Seven super-important things to note if winterproofing your attic this summer

In high summer (whatever blend of rain and feeble sunshine that is in Ireland), it’s hard to focus on the idea of insulation. How and ever, it’s late summer already, and with tradespeople in short supply, this is the time to get to work.  If your house tends to be a draughty sieve of uncontrolled heat exchanges and condensation in September, and you have the means to throw a few hundred euros at something, focus first on the attic.  Insulation Attic insulation is the most cost-effective, immediate and efficient way to stem up to 30% of serious heat loss in a neglected home. If you get this hot, uncomfortable and unhealthy work tackled professionally, many of the other weather-proofing jobs around windows and doors can be handled by your most competent family member, neighbour or friend. If the attic has torn, misplaced batting of 100mm to 200mm, you should feel the reward in sensory and thermal comfort within weeks.Always think in terms of safe access to the loft/attic space. File picture So, what’s the standard? The usual baseline is 300mm of appropriate insulation batting on your attic floor, with rafter insulation at 250mm-300mm, depending on the material.  If your home was occupied before 2011, there’s grant help available here from the SEAI, and some homeowners set out to exceed the expected U-value.   It’s important to note that the SEAI grant award of up to € 1500 for this work does not cover rafter insulation under the individual grants of the Better Homes Scheme.  Rafters are covered for deep renovation under the one-stop-shop mechanism alone (the amount is € 1500- € 3000, depending on build type). If you’re determined to do both, choose a couple of firms to give you a quote from the SEAI register of suppliers/installers, then get into conversation with them about any additional out-of-pocket costs.  There’s a certain level of contentment going with the SEAI as its registered contractors are obligated to install their products to the Domestic Technical Standards and Specifications and Better Energy Homes Contractor’s Code of Practice as laid out by the SEAI. Inclusion in the register is valuable, and installers do not want to lose that standing. Materials Materials matter, and we’re looking for a contemporary solution with a very low U-value to snuggle up the space. The numbers are: a U-Value of 0.16W/sq m/K for ceiling level insulation, and 0.20W/sq m/K for rafter level insulation.  Many suppliers can do slightly better. The SEAI advises: “ Typical insulation materials used are semi-rigid insulation boards as well as glass/mineral fibre. The insulation material you choose may depend on the depth of your joists or rafters.  "The optimum solution for your specific case should be discussed with the contractor. There are several ‘multifoil’ products on the market that may achieve impressive levels of insulation on their own. If you are considering using a multifoil insulation in conjunction with another insulation material, it is important to check any installation requirements with the supplier, and where required, the contractor should use an NSAI Agreement certified product.” Ventilation That old adage build tight/ventilate right, also reads insulate tight/ventilate right when it comes to attics. Ensure your installer has a plan to address ventilation issues within your attic space; otherwise, you could be creating an extremely hostile micro-environment where condensation and damp issues could take off unseen.  If you have had a bad infestation of vermin, the old insulation may need to be removed and disposed of. Check that you have a full understanding of any additional costs for these services and a fully detailed order in place before getting started. This brings me to the subject of foam insulation, which has installers included in the SEAI register and can be SEAI grant-aided. Foam insulation can be used for rafter insulation, but it’s worth talking to your insurer and your mortgage provider to check if they regard this as any sort of an issue with your policy or in terms of future lending.  Now's the perfect time to put in an attic stair if you’re regularly visiting your attic. Stira Cosy+ is priced from €645, excluding installation, €895 installed, Stira.com. Properly installed, it’s a valid choice. Improperly used and smothering the roof’s ability to “breathe” it can lead to rot and condensation issues that could threaten your roof structure.  The trouble with foam is that once in place, you cannot slip it out like a rigid batt of insulation to check what’s going on with the roof timbers. This gives many engineers and surveyors pause, as horror stories of poor ventilation and sweating attics have raced around social media.  The work is fast, and that is beguiling, but for heritage homes, foam insulation behind internal dry-lining and clouded into rafters could be nothing short of a disaster in the making. Access When going into the attic to check our water tanks, or to treat the area for vermin, and access any components and wiring for solar-PV, walkways are a huge help. If and when you have your insulation dealt with, don’t stop there.  This is the moment to cover tanks correctly, insulate water pipes that might freeze in what should be a cooler space on completion, and create walkways to places you need to go.  Three hundred millimetres of insulation can be higher than the joists or even laid back over older batting. This occlusion can be dangerous. Compressing insulation under boards, the installer should ensure the chosen material is still in place and performing to its set thermal standard. Lighting If you’re wondering why you would pay someone else to do this work, just consider the subject of down-lighters, a common inclusion in ceilings. The SEAI points out: “Recessed lighting/down-lighters should be provided with sufficient space around them to allow heat to dissipate to prevent the lights themselves from overheating and creating a fire hazard.  "If the light fitting itself is not airtight (to the roof), then heat will be lost from the room, and the overall effectiveness of the roof insulation is reduced. If sufficient space cannot be provided for, then recessed light fittings should not be installed.”  I preferred to have a professional survey to cover these sorts of challenges, never mind the backbreaking misery of the job, bent double in a boiling attic in July (been there, done that). Storage Access to the attic is important, but that said, an unrenovated, typical attic is a rotten place for storing just about anything. When you compress the insulation material by sliding boxes onto it through the hatch, you’re interfering with its effectiveness. Don't put paper and anything vulnerable and archival in your attic. File picture Consider creating raised storage shelves, clear of the floor, if you really need the space, and don’t even consider putting paper and anything vulnerable and archival up there. Mice happen in just about every house at some time, and they will decimate your records if they are not in heavy, snap-lid plastic boxes.  If you intend to use the attic for extensive storage and will be up there repeatedly using an attic stair, look into rafter insulation, as you’re essentially treating it as a habitable room, and it’s unlikely we can thoroughly insulate the space from downstairs using the floor alone. Survey Another quick-fix with no intrusive tramping through the house for a moderate spend? If you have any idea that your cavity walls are not insulated or that the job carried out may be compromised, have a survey carried out by an SEAI-registered installer.  Grant awards run from € 700 to € 1,700, which could cover up to 30% of the works. Remember, folks, don’t go ahead with any work relying on SEAI grant aid before the appropriate letter-of-offer from the SEAI has arrived.

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