Advice and Beginner instruction on Dormer Bungalow Insulation

Hi All, (I apologize in advance for the length of this & the fact I' a noob)


I'm doing a reasonably big renovation on my 10 year old Dormer Bungalow with a converted dormer attic. I am installing a Rayburn solid range to compliment (maybe even minimize or eliminate) the Oil system, Knocking a few walls to make a bigger bathroom and new kitchen (where Range is also going).

The builder who did the Room-in-attic dormer upstairs bit originally did not insulate it at all. seriously nothing at all... (So no vapor barrier, heat bridge, rafterloc etc...)
:eek:

This was spotted in the snag list and he then did a very p#ss poor job "throwing" in rockwool/fiberglass, even in the vertical bits. Also I am certain there is no insulation above the flat part of the ceiling at all because he didn't put in an access hatch and for the sloped bits following the roof pitch he "jammed" up some rockwool haphazardly.

the upshot is I feel he may as well have not bothered and the upstairs is very very cold in Winter (& sometime a bit hot in Summer)


OK, so rant over & where am I going with this....

I am a complete noob and actually had to look up all the terms I used above... (Still not sure what a heat bridge is but it sounds good :rolleyes:). I really want to do the "Proper Retrofit" myself to keep cost down and also as I will have piece of mind if I know I've done it right.

I considered spray foam insulators but as I said I'd like to do this myself & keep costs down while maximizing the value of the effort.

Should I be looking to get a BER survey?

So I'm thinking of Rafterloc pretty much throughout as from what I have read I can cut it & it will compress into these spaces & be reasonably tight... Any advice on sealing it & doing the joints halfway up the sloping part? Bearing in mind there is only about a 150mm gap from top of joists to the roof.... Do I push 1 sheet down from above crawl space & push other up from below or do I feed from below & make joint/tape then keep pushing until I've filled up the space?

I don't know what to do about the heat bridge thingies... Is there anything I can do on the Attic side to minimize heat loss through the rafters? Should really state now that I firmly don't want to start ripping off the plasterboard, as it would destroy paint, carpets, upstairs bathroom etc...

Pricing on the Rafterloc is coming in at approx €1400 for the 70 sqM I think I'll need. I think this is OK... Anyone know what a comparable professional Open Cell spray insulation job would cost (that would seal the whole thing & be to correct standards).

Next question is how do I check the wall cavity insulation? Is this best done from the side lots above (how would I sample this). I suspect there may be noting and so would need to get the guys out to pump something in.

Finally anyone have a really good book or publication that would get me up-to-speed on how to do this & do it right... Any publications, courses, good websites (apart from boards.ie of course!).


Many thanks,

Charleymax