Underfloor insulation is one needed task to cut down on your energy expenses. It is
actually one of the three places (the other two are the walls and the roof)
usually neglected to be insulated. If you have a suspended wooden floor or a
concrete one, you need to insulate it to save on your yearly heating bills.
To do
it correctly, have some professionals do the insulation job even if it means
spending some. (You can get some financial help if you don’t have the budget at
present. The nice part is that it is a one-time expense compared to the yearly
amount you pay to keep your floor (and your place) warm.
Type
Before
anything else, find out the exact type of your floor. You can get to know it in
two ways. Check the basement and if there are wooden joists and other parts of
your floor’s underside, you have a suspended timber floor.
Most
likely, is that you have this floor type if there are ventilation bricks on the
outside of your house below the floor level. If you cannot access the space
underneath your floor, you need to lift a corner of the carpet and the
underlay.
Building
codes
Like
in most instances, you need to check and follow the building codes of your
locality before doing any changes to your home. One of them is adding extra
insulation to your existing floor and you need to have some considerations to
check into.
The
first one is having to ensure that the ground floor rooms meet the minimum room
heights. The next one is you need to achieve the minimum u-value (standard
thermal performance measure) and that you need to minimize the risk of fire.
The
best way is to get the advice of building control officers of your locality
before doing anything.
Timber floor
The
first to need repair are anything that is damaged by damp, rot or infestation
before doing any mother type of work. If your floor is above an unheated
cellar, you need to fit the insulation tightly between the joists and secure
the netting if need be.
Next
is fixing the plasterboard to the basement’s ceiling to allow fire resistance.
If the floor is not possible to be entered from below, take up the floorboards
to fit the insulation.
Concrete floor
If the
insulation is over the slabs, your rooms will warm up faster when the hearting
is switched on. Keep the thickness of your insulation to a minimum to reduce
having costly alterations on doors, stairs and other part because of the
increase in the floor height.
If
you insulate your floor beneath the concrete, you can help regulate the
temperature and prevent overheating because of the thermal mass of the concrete
materials.
You
might need an additional damp-proof membrane if you have one and it is placed
above the slabs. This is to protect it from ground contaminants. Underfloor insulation is not much difficult to install. If you are a carpenter, you can do
it yourself and save some.
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