Loft boarding

Thought id latch onto this thread...thinking of boarding my loft....ive had the free government loft insulation inspection, which came back that i had the correct amount - around 30mm he said, so i didnt get any free new insulation.

Now ive just had a new boiler installed and so the plumber made a makeshift path to the boiler from what pieces of wood were up there...i have a few questions....as im new to this diy work....

1). We have the pipes running from the boiler to the other side of the house then down into the house...should i cover these pipes with the left insulation or leave them bare?

2). I measured the joists down to the top of the ceiling below - 70mm...so would it be suffice to board directly onto the joists with loft boards? As this was my first idea.

3). It wont be all of the loft, just the middle part, around 6m by 2m...so im assuming the airlflow will come from the just bare insulated parts of the loft either side and a little either end.

4) If i went the loft leg route, are there any loft legs around 10cm tall rather than the 17.5-20cm tall ive seen as i dont want the floor raised too much, although im guessing the more air, the better the insulation.

Any help is always appreciated.

Personally i thought boarding to the joists would be suffice, but after reading this thread im nots o sure now.
 
Kingdom34 said:
Thought id latch onto this thread...thinking of boarding my loft....ive had the free government loft insulation inspection, which came back that i had the correct amount - around 30mm he said, so i didnt get any free new insulation.

Now ive just had a new boiler installed and so the plumber made a makeshift path to the boiler from what pieces of wood were up there...i have a few questions....as im new to this diy work....

1). We have the pipes running from the boiler to the other side of the house then down into the house...should i cover these pipes with the left insulation or leave them bare?

2). I measured the joists down to the top of the ceiling below - 70mm...so would it be suffice to board directly onto the joists with loft boards? As this was my first idea.

3). It wont be all of the loft, just the middle part, around 6m by 2m...so im assuming the airlflow will come from the just bare insulated parts of the loft either side and a little either end.

4) If i went the loft leg route, are there any loft legs around 10cm tall rather than the 17.5-20cm tall ive seen as i dont want the floor raised too much, although im guessing the more air, the better the insulation.

Any help is always appreciated.

Personally i thought boarding to the joists would be suffice, but after reading this thread im nots o sure now.
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The pipes should not be bare, if they are i would call the installer back. Every inch of pipe work should be insulated, with the thick stuff as well.

I dont understand number 2, if your saying the insulation only comes up to the top of the joist you have no where near enough insulation.

My plan is to stick 70mm joists on top of the current 70mm ones, to give me 140mm for insulation, PIR board so at leats equals 300mm of cheapo stuff.
 
robj20 said:
The pipes should not be bare, if they are i would call the installer back. Every inch of pipe work should be insulated, with the thick stuff as well.

I dont understand number 2, if your saying the insulation only comes up to the top of the joist you have no where near enough insulation.

My plan is to stick 70mm joists on top of the current 70mm ones, to give me 140mm for insulation, PIR board so at leats equals 300mm of cheapo stuff.
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Right after this im a tad angry at the plumber whose just installed my pipework then as the pipes have been left bare.

Number too is basically the height of the joists, theyre 70mm in height and the insulation rolls are almost as high, which upon reading the legislation of 270mm and not 27mm i need more and the bloke that came round was lying to me and should have informed us that we could get more for free.

Hmm looks like il be using the stilts/legs then but some are only 200m tall and add that to the joists height, thats bag on 270mm....
 
All water pipe in an unheated area should be insulated to water regulations standard, which means the really thick stuff.

There are some rules for the condensate pipe as well, pretty sure that needs to be larger and insulated.

Did you get it signed off as well? Needs a certificate that should come in the post.
 
robj20 said:
All water pipe in an unheated area should be insulated to water regulations standard, which means the really thick stuff.

There are some rules for the condensate pipe as well, pretty sure that needs to be larger and insulated.

Did you get it signed off as well? Needs a certificate that should come in the post.
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Ok, i need to speak to the Plumber who installed the central heating last week.

He's GasSafe so surely that means hes signed the work off...i havent received any paperwork though, other than the Nest Box and the booklet for the Worcester Boiler.

All pipes are exposed and not covered with any insulation at all.
 
"If your boiler is installed by a Gas Safe Register/CORGI-registered or OFTEC-registered installer, you will get a 'building regulations compliance' certificate from Gas Safe Register/CORGI or OFTEC after the work has been completed. Gas Safe Register/CORGI or OFTEC will also tell the local authority that you have had a new or replacement boiler fitted."

I would also make sure that you have a frost stat fitted, it will turn the boiler on should the temperature where the boiler is drop below a set temp usually around 5 C.

These are some of the rules.
1. Flooring provided to boiler for service access
2. Boiler has to be mounted on wall capable of withstanding weight.
3. Loft to be accessible with retractable ladder
4. Must have fixed lighting in place
5. The roof space exit must be protected with a guard rail
6. Gas, water, and electrical isolation points should be provided outside of the roof space so boiler can be isolated without gaining access to roof space
 
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robj20 said:
"If your boiler is installed by a Gas Safe Register/CORGI-registered or OFTEC-registered installer, you will get a 'building regulations compliance' certificate from Gas Safe Register/CORGI or OFTEC after the work has been completed. Gas Safe Register/CORGI or OFTEC will also tell the local authority that you have had a new or replacement boiler fitted."

I would also make sure that you have a frost stat fitted, it will turn the boiler on should the temperature where the boiler is drop below a set temp usually around 5 C.

These are some of the rules.
1. Flooring provided to boiler for service access
2. Boiler has to be mounted on wall capable of withstanding weight.
3. Loft to be accessible with retractable ladder
4. Must have fixed lighting in place
5. The roof space exit must be protected with a guard rail
6. Gas, water, and electrical isolation points should be provided outside of the roof space so boiler can be isolated without gaining access to roof space
Click to expand...

Thanks, i havent been able to speak to the plumber yet but i did go back up into the loft...i had said to the plumber i intended to loft board the loft in the near future, but still i would have thought that the pipes would have been insulated or had the insulation rolls on top...nothing, theyve been left bare...lucky its the beginning of summer.
There is a make shift flooring access though to the boiler that was laid down by the plumber so im grateful of that.

Point 1&2 covered
Point 3 - I have no fixed ladder in place, i never knew this was a legal requirement.
Point 4 - my light in the loft seems to not be working now and ive even changed the bulb so they must have broken this (it wasnt a perm fixture), just a clip on with a cord and plug down to the landing to plug in.
Point 5 - No guard rail present
Point 6 - I believe they are. I have a Nest Thermostat, Fuse box in the garage and Gas point in the garage also.
 
If you have any concerns after speaking to the plumber, you can get in touch with gas safe and they will check it for free.

That flooring wont count, there is no way he has signed it off, unless he lied.
 
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robj20 said:
If you have any concerns after speaking to the plumber, you can get in touch with gas safe and they will check it for free.

That flooring wont count, there is no way he has signed it off, unless he lied.
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Ok thank you, are you yourself a qualified plumber then?

Ok, i believe this was laid down to meet the warranty requirements...im a little confused as to whats the legal requirements and what isnt with this aspect...i was under the understanding that as long as there is sufficied access to the boiler for any work to be carried out then its suffice for the warranty
 
The people that installed my boiler in the loft mentioned none of the above, except boarding AFTER isntallation - I said that's nice, you can still honour the warranty as you didn't tell me until afterwards. This will be the third service and they actually have some boarding now.
 
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