How we INSULATE under the floors (1920's Renovation Part 26)
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- Опубліковано 12 сер 2021
- In this video I’m showing you how we go about insulating under the floors in our 1920’s semi-detached house renovation. Up to 15% of a home’s heat is lost under the ground floors so it’s something we really wanted to do in our bid to make the house as thermally efficient as practically possible.
Pallet Buster Floorboard Lifter (affiliate links, see below)
UK: amzn.to/3xOBbe9
US (slightly different to mine): amzn.to/3g0ksPk
Here’s the full 1920’s semi renovation playlist:
• 1920's SEMI RENOVATION
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#Renovation #EnergyEfficiency #Insulation - Навчання та стиль
Here's some affiliate links to the floorboard lifter I'm using:
UK: amzn.to/3xOBbe9
US (slightly different to mine): amzn.to/3g0ksPk
See video description for more information about affiliate links
Howdy Andy from Dublin. .
Just did the whole top floor of my circa 1906 victorian house.
I use a Bahco BK36 nail puller to get out awkward nail stubs etc it's an absolute monster!!!!!
Stay safe stay well bro ❤👍❤👍❤
P.S.
Love the background music just needs to be a tiny bit lower for us headphone users 👍👍
I used thes for my old decking and it has i slot to remove nails and screws
A BACK SAVER
When my dad removed a air vent from our early victorian house we found a newspaper had been blocking it for years. It was a complete newspaper from 1916!
Oh wow - that's an amazing find! Never found anything that old. 👍
Found one today 1891 chinese religious newspaper under this jobs floor
I recommend marking pipes and cables on top of the rigid insulation,, saves a load of grief at any later date if needed
Really like that I'm not the only one who loves to clear out under the floorboards if they are up.
Cheers Craig! Absolutely - hate leaving it like that. 😁
On the ground floor it also improves the air flow, any rubbish tends to suck up the damp too and it takes longer to dry out.
you can also find some treasure. Once I found pack of smokes about 80 years old. My friend smoked them and he is still alive, so I guess it was a win
Every other tradesmen uses that as a handy bin! Never known anyone to clear up under there. Part of the joy is reading the old newspapers!
my builder lost his wedding ring under my boards, its somewhere down there for future generations...
handy tip, number the floor boards to go back in the same position to save cutting and adjusting in unusually dimensioned rooms later
Great work as always , I know from personal experience that the thicker insulation would be harder to push into place under the floor boards . The slittiest difference in the gap between the joists and it locks sold, so what you have done is definitely the way to go . I love your approach to everything you do even down to cleaning out all the rubbish that has no doubt been there since the house was built . You’ll have to put a peace of wood under the floor with your name and date when this work took place , so in another 100 years someone will say this chap made a wonderful job of this house bless him . Best wishes and kind regards as always 😀👍👍👍
Cheers bud! There's a few messages hidden around the place. 😁👍
I'm currently doing a similar thing myself and I wanted to reduce the amount of dust and loose debris from the insulation as much as possible. I did some research and ended up buying some soft material jigsaw blades to use in the jigsaw to cut the PIR. They work like an absolute dream, clean straight cuts and no dust or debris at all. I mean none! I was amazed by it, I would highly recommend them if cutting rigid insulation.
Great job - I would never have even thought of doing this to my 1920's house, but might have a go now if I feel brave enough
Apart from the fact you are extremely talented, you also have an amazing sense of humour.
It's lovely to note a kindred spirit who clears up the dumped waste from previous and indolent tradesmen....I'm handy with a vacuum cleaner and brush and pan too !
Absolutely! Can't leave it like that. 😁
Super job, well done. I like your attention to detail and thoroughness.
Cheers!
As someone who's had many hurts, PPE is an must. Totally changed the way I work, and my comfort levels 👍👍
Old newspaper from Saturday April 21 1951, my mothers 16th birthday ! Enjoy watching your videos;
Where were you and UA-cam 20 years ago. I learnt so much renovation my own house and after watching this video I now know how a professional does it. I would have done it the same way if a didn’t have concrete floors.
It always amazes me how well those cut nails hold! They even seem to work on brick, holding skirting board on, but I have never managed to do that.
