Daft question about carpeting attic floorboards and heat loss

[okeydokey]

So in my 1930's house where I have lived for 35 years their is a non habitable room in the attic - I think the precious people had a son lived up there.
To the point - the room has fibreboard walls and ceiling and the floorboards are covered with a sort of cardboardish underfelt with a woollen carpet on top.
The (woollen) carpet was in place and old when we moved in (looks a bit like the sort of pattern your grannies granny might have had down and as usual the attic is full of stuff and awkward to move around, needs a good throw away time.
The light I put in 30 years ago was a D (?) shape fluorescent I had a spare from work and did the job much better than a light bulb on as string effect. Yesterday I decided to replace the light with a circular led panel lamp and its just the job much improved.
The brighter light showed an area of carpet that looked threadbare on investigation I found a carpet moth infestation had occurred so cut that bit out seems isolated to one patch at the moment it seems prudent to take it all out moving stuff around as I go.
There is no insulation under the floorboards so quite a large area of the roof/loft is uninsulated.
If the I think if the tongue and grove floorboards (haven't got to them yet) can be persuaded to come up I can put some insulation in (upstairs rooms are always cold).

If I don't do the board job do folk feel that recarpeting will act as some sort of insulation for the rooms below (must do something) or just leave it as bare boards?

As I'm typing this I think the answer is really got to be and it will be a pain to do as the (obviously unheated) attic being overfull to insulate but anyone have an idea whether carpet will be as effective or worth doing?

 

[TheUnicorn]

i would say you just need to bite the bullet, rip everything out, insulate and board.

 

[Fitzroy]

Carpet typically has a tog rating (maximum is 3 normally) tog is equivalent to R value x 10.

25mm Rockwool has an R value of 0.71 so a 3tog carpet would be equivalent to about 10mm of rockwool. I wouldn't bother....

 

[Fergie 307]

Insulate it and you will see a big difference in the rooms below. On rare occasions I go in our loft in the winter going through the hatch is like climbing into a fridge, compared to the rooms below. Ours is boarded out with T&G chipboard with the space between the joists filled with rockwool, about150mm, done about 25 years ago when we moved in.

 

[JSW]

Insulate it and you will see a big difference in the rooms below. On rare occasions I go in our loft in the winter going through the hatch is like climbing into a fridge, compared to the rooms below. Ours is boarded out with T&G chipboard with the space between the joists filled with rockwool, about150mm, done about 25 years ago when we moved in.

Somebody enlighten me, I thought that was supposed to be a no-no, air circulation and all that? Or is it Ok to do so?

 

[TheUnicorn]

Somebody enlighten me, I thought that was supposed to be a no-no, air circulation and all that? Or is it Ok to do so?

I'm being stupid maybe but where is the air circulation? the only mention I see is opening the loft door, or are you saying that letting the warm air into the attic is a problem?

I've never unstood hot vs cold rooves and all the specifics about where heat and moisture can and cant go.

 

[JSW]

I'm being stupid maybe but where is the air circulation? the only mention I see is opening the loft door, or are you saying that letting the warm air into the attic is a problem?

I've never unstood hot vs cold rooves and all the specifics about where heat and moisture can and cant go.

As I understand it, the roof/loft space is meant to have air circulation from the eaves to avoid damp, mould and possibly rot, which is why:-

Ours is boarded out with T&G chipboard with the space between the joists filled with rockwool, about150mm

Made me question the above. If it's insulated and boarded, then there can be no air circulation between the joists?

 

[TheUnicorn]

As I understand it, the roof/loft space is meant to have air circulation from the eaves to avoid damp, mould and possibly rot, which is why:-



Made me question the above. If it's insulated and boarded, then there can be no air circulation between the joists?

apologies JSW, I misunderstood your original point

 

[Fergie 307]

As I understand it, the roof/loft space is meant to have air circulation from the eaves to avoid damp, mould and possibly rot, which is why:-



Made me question the above. If it's insulated and boarded, then there can be no air circulation between the joists?

Not sure of the perceived problem here. I should clarify that only the loft floor is boarded. There is no insulation or covering below the roof, you look up at the breathable membrane directly under the tiles.
Air circulation in the actual roof space through the eaves via ventilated soffits, none around the joists supporting the ceiling below it's true.
Not sure why this would be a problem, everything is bone dry. Maybe if you opened the hatch on a regular basis allowing warm air in you might get enough condensation to be an issue, although not sure about that. Only go up there very occasionally either to check the inverter for the roof panels, or retrieve stuff from storage. Everything stored up there in cardboard boxes is bone dry, and always has been.

 

[okeydokey]

I think I'm going to lift the floorboards and put loft insulation and put boards back. The insulation will be the same as the rest of the attic except part of it will have boards in place. This is what loads of people do to their attic

 

[gregmcateer]

Definitely get rid of ALL the wool carpet. We got moths in our stairs carpet. Removed all, sprayed, vacuumed and replace with poly runner to avoid the problem. That's fine, but the little xxxxxxers have got into the living room and one bedroom.
An old pro carrier guy said you have to keep on carefully vacuuming and spraying for possibly years

 

[okeydokey]

Definitely get rid of ALL the wool carpet. We got moths in our stairs carpet. Removed all, sprayed, vacuumed and replace with poly runner to avoid the problem. That's fine, but the little xxxxxxers have got into the living room and one bedroom.
An old pro carrier guy said you have to keep on carefully vacuuming and spraying for possibly years

Thank you for this good advice

 

[Fergie 307]

Definitely get rid of ALL the wool carpet. We got moths in our stairs carpet. Removed all, sprayed, vacuumed and replace with poly runner to avoid the problem. That's fine, but the little xxxxxxers have got into the living room and one bedroom.
An old pro carrier guy said you have to keep on carefully vacuuming and spraying for possibly years

We still use traditional mothballs in the wardrobes, after an unfortunate incident involving a very expensive suit becoming perforated!
I couldn't believe that you cannot buy them over the counter anymore, nasty naptha.
Fortunately you can still get them from our old friends the Chinese, via eBay etc. We put them in a takeaway type plastic carton with holes drilled in the lid. Last for ages and no more moths.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If the flooring proves sound after removing the carpet, you could insulate using pellets. This would avoid lifting the flooring.

You would need a hole saw to get access (possibly 75mm) at intervals through which you could pour the insulation and push into the void.

Just a thought - others may have an opinion.