Loft advice needed - any roofers advice?

[dasherdiablo1]

Evening all,

I bought my house a few years ago and did a huge refurbishment of it. Thing is I managed to sort out the living accommodation and then ran out of steam when it came to tidying up the loft, as a result it got in a bit of a mess:







As you can see it isn't pretty and we need to go through the boxes and bin ALOT of stuff. However I decided to make a start on it yesterday with new insulation, battened it out and boarded one half of it so that its is a bit tidier and I must admit I feel a bit better about it:-


However, as you may have noticed it is unlined and the roof is made up of plain tile and batten only keeping out the elements. So I need advice about the best thing to seal it up and keep the dust and cold damp air out; I'm thinking that the best option is to use one of the Superquilt multi-foil systems and staple it onto the inside of the rafters.

Is this ok to do ie it won't cause any condensation issues? I'm hoping that as the air will still be circulating through the tiles and around the void between the tiles and foil it should keep the timbers in good condition?

Thanks in advance!

ps I plan to paint the gable wall and do a bit more to smarten it up - but finding time is never easy!

[nosuchuser]

A bump

I'm interested in this as well as the next place we are buying has no felt on the inside of the roof tiles.
I'd like to insulate with superquilt or something which should help keep dirt and draughts out the loft as well...

Cheers

[Captain Ahab]

Saw a display in b&q for a company doing a kind of spray on expanding foam type of insulation , looked quite good , and think you can get money off with one of those energy grant things.

[dave_s13]

My roof is also slate on battens.

I was under the impression it's best left as is, it's supposed to be cold up there and be able to breathe or you'll get condensation. If the loft floor is insulated (mine is) that's all you need to do.

I may be wrong though!!

[Sir Bagalot]

dave_s13 said:

I was under the impression it's best left as is, it's supposed to be cold up there and be able to breathe or you'll get condensation. If the loft floor is insulated (mine is) that's all you need to do.

^^This.

Stapling anything to the inside of the rafters is the worst thing you can do. Will cause condensation etc.

Cold air won't do anyharm but I will admit the dust is a PITA. When we had this anything we stored in the loft was covered with a 49p plastic dustsheet.

[Muncher]

You want the cold air in there, you do not want to close it off. I don't think there is much you can do about the dust, other than putting sheets over things.

[Lurckha]

Don't, I mean DON'T be tempted to have polyurethane foam sprayed to the underside of your roof. It traps moisture under the tiles or slates and will cause battens to rot and nails to rust. Also don't get the cowboys around to jet wash the outside of the roof to clean off moss etc. it does no harm, I saw someone having their roof jet washed the other day, apart from being from the alternative non-tax paying community, they were pointing the spraying arm up the roof. Not a good idea.

[squicky]

How does a loft conversion solve this problem if you are supposed to keep it cold and let breathe?

[Wacky Racer]

Lurckha said:

Don't, I mean DON'T be tempted to have polyurethane foam sprayed to the underside of your roof. It traps moisture under the tiles or slates and will cause battens to rot and nails to rust.

This x1000

[illmonkey]

squicky said:

How does a loft conversion solve this problem if you are supposed to keep it cold and let breathe?

Windows, just like a bathroom.

Most roofs will have a air inlet/outlet on them, to keep a balanced temp, to avoid the condensation forming. Turns out, our cat liked to go into the loft that way and sit on the glass fibre! Then the neighbours cat followed him in for a fight. That woke me up suddenly!

[dasherdiablo1]

illmonkey said:

squicky said:

How does a loft conversion solve this problem if you are supposed to keep it cold and let breathe?

Windows, just like a bathroom.

Most roofs will have a air inlet/outlet on them, to keep a balanced temp, to avoid the condensation forming. Turns out, our cat liked to go into the loft that way and sit on the glass fibre! Then the neighbours cat followed him in for a fight. That woke me up suddenly!

I am planning to put a velux or similar window in and have the vent open to allow it to breathe. Would this then be ok with the multi foil stapled onto underside? Alternatively I was thinking about the breathable membrane that is used under tiles nowadays instead of the old felting; would this be better to staple on underside?

[Little Lofty]

Breathable roofing felt sounds a better idea.

[dasherdiablo1]

I called around a couple of roofing supply companies just before closing time and I have been told that the best way to do it is to put fibreglass roll against the tiles in between rafters and then put a breathable membrane on the back of the rafters with battens- apparently this will keep the heat in, dust out but still allow everything to breathe. I'm still not sure about this!

I will have a chat with building control and see if they can advise.

[Muncher]

I can't see how stapling a vapour permeable membrane to the underside of the rafters would cause any problems.

[dasherdiablo1]

It's so annoying that there is so much conflicting advice, one said to use celotex or similar between timbers and then breathable membrane. This stuff isn't cheap so don't want to spend out and get it wrong and cause more issues than before!

[Muncher]

There's only any point insulating between the rafters (with an air gap to the back of the tiles) of you are turning it into a warm roof, which is pointless for a roof just used to store junk.

[dasherdiablo1]

Muncher said:

There's only any point insulating between the rafters (with an air gap to the back of the tiles) of you are turning it into a warm roof, which is pointless for a roof just used to store junk.

Junk?? You've seen the photos then lol. We're chucking all this out, I'm installing a decent abru wooden access ladder with built in insulated access door so we can start to store our little girls toys etc up there as the house is no longer the beautiful tidy place it used to be before she was born! This is why I'm keen to make it clean, warmer and dry as I will also use it for archiving my business stuff and possibly some paintings which are now filling up my studio :0(

[Muncher]

Keep it clean and dry, forget about the warm bit!

[dave_s13]

While we're talking about slate on batten roofs.... How much do we think a roofer would charge to fit 4-6 vented tiles, I've just checked mine and it's a bit damp up there, never noticed before but must be since getting the loft insulated last October time.

Looks like it needs some more airflow through it.

[mgtony]

dave_s13 said:

While we're talking about slate on batten roofs.... How much do we think a roofer would charge to fit 4-6 vented tiles, I've just checked mine and it's a bit damp up there, never noticed before but must be since getting the loft insulated last October time.

Looks like it needs some more airflow through it.

Would those circular soffit vents back and front do the same job?. Easy to fit, a hole saw and push them in.