They nailed into a propeller pad hammered into brickwork joint 🤔👍
Thanks Andy ! First time I've watched your channel . Refreshingly " down to earth" information ! I learned a lot , cheers !
A great video, Andy. You are so knowledgeable and I appreciate you sharing. My son put a nail 40mm into his right foot yesterday. He tells me he’s finding stairs a challenge so no ‘Ray of sunshine’ smiley face today.
Cheers Ray! Oh no! Good excuse for a break. It's amazing how a split second mishap can grind work to a halt.
Excellent video. Nice to see a builder cleaning out under the floor, it's usually used as a disposal area. Most important to seal all gaps so drafts can't get through particularly round the walls which some people forget about and the wind whistles in under the skirting boards.
I wish I'd seen this a few years ago! I learned some of your lessons for myself in a Jesmond terrace, but that's a *much* nicer job than I've done so far. At least the hallways and kitchen will better, thanks to this video :-)
Cheers and best of luck for your final bits! Some lovely houses in Jesmond - worked in many of them! 👍
'
"The Floor Board Fairies"🤣. Another step forward Andy. Well done!
Thank you! Wish there really were floor board fairies. 🤣
@@GosforthHandyman 🤣🤣🤣Crikey, I bet....3 days to do two rooms! I am sure it will be worth it. My house has solid floors and when I came to live here it had old ...but clean wool shoddy underlay. Brilliant stuff.
I’d personally use a multi tool on the first floorboard so the cut doesn’t overlap and then circular saw the tongue & groove parts sections. The boards lift pretty well that way and virtually no damage. I’d also try to stagger the cuts so the cuts are all in a line, if that makes sense.
Thanks for the video though 👍🏻
I had this exact same job to do myself for a 1925 house and I used scaffolding mesh to create a hammock between the joists. Then I laid rock wool on top. It was something like £1 a roll at the time so it saved a lot and the limited joist depth wasn’t an issue. I think I put a vapour control layer on top of that and then nailed the boards down. My main concern throughout was to avoid moisture buildup in the timber as this leads to woodworm which we had an existing problem with. The rock wool doesn’t trap moisture (which is another reason for choosing that) and also all the air bricks needed clearing out to get air flowing under the floor. 12 years later and the woodworm issue has been sorted ever since. I like your method because it doesn’t need all the floorboards taking up which a massive time saving. On the flip side, the good thing about taking up the floorboards is that when you nail them back down, the gap in between can be closed (to stop draughts) and this saves a job later.
Tidy job Andy, with some great tips too. Progress is coming along nicely 👌🏼
Thanks for a great video Andy. Good luck with the rest of the restoration.
Cheers Larry! Still lots to do! 😁
I have nearly got all of our small bungalow done now the only difference is that I put ply on my battons and I moved my heating pipes into troughs in top of PIR. Heating pipes under ventilated floors has been a gripe of mine for 20 years when Energy Saving Trust were banging on about poorly insulated hot water cylinders. Yes I cleared it all out, hoovered it, as I went, a lot of builders see floor voids as skips, I also mortared in the joists, something the builder didn't do and sealed up everything. I did seal up some vents that faced the joists and so I couldn't duct them down into void. The vents on the open ends of the joist I ducted down and we have a lot. To rigidise the floor I did put a two brick pier under joist, we are on a concrete raft so easier than most, I used engineering bricks + slate + DPC. We have an EPC A, I am not sure its good enough for an A, though I think they have A+, A++ to create higher levels. We see a lot of properties around us being bought and 'done up' they always keep the original feature of an appalling EPC, which is crazy. If a property is done up then it should be compulsory to improve the insulation because once you have fancy bathrooms and kitchens no one is ever going to tear it apart.
That puts the LABOUR in labour of love! Well done, brother. it's all in the details.
Cheers! Not a pleasant job but glad it's done. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman That would be satisfying to have knocked off the list, for sure!
I've been watching for about two years now and I have to say that the quality of the videos has improved. You've gone from really good content to magnificent content. I don't usually notice music in videos but I did here. I like it. If you've recently changed to the format, please do more. If this is consistent with prior vlogs, please accept my apologies for not noticing, and keep up the good work (phrase stolen from Essential Craftsman)!
