Now that plasterboard was finished underneath the new stairs, I was able to insulate the area above the stairs. 50mm celotex was used between the rafters. Once this was completed framework was constructed using 89x38mm CLS timber, there was still plenty of headroom to achieve this. Cabling run for another set of spotlights above stairs. Remains of the two ceiling rafters were cut to form a sloping ceilings, a bit fiddly but able to get some support in place for plasterboard. Another layer of 50mm celotex added between the new framework and cutouts for spotlights. All plasterboarded now
Upon advice from this thread as well as from the building inspector the party wall was insulated using PIR plasterboard (PL4000) the overall thickness was 37.5mm, which consisted of 12.5mm plasterboard backed onto 25mm celotex. The stairs had to be undone at the fixings and shifted over to allow the stringer to be visible. In hindsight I would have made the stairs slightly narrower. The smallest sheet sizes were 8x4Ft, wasn't sure how whether to lay the boards vertically but would have been a real pain to cut precisely with all the angles etc. Instead I was able to rest the board on the stringer and the edge of board was scribed into the wall which took a number of attempts to get right. Once I was happy and pencil outline was drawn around the sheet so plasterboard adhesive could be applies within the edges. Dabs were put on wall and plaster board was lifted into place. A 1200mm level was used to make sure the boards was plumb and lied flat without much bowing. Insulation progressively added. Party wall is alot warmer now, and has help with reducing some of the noise.
Insulating ridge section. Original 2 braces were cut flush with the cross member, but some bits were sticking out. Clamped piece of timer to supports so I could use trimmer to flush the ends up slightly below the cross piece. 50mm celotex used for the roof. Decided to set this back 76mm, to allow 25mm breathable space prior to superquilt foil afterwards. Otherwise may have needed to counter batten, and loose more headroom. Small blocks of wood pinned and glued, to keep insulation in place and stop it being pushed back further. Insulation all added and cutouts for 4x downlighters + smoke alarm. Joints were sealed using foam to fill any large gaps then cut flush before being taped with foil tape.
It's coming on nicely! Out of interest, you dot'n'dabbed the insulation backed plasterboard. Does it hold it solid? Never seen that done before.
Boards are quite solid, I drew around each piece with a pencil as an outline, and made sure that there were dabs around the edges, then about 300mm spacings. Was going to batten the wall using 25mm battens the fill between with celotex and board over, but then decided to do it this way. Would have been a real nightmare drilling all the studs and getting everything level/plumb. Boards were quite dear at £45+VAT each but save a lot on labour and aggro.
Party wall now fully boarded. Each board had to be marked out as it was tapered. Ceiling boarded with 3x spotlights.
Decided to do some plumbing today. Before the boards went down Two lengths of 15mm speedfit pipe was laid in between the joists, had a roll of this stuff so thought I would make use of it, plus all single length under boards, without joins. I am planning on having 2x 600x1200mm single panel radiators on either side of the eaves walls. Open ends taped up to stop dirt getting in pipes. Flow and return in 22mm copper from airing cupboard. Two isolation valves in a/c isolate the pipework for the loft. (See thread). Joints were checked using pressure pump before boards went down. Positioning pipe to mark cut. Pipework all soldered, floorboard was moved away to do this. Reducing 'T' being used to supply pipework for radiator on opposite wall. Both 'T' pieces now fitted. Pipework insulated. Will finish off pipework after fitting the radiators. The access in the the eaves make this possible.
