DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

My kitchen, bathroom and box bedroom are built onto the back of roughly one half of my mid-terrace 1930(ish) street house - so they extend the house into the backyard space. So the loft space is in two parts, both of which have fibreglass roll insulation between the joists. This was put down about 30 years ago and I think it was either 100 or 150mm.

The main part of the loft (a sort of A section) is boarded out over the insulation. To increase the insulation to 270mm in this part I'm going to put down insulation boards over the boards which are already down.

The question I have is with regard to the other part of the loft space which is mainly over the bathroom and box bedroom. This part is not boarded out. Here, the floor of the loft goes a step down and there are under purlins every 450mm just before the step down, making it a very difficult area to access. What I am going to do is just pour loose-fill insulation into this space and then level it out at 170mm above the current level using a long rake. This will mean that the loose-fill insulation will completely cover the joists in that area. Is it ok to do this or are there any problems with doing it this way? Any advice welcome. Thanks.

yes that's fine so long as you leave the eaves clear to allow airflow into the attic

Thanks mate. I felt I needed to check because whatever I've read always talks about pouring up to the level of the joists so I wondered if there might be a problem just laying a load of loosefill completely covering them but you've set my mind at rest that it's ok to do it that way.

Can you recommend any particular type of loosefill insulation?

Appreciated your help, thanks.

you can use vermiculite

Thanks again.