Thanks - really appreciated! It's proportional to how much time I have for the edit. So now we're a bit further on with the reno I can take a bit longer making the edit nice. Next: More and better B-roll as I never get time for this. 👍😁
Love it - and sounded like you enjoyed doing the job too! Shout out to your new massive dust pan & brush - two videos in a row. Spied them in Screwfix...impulse purchase incoming!
Best dustpan and brush I've ever owned! 🤣
What a marvellous series this is! Andy delivers MVS: Maximum Vicarious Satisfaction :)
there should be a layer of breather membrane installed prior to installing the PIR, then the joists taped to act as a VCL. Without these any moisture going in between the PIR and the joists will ruin the joists.
Nice job as usual.....you really always explain things so clearly.
Thank you!
Great video, one extra tip is to fire the brad nails in at opposing angles, makes the pull-out retention much better especially with brads. 👍🏻
Also, expanding foam (using a gun for control) works great to stick the ends of PIR together, and along the batons if dropping the PIR from the top to seal.
Super thorough Andy, great job.
Cheers Daisy! 👍
Amazing job. Great video really helpful thanks
I did this when I moved into my bungalow late 2014, and put DPM on the subfloor to prevent moisture from the ground before keying in the insulation , cleaned up all the crap from the previous tradesmans work aswell,renewed the old floor boards for 22mm Caber floor....job done 👍
Hi did you just lay the DPM on the floor and that's it ? Thanks
Nice to watch, very well done.
Another great instructive video with visible progress.
No worries!
I managed some of my floors from underneath. This method is my next one for rooms with shallow crawl space.
Cheers Andy that was great, always wondered what that involved, stay safe mate, best wishe's to you and your's, Stuart uk.
You do such a careful, neat job on things that don't show, so only your UA-cam followers will know! Well, perhaps a workman 100 years from now may have reason to take up the floor and will appreciate the workmanship.
Cheers Bob - appreciated! 👍
really good video. Thanks for sharing!
Great work and great video thanks for sharing.🇮🇪
Great video and very useful knowledge for anyone with this type of house floor.
Luckily mines all solid on ground floor but still enjoyed watching this video. 👌
Been there done that. In 2017 I removed all the boards at one time, cleaned out and vacuumed underneath but then put a breathable membrane "up and over the joists" sealing in at edges then laid in sheeps wool insulation and put a new floor down. Stank like a barn for 6 months (not thereafter) but the insulation and sound proofing that it provided is on another level.
I'm planning to do the same in a few months so it's good to hear it makes a difference since I was a little worried that it wouldn't be worth the hassle.
@@elobiretv VERY much worth it if you do it properly. NO draughts, silent, breathable and the house warms up so quickly it's un-real. Huge reduction in heating bills. It's more work than using Celotex. As I have wood flooring, If I had my time again I would have considered running tubing underfloor as central heating and warming the whole floor area rather than radiators but that is another discussion. Hope this helps.
Did you put a DPM over the top after or just the single breathable membrane underneath to hold?
Some top quality content right here 👍
Another great video. Doubt I'll be under floor insulating any time soon but I'll be pulling up floorboards on a renovation we're doing so thanks for the tips.
Spot on job as always 👍
Absolute gold 🙏 Loving the methodical approach to this job. Lots of useful little tips to make sure you don’t miss the obvious. 😅 Cutting the end of the PIR boards at 45 degrees to help encourage good air flow-magic 🎉 I now feel confident enough to take this job on myself-thanks mate 👍
Hi Andy, hope you are well. Super job on he insulation. I really like how you did a thorough clean out under the floor, not sure many would bother but well done. I need to do a similar job on my ground floor but i'm lucky to have a good crawl space. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and keep up the good work. :)
I'm gonna need to do this from the crawl space. Pain in the backside, but will help a lot with the ground floor.
Great work and thanks for sharing this with us take care
No worries! 👍
thanks - very useful - got to do this today!
