Home Improvement Advice for Insulation

Floors & Walls Do it Yourself Tips for Insulation

Do not block off any airbrick or ventilation ducts when insulating as they have been fitted to help combat mould or rot forming.

Wooden Ground Floor

This type of flooring is normally found in older properties. You can fit insulation underneath this type of floor. The skirting boards will need to be removed, make sure when they are replaced that the floor where it joins the skirting is sealed.

Solid Floors

Unless you are laying a new solid floor it is not practical to insulate underneath. When you are having insulation laid onto your floor, the floor must be flat, dry and clean and skirtings will need to be removed.

Intermediate Floors

The easiest way to insulate these floors will be with a good quality carpet and a good felt underlay. Not too much heat is lost through intermediate floors.

Cavity Wall Insulation

This kind of insulation is highly cost effective and should be done by professionals, as work has to comply with building regulations and involves drilling holes into the cavity in a set pattern and injecting insulating material into it. The different types of insulation are:

Foam Insulation

This type of insulation has to be done by the professionals and has to be fitted properly otherwise there can be major problems. Bad fitting can enable damp to penetrate. Any contractor you take on to carry out this work should be registered with the British Standards Institute. Your local authority should be notified if you are having this work carried out.

Other types are expanded polystyrene beads or other granular materials. Holes are drilled into the walls and the beads put through. Some systems incorporate dry beads, others use an adhesive to bond the beads together as they are injected into the cavity.

Mineral fibre can also be used, the material is melted (as part of the manufacturing process) and made into fine fibres and put through drilled holes into the wall.