more insulation questions

[shimble]

i have been using isolation mince, but since talking to various french artisans who are all not convinced and think it is more of a "gadget" than a serious form of insulation, maybe some of this is due to stubborn french ways of not wanting to accept change or new technology... but i am wondering whether i need to reinforce this type of insulation both on walls and in ceiling spaces im interested to hear from people with experiences of working with isolation mince preferbly in the building tradewhether negative or positive .....all thoughts welcome 

[Clair]

Mr Clair fitted this type of insulation (13 thin layers of various materials) in the attic, which had only been insulated at floor level up to then. The aim was to prepare it for a conversion.

It has made the room much cooler in the summer and much less cold in the winter.

Before fitting plasterboard sheets to the ceiling, he also added some thin rock wool.

Mr Clair was of the opinion that it was not necessary, but I insisted, on the basis that it's the only chance we'll have to do it.

Some people will probably say that it does not insulate as much as more "traditional" methods, but we were happy with the result and have decided we will not need to install radiators in the planned bedroom.

[Framboise]

We are in the process of converting our grenier into fully habitable accomodation, the two bedrooms at one end now being complete with us using them at long last.

OH is a builder and he was very sceptical about this flimsy tinfoil bubblewrap stuff he was recommended by a French artisan friend, so he decided to test it on our son's bedroom which is above ours in the apex of the roof under the tiles.   (Our room has the original torchis walls that we wanted to retain so no dry-lining here).  He first lined the roof battens with the paper stuff, then a layer of tinfoil bubblewrap followed by another layer of fibreglass which has probably over-egged the  pudding really because that room is a veritable oven now, but it was a precautionary measure due to the fact we are atop a hill and collect everything the elements throw at us!

Anyway with that satisfactory result the Grand Salon upstairs will be getting the same treatment as will the other two rooms when we get that far along the line.  

These new-fangled ideas just take a bit of time to be accepted don't they?  [;-)]

 

 

 

[clarksinfrance]

I can't vouch for its effectiveness, but none of the relevant authorities (IIRC) will give this foil type insulation any kind of thermal rating. I don't know the reason, but if the professionals don't rate it, do you want to take the risk?

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

If I interpret correctly, the positive comments come from people who have combined thin film with conventional glass fibre or similar insulation. Has anybody got any experience of using only isolant mince in a real world application. I ask because there have been hundreds of posts in the Green Building Forum about this topic but most of them seem to be theoretical or rely on test rigs. Almost everyone there is very negative about isolant mince.

[Clair]

We had only the thin insulation for about 10 months, covering spring-summer 07 to Jan 08. Mr Clair would have been quite happy not to add any other insulation.

It was at my insistence that he added the Isover (70mm thick), not because the thin insualtion was insufficient, but because in my mind, better to have more than just enough and the best time to do it is when you're building, not when you've finished decorating...

[LEO]

The prudent application for the expensive silver "bubble wrap " insulation is when headroom is limited,or you are constructing a new roof otherwise , use glass wool .

[cooperlola]

Yes, this is all we have upstairs, Albert.  When the roof was replaced (the entire thing, including all beams etc), this was what we had put in (in large sheets, between the beams and the battens) because I want to retain as much space as I can and leave the beams exposed.  Because we've somewhat stalled on our conversion, we have had no insulation upstairs apart from this all winter, and the staircase is in so an unheated upper floor does impact on the house.  We've been delighted with the results, and when we had some snow the other day, it remained on our roof long after it had melted on the other houses in the area, in spite of it being quite a reasonable temperature inside.

When all the interior walls and floors etc are finished and we finally get to move the bed upstairs and out of the sitting room(!) and start sleeping up there, I'll report back again - although it could be in 2020 at this rate (we should live so long!).  But so far, so good.

[Scooby]

[quote user="LEO"]

The prudent application for the expensive silver "bubble wrap " insulation is when headroom is limited,or you are constructing a new roof otherwise , use glass wool .

[/quote]

That was the advice we had

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Scooby"][quote user="LEO"]

The prudent application for the expensive silver "bubble wrap " insulation is when headroom is limited,or you are constructing a new roof otherwise , use glass wool .

[/quote]

That was the advice we had
[/quote]I guess then that explains why it seems to have been a good choice in our case (see above).