The Challenge of Installing Floor Insulation

There are some tough jobs out there, but few come close to that of the underfloor insulation installer. Of course all insulation installing jobs can be challenging for different reasons. At the easiest end of the scale is probably your standard wall insulation, in an evenly framed house. Then you’ve got your roof insulation, before plaster, pushing that fibreglass batt up between the roof joists and praying that it won’t fall down again, at least not before you get time to run some strapping or tape to keep it all in place. Retrofit ceiling insulation (i.e. installing insulation in an old/existing roof) is of course in a class of its own, and in fairness to all the retro-fit installers out there, yes, there are some roof insulation jobs which, for various reasons, will rank near the “impossible” end of the scale. So what’s the big deal with underfloor insulation?

Welcome to the Home Owners Rubbish Dump

This is what many installers discover (or learn to expect) when they venture underneath the house. The job will often be tough even in the best-case scenario, simply due to the lack of space to move. Which builder in the 1970’s would have given thought to just raising the height of the ground floor by a foot or so, just to give some more breathing space for the underfloor insulation installer who may or may not ever be called in to help improve the energy efficiency of the house? Of course this wouldn’t have crossed the builder’s mind. However, a lack of space clearly is no obstacle when it comes to rolling, shoving or tossing all manner of objects underneath the house.

This culture might start at the construction stage, some left-over cement, and a few buckets of broken bricks, you can almost hear the builder barking at his hard-working apprentice – “Yeah mate – just chuck in underneath, she’ll be right…” The Friday afternoon beers, bottle unceremoniously tossed under the house, together with the remains of a half-eaten sandwich.

The culture continues with occupants coming and going throughout the life of the home – planks, half-empty buckets of paint, an old garden hose – the “might need this soon” items get priority on the outskirts of the house, while the “couldn’t fit it into this week’s rubbish” gets tossed further into the unknown. The house is sold, with a parting comment to the new owners, or – “You can just keep whatever you find under there….”

Hats Off to the Underfloor Insulation Installers

Your average underfloor insulation installer may spend a significant part of their day lying on their back, navigating through a myriad of mess and obstacles, fixing insulation batts or rolls immediately above them. Thanks to their hard work and effort, home owners and tenants are able to enjoy further increases in energy savings and a warmer floor to walk on in winter time.