Ground-level floors or rooms above a cold space can cause a room to lose heat quickly. By insulating the floors of your home, you can improve comfort and minimize energy costs.
Suppose you are unsure whether your floors are insulated or want to do floor insulation but don’t know how. Here is a starter.
What is Floor Insulation?
Insulation is the material used to keep your home warm during the cold months. Why do I need insulation? You might be wondering if you live in a warmer area. The answer is that insulation can help keep heat out and cool air in, improving your home’s energy and cost efficiency, as you’ll see on your monthly power bill. Additionally, insulation in hot, humid regions can prevent mould and mildew, which is common in hot, damp areas.
On the other hand, flooring insulation is installed beneath the subfloor between floor joists – the horizontal framework elements that give a subfloor a solid framing base. This insulation is similar to that used in a house’s walls.
Select The Right Insulation
The two primary types of insulating products are:
- Reflective foil: Reduced radiant heat transmission through an enclosed space is how reflective foil insulation works. Since reflective foil deflects radiant heat away from a building’s interior, walls or sarking beneath the roof are the best places to apply it.
- Bulk: Bulk insulation is the best kind of insulation. It works by trapping countless microscopic pockets of still air in its structure. These air pockets offer the material’s insulating effect by resisting heat flow. Bulk insulation shouldn’t be compressed because doing so will limit the air pockets and cause the material to stop acting as an insulator.
Ways To Insulate Your Floor
Selecting the right insulation option will depend on the type of floor in your home. Here is how to lay floor insulation https://insulationwholesale.co.uk/insulation/insulation-applications/floor-insulation :
- Suspended floors (typically with floorboards): Floorboards suspended over joists are, in a sense, floating over a void and are likely to lose more heat. The simplest and least disruptive way to insulate them is from below, i.e., if you have access through a cellar or basement. If the floor is inaccessible from below, you will have to deal with it from above.
- Solid floors, such as concrete: Theoretically, solid floors like concrete or screed should lose less heat than suspended floors. But adding a fresh layer of hard insulation on top can help immensely. Usually, chipboard and the floor covering of your choice would cover this. The insulation can be installed as a “floating” floor on the existing concrete or screed.
- Skirting board insulation: Heat might escape through the space between your skirting boards and the floor. A quick, low-cost, and simple fix is to plug that gap with a sealant tube. Sealant is inexpensive and readily accessible in DIY stores.
- Insulating with rugs and carpets: Rugs on the floor can make your feet feel warmer and keep draughts at bay. However, they won’t fix every issue. Carpeted floors are often the warmest because they are naturally fantastic insulators. However, a substantial, insulating layer of underlay will enhance the carpet’s insulating capabilities.
Final Thought
Not all floor insulation work needs to be done by a contractor; it could be less expensive to handle the smaller tasks yourself. However, if you have any questions or need product recommendations, don’t hesitate to contact our team of specialists at 02033 187 316. They would be pleased to assist you.