Lowering ceiling and insulating

smoochie06

Hi
I have 8 1/2 foot high ceilings and i was thinking of dropping them and insulating.
My plan was to put 4 x 2 batons directly to the old ceiling and put 4inch fibreglass in between the batons then slab and plaster over this. The room is 26 by 11.

My question is would this be safe in terms of fire codes and building regulations.
If anyone has suggestions or hints tips or anything it would be greatly appreciated.

eoghan.geraghty

Is this a flat roof where you cannot access above the ceiling to insulate?

If so, I would sooner screw a 50mm thermal board to your existing ceiling joists.
Be very sure that your ceiling joists can take this extra weight.

items

As above, insulated plaster board seems to be the only way to go. You wont even need to batten ceiling, you'll need some special washers to screw slabs to ceiling joists (spread's weight of slab over fixing). Without washers slabs will come down. Check ceiling joists big enough to take extra weight. Insulated plaster board will bring most benefit with less hassle.

smoochie06

eoghan.geraghty wrote: »

Is this a flat roof where you cannot access above the ceiling to insulate?

If so, I would sooner screw a 50mm thermal board to your existing ceiling joists.
Be very sure that your ceiling joists can take this extra weight.

I wouldnt be able to insulate from above i would have to lift the floor upstairs.

The exsisting ceiling has wallpaper on it and i was looking to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by just covering over it.

To check the joists can take the extra weight what size joists should i be looking for. From looking between downstairs and upstairs i reckon they are 8 or 10 inches but i will have to break through the ceiling to find out for sure.

items wrote: »

As above, insulated plaster board seems to be the only way to go. You wont even need to batten ceiling, you'll need some special washers to screw slabs to ceiling joists (spread's weight of slab over fixing). Without washers slabs will come down. Check ceiling joists big enough to take extra weight. Insulated plaster board will bring most benefit with less hassle.

Items what do you call these washers so i can go about ordering them.

Thanks for the replies.

Pete67

I would imagine the joists are fine if they are supporting the floor above. This would be more of an issue in an upstairs room where the rafters are not intended to be load bearing.

Would you not be better off insulating the attic above upstairs rooms though? Heat loss through the ceilings downstairs contributes to heating the upstairs rooms so is not lost to the building. Heat loss to the roof spaces is wasted.

smoochie06

Pete67 wrote: »

Would you not be better off insulating the attic above upstairs rooms though? Heat loss through the ceilings downstairs contributes to heating the upstairs rooms so is not lost to the building. Heat loss to the roof spaces is wasted.

The attic is already pretty much ok there is about 10 inches of insulation up there but i intend to put more up in the future. The house is a cold one at best and i am hoping that by insulating downstairs we can keep it heated during the day.