Good progress - until your comments about a wood floor going down my thinking would have been to just rip up all the floorboards, batten and insulation and then fit t&g flooring chipboard (screwed down) - the time saving probably out-weighs the cost of the chipboard (and lots of floorboards to re-use for something else). AND the pallet breaker gadget is great - I have a home-made version that cost me almost nothing!
Yup, would tend to agree. That would have made the job much easier if we weren't doing new wood floors. 👍
What would be wrong with putting wood flooring on chipboard?
@@Game0verFool nothing wrong with it. Im about to rip up my old floorboards in the lounge insulate put chipboard down and glue oak on top.
My guess is Andy is confident the boards are flat enough to glue to or hes going to overlay 4 or 6 mm ply which will eliminate any potential drafts that still may exist and saves a few hundred quid on chipboard.
I have a comment. I feel for your knees and back! I've been working on my similar looking home, in the attic, where I can't stand. Just killer on the body! Great job and thanks for sharing!
I like your method for fitting that insulation. I have a cat S60 thermal imaging mobile phone. I can see on my floor there are cold spots against the outside wall where the air bricks are positioned outside.
Exactly the problem I had when I insulated my ceiling - joists that hardly any of which were parallel. Took ferkin' ages.
Yup, takes forever. Not a single parallel joist. 😢🤣
Great Vlog Andy And Looking Good Buddy Stay Safe
Cheers Neil and you!
Superb video. I'm about to do a similar piece of work for a client and was worried about how I would lift the floorboards with Tennis Elbow! Initially said I couldn't do it. Looks like the pallet buster might well make it possible.
fantastic job!
I'm really enjoying this renovation seeing as I'm not having to do the work this time! Like your attention to detail, just as OCD as me ;)
Cheers bud!
Loving the nifty angled drill, think I might need to get me one of those 😉
I was thinking the same thing. Be great for them really tight spaces.
Good work !!
When the floor boards are up it would have been a great time to run any new wiring for a 'smart house' , new sockets or a security system .
Tip for those impossible nails: The large curved back of full sized, vise grip pliers make an excellent fulcrum for pulling fasteners. You can *pull* out screws if you want to. Nails are usually easy. Even if you just have a few mm exposed from a broken nail you can still lock on and roll the pliers against the wood to pull almost anything. For the really hard ones, or brittle materials, you'll pull a few mm, then release and grab at wood level again, so you don't break the fastener off and make things worse.
Defo! It's gripping the head of cut clasp nails that's the challenge. 👍😁
Did this and works a treat👍
Use that Stanley Wonderbar to wedge under the visegrip in order to withdraw the nail vertically without having to bend the nail.
I would keep the newspaper clipping and frame it as part of journey of the renovation 👍🏽
Have done - got a little scrapbook going! 👍
Only if Newcastle won .. otherwise you nar bin it
good job done that will keep the place warm
Cheers - should certainly help!
Great vid.. helps loads.
I was reasonably careful when taking up the floorboards on our '30's property, they were not tongue and groove, and I'm happy to accept some character in my sanded floors, but the pine came up beautiful after a couple of days of sanding per room, much nicer than many of the fake wood floors available to me. And with the variable diameters of gap filling high density foam, for wooden flooring available there are not concerns with knocking over a glass of water, which would be an issue without the foam.
Cool! Not T&G? Don't see that very often! 👍
@@GosforthHandyman there a bit wider than your boards I think, at about 170mm.
me too but my 1930s board were t&g. I spent ages lifting carefully while preserving the t&g and managed to remove about 1000 carpet tacks, insulate with sheep and reinstate , sand and osmo. look absolutely lovely. Importantly the whole of the ground floor has the same floorboards and so its all on the same level.
@@twmd got the downstairs to do like that still, luckily in my case without T&G, but should still be fun, need to put in new 32mm water line first thought.
@@cjhification good luck! I found all the bricks from a old fireplace underneath nad a pack of woodbines from 1930! worth planning some time for cleanout.! I added a new radiator and needed to extend the radiator feed pipe in both directions so worth considering all possible jobs that are easier with the boards up!
This is a really good video bud : ) ... one thing though, it is important to also check drains prior to installing insulation as the moisture balance can get tipped in a floor by adding insulation, and it isn't unusual for timber decay or woodworm to pop up in the future.
