For quite some time now I have been meaning to put a lot more insulation into our roof because one thing our house isn’t, is warm. Months ago I identified some suitable insulation – 20cm thick and not made of glass fibre, so much easier, safer and more pleasant to handle. It was even on offer (3 for 2) which, at £21 a roll and with 8 rolls needed, was a saving not to be sneezed at. But then, at the end of last year, just around the time I was thinking about buying the insulation the offer ended and it went out of stock for home delivery. In an instant the price had rocketed and the convenience gone. Autumn changed to winter, including some exceptionally cold weather, the house stayed cold and the ‘sort out loft insulation’ job remained on my to-do list.
Then, a couple of weeks ago I noticed that the price offer was back on AND home delivery was possible and so despite it already being March and with temperatures rising steadily I put in the order. And on Wednesday of last week the house filled up with rolls of insulation, partially blocking the hallway, sitting waiting for me to move them upstairs. My intention this weekend was simply to cart the rolls upstairs, lift them into the loft and leave them there until a spare half day magically appeared to allow me to unpack them, cut them, lay them out etc. I would have been happy if, today, I could have simply moved the rolls into the loft, but having started to shift them around it seemed much more sensible to begin to lay them. So, for two and a half hours my wife and I scrabbled around in the dusty, dim loft space, cutting and ripping the rolls apart, and packing them into the empty spaces across the top of the existing thin and tatty insulation. I had carefully measured the space in the loft, which was a complex shape due to a bay, and a large boarded platform that we use for storage in the middle, and had figured we would need 8 rolls. Consequently, it was immensely satisfying that it turned out that we needed exactly 8 rolls – no waste, no missed sections and a better fit than I could ever have imagined.
It may now be Spring and Summer will soon be on its way but Winter is coming. Winter is ALWAYS coming – and we can now be smug (or should that be snug) in the knowledge that we are ready for it.
Tim O'Hare 