIY shed? If you were lucky enough to have wide boards I'd be celebrating, and anyway if it was there before the listing my understanding is that it will have to stay. But I really don't understand why you don't ask the CO to pop round. We're just trying to advise you without having seen the property and ultimately our views count for nothing. Whereas the CO is the person who you really need to be-friend.

I'd be interested to hear others more knowledgable than me comment on the plastic guttering. Surely no CO would require grey plastic guttering to be replaced like for like?

 

[AMc]

When I see cottages with exposed beams, are they totally not insulated ?

Usually if you can see the beams a.k.a. rafters then no there is no insulation there. Thatch has some insulating properties but not as much as many imagine. If you apply false beams ones underneath the real ones you can insulate between the rafters with solid foam or mineral/sheeps wool. False beams aren't that unusual

Finally if the house is unlisted and has been recently retiled then it may have been insulated over the rafters (insulation boards attached to the top of the rafters form a solid layer then the felt and tiles attached above that to form a waterproof layer. It's called a "warm roof" - because the structure is all inside the insulation. The opposite of a "cold roof" where the insulation is laid over the internal ceiling and the roof structure remains cold and ventilated - typically a flat ceiling in pitched roof.

We made a warm room on the back of our place hiding the rafters as original because the ceiling height was low, to add adequate insulation so we had to go on top. That meant adding brickwork on the gable, changing the bargeboards, guttering and extending the line of tiles slightly. It hasn't seriously changed the way the back looks but it would definitely need Listed Building Consent had the building been listed.

 

[skier-hughes]

I'd be interested to hear others more knowledgable than me comment on the plastic guttering. Surely no CO would require grey plastic guttering to be replaced like for like?

When I spoke to our CO, although our house isn't listed, he told me listing would indeed mean replacing grey plastic with grey plastic as that was what it was listed with.
Making an application to replace with something else may be granted.

 

[chapel]

Hi,

It's fairly straightforward to insulate between rafters (or roof beams as you call them). Baton/celotex etc/plaster mentioned by murray abover is one of the commonest - although be warned it's not going to do an amazing job as unless your rafters are really really deep you wont be able to get much width of insulation in. Looks nice though.

A curved t&g ceiling sounds interesting though - any pics?

Paul

 

[DERYN]

Hi Paul, yes I got lots of photos. But to be fair to the new owner I wouldn't feel right making them public. If you can, picture looking down into a flat bottomed wooden rowing boat and you are close to what I saw.

AND, one of the things I most hate to see in an old traditional cottage, a flat plastered fire breast, with a gas or electric fire, hiding a big inglenook where the range used to sit ! This is the case in this cottage. The chimney breast was so deep it was obvious something was hiding behind the brick and plaster. And a couple of black wooden planks hiding a slate or timber lintel. Now if being listed meant you had to leave it that way I would have to think hard about taking the cottage on.

In my house, the chimney breast was plastered over complete with a gas fire. I live in a slate quarrying area and from other houses and cottages I have seen I knew there was a chance of there being a large slate recess where the kitchen range used to be. I guessed where the lintel would be if there were one and began chipping away at the plaster. Indeed I got to a block of slate. I chipped left to right and the slate continued in one piece. A slate lintel! After some difficult chipping away I finally ended up with a fantastic slate opening where the stove used to be. I removed 30 bags of rubble and soot and I now have a lovely dual burner in the recess. It's funny how tastes and fashions change. It seems everything in these houses and cottages were covered in plaster to produce smooth clean lines. Now I'm removing the smooth clean lines to reveal the lumps and bumps once again !

DERYN