The blanket loft insulation is available in many materials. That makes it important to know the characteristics of different materials before you finalize on any particular one. Typically, blanket insulation is available in three forms which are: glass, mineral and rock fiber. Because all these materials have heat resistant characteristics they are considered excellent for the purpose. You get these materials in rolls, which can be cut to any required size for filling up the area adequately to assist insulation.
The manufacturers provide detailed guidelines to installers as to how they can cover the area with a specific thickness. The most effective depth for a blanket material in a totally un-insulated loft will be 250mm. Partially insulated lofts that fail to give expected results can be remedied by providing an additional topping to the existing thru addition of extra layers of the material. It had been an old practice to insulate loft area of houses with layers of thickness varying from 50 to 100mm. In such cases, you should ensure that the final thickness after topping with extra layers is maintained at 250mm, as prescribed by the U.K. government. Additionally, you have to assess the space flanked by two joists. This information is vital and should be borne in mind for buying the right size of material.
Before laying at the roof area
Before you proceed with lying of the blanket martial, the unwrapped roles should be taken to the space that needs to be filled up. These roles in wrapped mode are compressed and expand on getting unwrapped. Care of electrical wires around the joist are should be taken sincerely, as these may cause sparks, leading to fire. So, cables and wires should be snapped to the joists prior to application of blanket insulating material as keeping the cables covered with such materials causes them to get overheated.
Other than electrical wires and cables, another item that needs attention is water tank and connecting pipes. See that there is no insulation beneath the water tank. Likewise no insulation should cove the pipes of electrical fittings. Make it a point to start the process of lying from one end of the roof. Cut the end of the first unwrapped roll before laying it towards the attic. Be careful not to bock any air currant to afford ventilation.
For home insulation, blanket loft insulation is the most practiced form of insulation. Materials for blanket loft insulation are made from glass fiber, mineral fiber or rock fiber. Large rolls of this material are available at most DIY stores. These are recommended materials for DIY insulation installation because they are flame resistant and offer good quality protection against dampness, rotting and vermin. The length of these rolls varies from 6 – 8m (20 – 25ft); width is 400mm(16inches), whereas the thickness may be 100, 150 to 200mm (4, 6 to 8 inches).
You may buy blanket loft insulating materials from your local DIY store but take care to purchase those with paper backing rolls of insulating materials. Apart from these with paper backing, you also get these in foil backing. Paper backing is provided to prevent fiber from getting torn, while foil backing is especially added when there is need for vapor barrier for the purpose of insulation. The vapor barrier is included to prolong the effectiveness of blanket insulation which tends to reduce especially with the formation of condensation. Condensation is most likely to occur around loft space of most buildings as moist warm air rises up from heated rooms and goes to colder loft areas resulting to dry rotting effects in the roof beams. Under such circumstances foil backing added to the insulation acts as a barrier to prevent warm moist air from getting condensed around areas provided with insulating materials.
It is important to know that installation of blanket loft thermal insulation is likely to be rather uncomfortable, especially on coming in direct contact with skin. Glass fiber, mineral fiber, rock fiber or materials of blanket insulation can cause irritations on getting in contact with installers’ skin. That makes it imperative for installers to wear long sleeved dress and long trousers and use thick work gloves to cover most part of their bodies.
While protection of skin is very important, you should adopt measures to prevent inhaling of dusts or particles of loose fill or fiber insulating materials. Use a throwaway mask on your face to put off inhaling pollutants due insulating materials.
Other precautions that you should not overlook include:
1. Always take a torch to make certain that you get adequate light in the loft space to avoid any associated risks.
2. It’s imperative to clean the area around the ceiling joists and remove all debris.
3. Seal openings that that are often found around pipes, vents and wiring using any flexible mastic.
Having thus prepared the loft area to receive loft insulation materials, make sure to estimate the targeted area and cut the required materials as per the area of the space. Make sure that the thickness of the insulation employed is as per the latest Building Regulations. You should understand that the more the thickness of insulation, the better is the protection it offers to the targeted area.
The planning of a house certainly involves a lot many things that need detailed consideration. Though some of the important features that draw our attention include having adequate storage space in the house and the garage, which is often put to use for varying purposes, there are certain other vital aspects that should not escape our attention and one of these is providing the right type of adequate insulation.
As per the statistical data provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, homeowners can save up to 20 % of their energy expense by employing proper insulation. The specific needs of insulation vary from region to region. It simply means that the insulation required for a home in say, Arizona, is going to be different from the one needed for a house in Delaware because of different climatic conditions of these two places.