I was going to pour vermiculite into the void (half fill) , would this be better for the timber. Also install black hole wall vents?
@@LabRat6619 personally I can’t see how that would any difference to be honest 👍
Another great video Andy lad....you beat me i found a newspaper from 1958
Thanks so much for this. Was lining up the job myself but it's clear that 1) it's too big a job and 2) as i want to retain the existing floorboards, i'm better off just leaving it as it is for now.
15:10 OCD Satisfied! Good job! Carry on
I've lifted a few floors in my time and it never ceased to amaze me how many revealed piles of pipe/cable offcuts mortar and other debris.Just plain lazy and untidy.We think alike Andy!
Yup, hate leaving it like that. Cheers!
Hi Andy, when I did mine I put the central heating pipes below joists so I didn't have to cut grooves out of insulation.
In the middle to doing this to my 1950s house. I'm putting down an airtighness membrane over the insulation before I put the boards back.
Nice video. If I come across a dwarf wall like yours, I put a couple of holes through with a core drill. As you say, airflow!
Andy, there is of course the other school of thought that goes "if it ain't broke don't break it!" 😂😂
luv the way u work m8.
Good job 👍
Cheers Anne! 👍
great job
Did almost exactly the same to one of rooms, plans to do the others soon. I foamed gaps around the edges and used aluminium tape on all joins.
That"s the proper way, all joins and gaps, regardless how small, should be finished air tight, just a 1mm gap between two pieces in several spots can affect the effectiveness of the insulation by 25%.
And should a damp proof membrane between the insulation and boards or between boards and new flooring be used?
The 1mm gap / 25% thing is a myth - think about wearing a winter coat and having a 1mm gap - are you 25% colder? I would foam edges of big gaps if needed. Tape isn't part of the best practice guide but I guess is probably wouldn't do any harm: www.gov.uk/government/publications/insulating-suspended-timber-floors-best-practice
@@GosforthHandyman A winter coat? Pfft, I expect someone from the North of England not to know the answer to that question. If you'd said "a hole in your t-shirt", that'd be a better anology.
As it happens though, I have a hoodie I sometimes wear when it's -2C or whatever, and it has these ventilation holes (maybe 2mm diameter) in the back. The draught that comes through them is intense, and I've actually tried covering them up for a bit of an experiment (with tape, but not in public, I'm not a total weirdo) and it significantly improved the heat retention! I was surprised. I don't believe the 25% thing. I do like the look of the gapotape product however, it looks the part, but I'm guessing it's horrendously expensive.
xcellent video .. and a cud understand it porfectly
I used expanding foam to glue each insulating foam board/piece to each other. Seals any gaps ypu might get from bad cuts.
Love your videos Andy. Lovely to see how things should be done with someone who cares even the bits no one can see! I now know how our builders should have done the floor. (Lazy, told us to get those plastic strips to put between slats before new floor) 1930’s Victorian, pine floorboards, big gaps, now over boarded with wood but no insulation under. Thinking we may be wise to get Carpet laid over the lot now rather than retake up 2 lots of floor! Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Cheers and good luck with yours!
A top notch job.
Cheers!
Nice real life guide here (warts and all!)
Great work. With the rising energy costs I'm sorely tempted to do this. I suppose the same approach can be used under plywood boards in a 90s house, only issue is most of ours is covered by carpet or laminate - there is a crawl space underneath but that's probably an even harder job!
I'm surprised you didn't use an insulation saw, they really cut down on the dust.
I’m going to do this soon, we have a crawl space I guess the hard thing is making sure the insulation is cut perfectly to wedge between the joists
Insulation saws are good up to about 60-70mm but tend to struggle with 90mm upwards in my experience.
Excellent as usual, are you doing a video for upper floor insulation? I’m tackling the kids room before Christmas and want to insulate their room, it’s a cold room to start with and abit sound deadening wouldn’t hurt too 😅😇
Cheers! We're not bothering with upper floor insulation (other than loft). It would be too much of a nightmare taking all the floors up and the downstairs ceilings are new so don't want to take them down. If the ceilings weren't new I'd do it from below. Easier than lifting the floors etc. IMHO. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman hmmm didn’t think of that!
