loft insulation in thatched cottage

[MatthewC]

I used Thermafleece on my house and have never had any problems of any sort. It is far easier to lay that rockwool (no nasty tingles from the bits of glass fibre etc), you just need to cut it properly (use a new long Stanley knife blade and cut it while it is still compressed if you can, or else compress between two battens) and wear a mask as the dust seemed to give me a cough each time for a couple of days until I realised this.

I see that on their website FAQs they say "Thermafleece contains a borax based fire retardant and does not require the addition of an insecticide" with regard to the infestation by moths.

 

[livias]

I did a bit of googling ... can not find the link again but from memory someone said that the Thermafleece company started out by vermin proofing with pyrethrum (sp?) in the early days 2003 to 2006 ish which was no good and got moth infestation. They started up a new company proofing their wool with borax which seems to be fine

Hm. Back in 2003 I investigated using sheepswool insulation in the roof of an earlier house but was put off by the price which back then was seven times the cost of standard loft insulation. Very glad that I was put off :mrgreen:

 

[Spoilt Victorian Child]

I would add to the debate that sheeps wool whilst more expensive, is perhaps more healthy on the lungs than fibreglass/rockwool.

 

[GPHouse]

This is the 3rd winter with sheepswool in our stone cottage.

I have to day the improvement on 300mm of thermafleece was instantly noticeable and while its more expensive I wouldn't hesitate doing it again.

Having read around a lot and having good advice from the people here I think the benefits are:

1. Highly insulating
2. Moisture wicking - if your old cottage leaks like mine it can cope with some wetting (not advisable) and unlike a lot of insulations it will survive and still insulate while its drying out!
3. Breathable - you need this - without breathability moisture will get trapped and your wood / lath etc will possibly be affected
4. Apparently it absorbs some toxins dust etc - I havent seen definitive proof of this - but the health aspects and lack of VoCs cant be a bad idea
5. its easy to work with - no irritation (oh god this is a plus, particularly in a confined space - i did some rockwooling recently and was crying and coughing for hours even though its meant to be mostly irritant free....).

I also found a load going cheap (it literally filled a Volvo estate for £30) on Gumtree.... keep an eye out there, you;d be surprised what pops up.

We have wierd roof, some is done in batts, some in rolls. Just remember its proabbaly the best time to give a quick woodworm spray too before you put the insulation down (if you that way inclined) and to layer the insulation layers at 90degrees.


Hope this helps.
G

 

[GPHouse]

One thing I should say... and I dont know other peoples thoughts...

Given the cottage effect and the number of little gaps here and there and nearby trees I seem to get a lot of 'tree bits' leaves pollen etc in my roof.

while I overboarded my insulation using loftzone type supports and p5 MR chipboard, I wish I had put in a breathable sheet of some sort over the insulation to allow me occasionally clean up a little easier and keep detritis from building up in the.....

 

[shobo]

As a postscript, I had an electrical inspection the other day.
The electrician was ok with pvc cables in the loft being crudely sandwiched between metal plates (leaving some of the cabling exposed). He said he will pass it, though he prefers FP cable (which I also have in a different part of the loft). He said it passes his ALARP test, and mice don't eat pvc cable anyway.

He is also ok at my laying loft insulation over the cables. He just said to be careful not to disturb the metal plates as they cold pinch a cable.