Have we discussed the new Eco+ scheme?

[Lacan07]

Wow, bare lofts must be a rare sight!

I wouldn't mind someone clearing out my loft - would be nice to give a once-over with the Henry before I have to take the hall ceiling down!

Wells there's a load of crap in one of them now but they we're untouched and unexplored when I arrived. I'm guessing wed all be surprised at how many homes have no loft insulation. Cleaning them out was one of the worst jobs I've faced, just pull the ceiling down.

 

[RBailey]

Yes, I've heard fibreglass is breathable, like Rockwall, so why are people against it in old houses? I lose track of these things, doesn't it collapse when wet?

I ponder this question periodically. We have maybe 50mm in all our lofts which are dry, empty and airy.

I wonder about just adding in some more rockwool and just keep it well away from the eve's to ensure air flow.

I know sheep's wool would be ideal but to get the benefit I'd have to remove all the old rock wool (really horrendous job) and it would be very expensive.

We did have an overflow which soaked an area of the rock wool and it was horrible squished soggy mess but I removed it then put the DH in the loft for a few days and the rest and celling it wall dried out okay.,

Cheers,
Richard B.

 

[paulc]

Yes, I've heard fibreglass is breathable, like Rockwall, so why are people against it in old houses? I lose track of these things, doesn't it collapse when wet?

Used to use an awful lot of Rockwool (by the truck load, lagging industrial flues). Quite often, the stuff would be soaking wet, but it didn't collapse under its own weight. Also had a patch of fibreglass that got a bit wet from a leak. Again, it didn't collapse. I would say that if you have enough water soaking your insulation to the point of it collapsing, you have much bigger problems to worry about than a bit of soggy insulation. e.g. A roof blown off or a major 10-20ft deep flood.

 

[a twig]

Fibreglass insulation is horrible stuff to handle, needing masks etc hence the dislike.

Proper rockwool is fine and also has a great fire rating.

As always not all brands of insulation are equal and perform as expected