We have a concrete floor in our living room, in winter the floor was so cold with cold coming up through the carpet that it fought off the warmth from the central heating, answer, insulation and electric under floor heating and inter locking floorboards, transformed our living room in winter now, so snug.
Hi Andy, Great video, i have been following you for a while and you have helped with my renovation works. I do have a question, how close to the internal/external walls should the insulation be? how can i stop draughts coming up at the ends?
A Response would be gratefully appreciated.
Just insulated a 100 year old kitchen extension on a house. I found a UA-cam video on cutting insulation where a large scraper has one side and the front edge ground to razor sharp with a grinder.
Mark board, use 2 or 3 inch straight edge to run the scraper at a perfect 90 degree. Once scored in by around an inch, throw straight edge to one side and run blade through by drawing it towards you with increasingpressure.
The best part being thar using a wide blade, the cut remains straight right through once started as board holds blade straight and NO MESS.
It worked a treat and with practice, really quick with perfect straight and smooth edges ideal for squeezing in.
The sharpened front edge can be used as a trim knife to assist inaccuracies in floor boards and joists as will as cutting out obstructions.
The bigger the scraper the better, ONLY grind one side and mark it as I did both and managed to slice a finger when pressing it down without thinking. This leaves one side safe to touch and push in for deeper cuts..
Lee do u have the link?
@@BoxerfanUK you mean for cutting?
ua-cam.com/video/1cv46GuniIY/v-deo.html
Not sure this is same video but same idea. I sharpened a wider scraper than shown but either should work. Just get it razor sharp but watch your fingers, especially slicing in.
I am looking as I have a similar floor.
My main concern is that there are water pipes below the insulation and that area will now be much colder than it was so they may be at risk of freezing (if heating left off).
I was looking at the option of rigid mineral wool sheets, the type usually used in a cavity wall. They are bendy and so could slide in through a smaller gap and fit to size with some play in them. Not so easy to fix in place though. Also much much cheaper.
If space allows it (& not already in place), I’d recommend pipe lagging. It’s cheap and will prevent pipes freezing
At least your floor joists are solidly in the wall or on hangers. When i did mine, they were just sitting on bricks and slate packers. Like yourself i used 75mm Cellotex, but i had to take up 95% of the floorboards (very narrow and solid red wood of some sort) . As i replaced the flooring with grade 5 flooring tongue and grooved sheeting. Also made sure all the old rubbish left behind by previous craftsmen (why don't they keep things tidy?) and plenty of air circulating beneath the insulation. I then used foil tape over the joists and insulation to remove any chance of draughts, with expanding foam around the outer walls. Even though i tried keeping the joists evenly apart, they were old and bent so cutting the insulation was very time consuming. Major DIY job for me but it is level and so much warmer. Really like your videos, enough detail without going over the top.
Fantastic stuff and cheers!
So want to do this to my house built in 2000. The bedroom over the garage has no insulation under the floor but my floor is t&g chipboard. I already sealed the edges which made a big difference.
Great stuff! I'm sure in 2000 it was a requirement to have insulation over a garage. 👍
Cool, will be warm .
Should be! 👍
This is the sort of job that I would start, and then regret starting!
Yeah, there were a few moments like that. You have to commit! 👍😁
This is a great video, thanks for sharing! Did you get an EPC calculation after completing the insulation work? If so, what grade did you achieve?
I've recently insulated all our floors with rockwool + Floorquilt By YBS main reason was fitting underfloor heating and it needed doing anyone doing this the floorquilt is well worth it as a secondary layer
Another excellent "tutorial" on how to do the job right! I know it's your home but I like the way you cleared up the various "residues" from the oversite areas beneath the joists of those rooms. If it was my bricks and mortar, I would do that too. Looks like your mantra is "If a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing properly"! Thank you for these videos of your work. Stay safe and well.
Cheers Mark! Yes, absolutely my mantra. 👍😁
This brilliant.. Instead of the baton, I would use Expamet Steel Angle bead. If your joist is 100cm you then should be able to fit it in-between if using the steel angle bead.