Floor insulation (suspended floor)

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joeturbo

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Hoping for a bit of advice, we are currently purchasing our first house (had 2 flats previously)

I believe the house was built in 1986 and does need some modernising which is fine

I have had a look at the EPC and see that it lists “Floor insulation (suspended floor)” as a recommendation.

Is this a big / expensive task? All of the current carpets / skirting will need replacing so is it best to take up the floor to take a look and insulate?

DIY job or get a pro in?
 
Are you talking about insulating the ground floor(s) as you probably don't need to the first floor, unless you want sound deadening.

You can use barrier mesh, or chicken wire stapled to the joists, (like a hammock) and fill with rock wool (cheaper than celotex), try not to leave any gaps... but don't cover air vents, as you need ventilation to keep the wood from rotting.

Rockwool is half the efficiency of celotex, so you will need a decent thickness (mine was 150mm).

It is worth doing, and you can DIY. I did all of my ground floors.

If you can find/afford celotex you can do it this way, but just screw/nails into joist and sit the insulation in, flush to the joist top.

good luck.
 
Depends on access - can you or someone get under the floors? I've seen contractors send a little robot under to apply spray foam. If there's not much room, you have to do it from above - pulling up the entire floor - if it's t&g it might not be reusable. If you can't get a grant it will cost thousands if you pay or hundreds if you DIY.
Obviously what it costs affects the payback period (unless you're an eco warrior) and draftproofing/thicker underlays might be more cost effective.
 
Thanks for the replies both. We have not even moved in yet so just looking into what would be involved. Will get some photos once we are in and pulled the carpet out.

I heard on the news recently they are giving government grants to EPC D properties which this is so was thinking about looking into this closer to the time.
 
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