INSTALLATION OF SUPERQUILT IN THE ATTIC

​By Caroline Greenwood

I moved to my house March 2022. It’s brick, semi-detached and built around 1960. The tiled roof has an old bitumen felt lining on top of the rafters.  It felt cold and a bit mucky with the accumulation of airborne particles infiltrating over the decades. There is rock wool beneath the floor to the attic but none in the roof space.  Besides improving the efficiency of my energy use, I was keen to use the attic for storage. 

 I needed a clean space with better protection from the extremes of temperature.  Another factor was that I have asthma so take care to minimize hazards.  In practice this means minimizing exposure to small particles and VOC’s (volatile organic compounds).  As polystyrene sheets would require cutting down to narrow lengths in order to fit through the hatch door, a dear, old friend suggested installing two layers of SuperQuilt  Home - YBS Insulation.  I used a company in Dronfield as my supplier  Multifoil Insulation UK • Ecohome Insulation
We studied various videos on YouTube and then led the way in applying the insulation. Once done, it was an immediate relief and, the space became functional.
Two years on, I am very pleased with the result. It’s clean and dust free.  I store lots of things there and am content to shuttle things up and down. That said, there is one issue that needs monitoring and ideally redressing. The attic can get slightly damp in the winter and a thin layer of pale green mould appeared in a couple of places.  I can wipe it off but I treat it as a warning sign of something I need to keep abreast of. 
Last September, while attending the Upper Don Community Energy public talk on Condensation, Damp and Mould, I learned that the moisture that wafts out of an open bathroom door after a shower quickly dissipates to the rest of the house.  As my loft hatch is just outside the bathroom door, I now wonder if this has been the primary source of the humidity.  From now on, I’ll keep the door closed and windows open until the humidity has gone.  I’ll also use the second layer of the hatch insulation that I had not been using on a regular basis. If I don’t manage to resolve this, I will consider a small dehumidifier.
Costs-wise, materials came to around £1,000.  I had no labour costs because my friend spearheaded the installation, and I helped.