Action Briefing Oct 2006 - Nov 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

A Good Time to... Insulate Your Roof

If you are living in an older house in Birmingham, the chances are that the walls are solid rather than cavity, but you are losing heat through the roof. A traditional pitched roof of clay tiles is not waterproof and relies on the tiles being thick enough to not become totally soaked. The tiles are on timber battens, the battens are on rafters and the roof space has ventilation, so moving air dries out the underside of the tiles. If you lose your ventilation, rot could make its home in the timber.

The ‘floor’ of the roof space is usually the ceiling of the rooms below and is often quite weak with shallow timber ceiling joists. On the odd occasion of being in the roof space, it is these slim timbers that you walk upon. When it comes to insulating the roof space, it is best to have the material between the ceiling joists. The problem with this is that for a good depth of insulation, the ceiling joists become lost and there is nothing to stand on. Also, it really is best to have electrical wiring somewhere cool because, if the cable is below insulation, it could become hotter than you’d like.

The way I achieved enough insulation depth was to glue timber on top of the ceiling joists. This does not really add to the strength of the ceiling joists (especially as the old joists can have an uneven top surface). An alternative is to put new deep joists alongside the old, but that is pricier.

So now for insulation. I opted for Warmcell which is ‘cellulose fibre’. One reason for choosing this is that the material is a product from recycled newspapers thus giving a market for recycled materials. Sadly, you won’t see it in the DIY superstores and that is a pity as you won’t see what it is like. It comes in plastic wrapped bales that are light and easy to pass through a loft hatch. They are clean so on delivery you can, as I did, store them in the house. Once in the loft space, you break open the bales and spread the material around. It is quite ‘granular’ and grey in colour. The instructions tell you to work with a face mask to avoid breathing in dust and, considering how dirty most lofts are anyway, that is good advice.

So if you cannot buy the Warmcell in the DIY superstores, where can you get it ? Well there is a place in Brecon but, not finding a Birmingham outlet, I opted for ‘The Centre for Alternative Technology’ (who don’t store the stuff at Machynlleth but act as an agent). The contact I used was on telephone 01654 705950 (www.cat.org.uk). For the timber (if needed), you’ll probably get the best price from a local timber merchant.

Happy insulating.

John Hall