Insulating Roof/Floor Old Weatherboard House

dentani on 11/03/2019 - 13:48

Background info:
- Weatherboard house built in 1950
- About 50cm above ground
- No insulation
- Floorboards are shrinking a little and we have lots of tiny gaps between the boards
- Planning to demolish and rebuilt in 3-5 years
- Temperature inside drops to around 8c during winter

Last year we bought this old house and struggled through the winter last year, it was very cold and our heating costs were pretty high. We have the biggest gas heater we could find it it barely heats the house.

I'm wondering if it's worth (as in make a noticeable difference) getting roof/floor insulation to make it more comfortable inside the house during the upcoming winter.

I got quoted about 1500-2000 for the job.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • dcep on 11/03/2019 - 14:00
    +1

    wear more layers + electric blanket/throw

  • HighAndDry on 11/03/2019 - 14:14
    +1

    I got quoted about 1500-2000 for the job.

    How much were your heating costs? If you're going to demolish in 3-5 years, you need to see if you'll break even on the insulation costs before then, added to whatever value you place on your own comfort.

  • YLD1 on 11/03/2019 - 15:42
    +1

    8 degrees?

    for me personally I would fix it because I cannot handle that temperature

    however, can't you do some dirty hacks yourself
    like fill in the gaps with insulation and put a cheap carpet on top?

    glass windows for example, if you stick bubble wrap (YES BUBBLE WRAP) onto it, it insulates well
    note bubble wrap was first created for insulation and not packaging

    • thatonethere on 11/03/2019 - 21:55

      I looked it up out of curiosity and the second purpose of bubble wrap was greenhouse insulation the first was wallpaper.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_Wrap_(brand)

      However it is well suited for op (though is a fire hazard).

    • dentani on 13/03/2019 - 12:35

      Cool, I'll give that a try as well.

  • lando54 on 12/03/2019 - 09:23
    +1

    Similar situation- house was freezing in winter (breathing out fog while inside) and unbearable in summer- Had a gas heater that would heat the house quickly but as soon as it was off the house would return to outside temperature pretty quickly. We insulated the roof and subfloor and it's made the world of difference. House is now very comfortable mostly year round except for the extreme temps but I think that every house experiences that. Definitely worthwhile in my opinion but guess you'll have to trade off the cost against how soon you plan to rebuild.

    • dentani on 13/03/2019 - 12:33

      We insulated the roof and subfloor and it's made the world of difference.

      That's great to hear. I was mostly curious to hear if it'll actually be noticeable.

      • lando54 on 13/03/2019 - 23:39

        We definitely felt the difference- it was noticeable when the subfloor insulation was being installed, you could feel the cold breeze coming up through the floor boards where it hadn't been installed yet. The advice below is great too about sealing any gaps/draft entry points.

        • Dancasper on 15/03/2019 - 19:04

          What did you use for subfloor insulation? I tried the fixing foil sarking type material across the underside of the joists in one of our rooms but it didn't make much of a difference. It may have been better to fix it to the underside of the floorboards themselves?

          I have seen rolls of foil insulation and was thinking that may have been better.

          Have also seen the insulation batts (for floors) but it looks a pain to install and access to our subfloor area is very limited with my fat a$$.

  • the Unforgiven on 12/03/2019 - 14:09
    +1

    I had floor boards that you can see the ground in

    I put carpet down, even in the kitchen, I did not put newspaper first as i thought, if you spill something it will dry quicker as the bottom is exposed to the air

    I did not get new carpet, I just got used carpet, it is still good. If you are going to demolish in a few years, it does not have to be good.

    I also used to wear thick socks & try to keep the feet off the ground, as that is where the cold is

    It should have an open fire place, light a wood fire. I also sealed all the gaps in the place, even old chimneys & flues. The place I bought last year was very cold until I went to Bunnings & bought heaps of silastic; so far I have used 50 big tubes. I am sitting inside & it is cold & wet outside but I am in my t-shirt & the reverse cycle air-con is on 12 (just idling over). It makes a hell of a difference sealing ALL the drafts. try & stay warm this winter, it took me 2 winters to get used to the cold

  • Euphemistic on 14/03/2019 - 06:44

    Definitely worth insulating under the floor. Anything that fills the gaps and stops the air will help. I used rolls of foil insulation stapled under the floor. Carpet would help too.

    $2k sounds worth it to me.

  • dentani on 11/07/2019 - 09:19
    +1

    I ended up getting the insulation (floor and ceiling) installed and it has exceeded my (modest) expectations. The house feels a lot warmer and more comfortable now. :)

  • Gifwonder on 07/08/2020 - 16:12

    did u end up doing the wallks in between the weatherboard?

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