Nearly finished adding the super-quilt insulation. All the rafters were counter battened using 25x38mm timber. Not as easy as is shown on the videos, quite hard to cut as is comprised of 19 layers of material, thought this would be a two day job, but been on it over a week This has been fixed using 14mm staples. Does feel a lot warmer. Not sure how this compares to celotex? Using the super-quilt method I will be using 50mm space once another layer of battens have been fixed perpendicular. I have been marking the rafters so I am able to get a fixing using a marker. Joints taped up using 75mm aluminum foil tape. Had to make up timber surrounds for all the windows, which was very time consuming. The velux windows are fitted with a foam energy collar, not used the plasterboard lining kits they sell, but may have saved me alot of time. Section showing batten which provides an air gap. Dwarf walls will be super-quilted too. 75mm celotex was added here on 96mm thick CLS. Quilt will be stapled directly to studs as a gap remains. Plywood stuck to celotex to provide a fixing point for back boxes Insulation carefully cut around electrical boxes. Final layer of battens added to dwarf walls in readiness for plaster boarding, cant' wait to get this started... Behind celotex I have added some timber stops so the insulations dosnt fall through, smaller blocks will be added in the inside so celotex is kept in place. Most electrical first fix has been carried out. Surewire boxes used and labelled up. There are two more on the opposite side. TV distribution unit all wired up in eaves section.
Bit late now but foam the edges of your celotex, saves you fixing cleats and seals any gaps. It's gonna be toasty up there........
Great work and progress...this kind of stuff always takes far longer than you think. Spent half of 2016 in me loft!!
This thread was started in Dec 16. So it has been over a year on this plus a lot more when other associated projects are factored in. Feel tired and drained now and just went to get it over and done with. Think I will stick to smaller projects in future. Some days I spend 8 hours in there with the intention of getting a lot done, but only manage to get a couple of hours work done. All the insulation had now been completed, phew Aim for next week is battening out the loft ready for plaster boarding.
I know how you feel, been there and done that. I'm now in a place that I know stuff will takes ages, months. I just take the view that there's no firm deadline to get stuff done, I just crack on with it as and when I can and everything that's done, no matter how small, is one more thing that no longer has to be done. Just don't finish everything and then put the house up for sale!!!
Well, I reiterate what I said earlier in the thread, your efforts so far have piddled over a LOT of builders I've ever worked for, or with. Most of the building trade is "crash bang wallop get it in quick and get in the van quicker" type of affair, it's a nice change to see a project documented well and neatness and finish a priority. I know it's not a financially paying job for you, but your standards are clearly high and its been really enjoyable following your progress.
I was able to foam the celotex in the dwarf walls, the insulation was pushed back to the cleats. Rear side is now insulated using superquilt and access hatches left open. Working on front end began battening out ready for plasterboard. Marking the rafters on the foil came in handy as was able to locate them with ease. A level was used to make sure all battens lie flat. Because foil is quite thick its is hard to judge when the batten is flush. Used Screw-Tite screws for the counter battening. I found these easier to go in. The turbogold ones would clog up with the insulation. I decided to batten as I progress on the plasterboard. Wanted to make sure the all line up especially on the edges. I use 1800x900mm, 12.5mm thick plasterboard. These were a lot lighter to handle then full sheets. First board fixed in place and cut out for window. Batten spacings are about 450mm or half board. Once the first row was installed everything became lot easier to measure off from. Used wooden cleats so I could support the plasterboard temporarily while fixing Boarded just under the window with two rows. Decided to board the top, battens were secured on either side. All the downlights were measured on a sketch I did, a point was marked on either side of the wall, which was used to line up the chalk line. Downlights were wired using lighting connectors? so I was able to quickly disconnect them. Downlight holes drilled and wire pulled through in middle for smoke detector. Boarding out the windows, I used some left over fireboard as was more tougher. Everything had to be marked out using bevel gauge as I had intentionally set the reveals off square. Boards around revelas were left bigger. A sawto cut flush using surrounding plasterboard. Front roof now boarded out.
Great stuff. I either use 3" loose nails for battening over the foil quilt, or use a nailgun and hammer each nail as tight as you can, as the blows from the hammer drives the battens straight eventually. Are you planning to skim the loft yourself or get someone in?
Going to get someone to plaster it, there is quite a fair bit to do. He should be able to reach the slopes without scaffolding boards. Think I may be ready in a weeks time. Starting to look like a room now. Need to look for linings for the hatches as well as the door.