Insulation Advice

Floor Insulation

Many homes suffer from the effects of draughts coming up through the floors, or the transfer of cold through concrete floors. Gaps and draughts around skirting boards and floors are simple to fix yourself with a tube of sealant bought from most DIY stores.

How does floor insulation work?

Timber floors can be insulated by lifting the floorboards and laying mineral wool insulation supported by netting between the joists.
You can also use a regular tube sealant, such as silicon to fill gaps between floorboards and skirting boards to stop draughts. A note of warning, however - don't block under-floor airbricks in your outside walls. Floorboards will rot without adequate ventilation.

What can I save?

Using a silicone sealant to fill gaps will save you around £15 a year on your heating bills. Insulating underneath the floorboards on the ground floor will save you around £40 a year.

About half a tonne of CO2 a year can be saved in a semi-detached 3 bedroom house.

How is it installed?

Not all home insulation work has to be carried out by a professional. It may work out cheaper to do the floor insulation yourself with materials from your local DIY store. Filling the gaps in between the skirting board and the floor costs about £15 if you do it yourself and it costs about £90 to insulate underneath the floorboards on the ground floor.