Apart from the geographical location of the house there are other contributory factors that decide the kind of insulation needed. The plan and design of the house matter here. So, care needs to be taken at the planning stage itself to choose the right type of insulation. There is no universal option; you have many to choose from. Understanding the different characteristics of available options helps to decide the best one that delivers economics of heating and cooling costs.
Let’s have a look at the considerations of choosing home insulation. Depending on the geographical location of your home in the United States, you need to consider the R-value for your floors, ceilings, walls, basement and crawl spaces. The greater the R-value, the better the material used as insulation can hold back air from flowing through the walls or cavity that hold the insulation.
If you were living in a place like Arizona with desert like heat, it ‘s important to have high value of R to keep the heat away from entering your home and thus keep cooling costs to reasonable level during summers. Likewise, if you were in the mountains of Wyoming, you have to provide extra insulation with a high value of R to contain the heat within your home during winters and thus reduce your energy expense. Lower value of R may be recommended for places that do not experience the extremes of temperature.
The type of roof design also matters in changing the amount of required insulation for a home, and that naturally has to be taken care of at the planning and designing stage. For example, homes with attics can use thick batt insulation to get the correct value of R required to attain building codes to heat or cool the house effectively. You need not worry about the thickness of the roofing studs, as there is sufficient space for the insulation to fit in the attic space.
On the other hand, if a room has too many glass windows or cathedral ceilings, you’ll be required to either put in wider roofing studs to accommodate the thickness of batt insulation needed to qualify for building codes, else you have to look for a different insulating material to arrive at the same R value of the smaller roofing stud. This is specifically important in homes with cathedral ceilings and Cape Cod style homes that have a sloped ceiling on the second floor.
Each region of the United States has been assigned with building codes that decide the amount of insulation needed for any home. Now, that can be quite frustrating at times, especially when you try to include some non-traditional design elements in your plan of the house, as the same has to be approved by the building inspector whose job is to ensure that your house plan meets with the building code for the particular area.
Happily, pink batt insulation is not the only option these days. Here are other insulation options.
# Blanket or Batt Insulation – Batt insulation comprises of fiberglass, mineral or plastic fibers. It’s imperative not to compress the insulation at the time of installation as that reduces the R-value. It is available in rolls or strips of varying thickness and R-values. Installing Batt insulation is easy and you may do it yourself. It’s is a cost-effective option that keeps the building costs low. But, mind that the R-value of batt insulation is just about 2.9-3.8 per inch of insulation. That means if your home is in a climate that needs an R-19 value for external walls, you’ll be required to use 2X6 framing rather than 2X4 framing for achieving the increased R-value.
# Blown in Insulation – Blown in insulation is ideally suited for irregular places with obstructions or where you need extra insulation, like in the attic space. Synthetic materials are used for making the loose-filled insulation. A limitation with blown in insulation is that over a period of time it is known to settle, thus decreasing the R-value.
# Spray Foam Insulation – Though a bit more expensive than other options, spray foam insulation has many benefits, compared to the other options. Spray foam insulation can expand by as much as 100 times the initially sprayed volume in the cavity and then takes a rigid form. This is of great help in preventing air leaks over prolonged periods when insulation could shift or settle. Another important benefit is its R-value is far higher than some of the other options, enabling you to take more liberties in your home design without challenging the building codes.
# Rigid Foam Insulation – Similar to spray foam insulation, rigid insulation has up to an R-7 value per inch, allowing you more flexibility in design. Unlike spray foam insulation, this insulation is not sprayed at the site of the home. It is prepared into board-like forms that are then nailed to the studs. It is regularly used in basement renovations or for having an additional layer over other insulation to reach specified R-value.
# Natural Fiber Insulation – natural products are being increasingly favored for home building. Materials like cotton and wool are being used to make batt insulation that has up to 85% recyclable materials and is also biodegradable with constituents of man made materials, like plastics, restricted to just 15 %.
# Reflective Insulation - This blanket like insulation comprises of aluminum foils with a particular backing. In between this material are polyethylene bubbles. Reflective insulation is particularly helpful in warmer climates to keep the cooling costs at reasonable levels.
Now, you can see there is quite a wide choice of insulating materials. That allows you to have more freedom as far as designing and styling of your house goes. Nonetheless, you can’t ignore the building codes in your area and you should check how insulation could affect your house plan while finalizing your choice of insulation.
