Ceiling insulation - easy way to insulate from inside room - asbestos panels

[JenO]

Hi,

Im in a very old 1960s/1970s public housing disability allocated house. I’ve been told by tradesman attending to try and make multiple areas safe (worthy of a seperate post) that the internal walls appear to be asbestos. He determined this by tapping the walls and noted a “tinny” type sound. I assume the ceilings are also asbestos.

Its extremely gappy in many areas and I’m trying to find ways to retain heat that are pensioner friendly and relatively easy to do without a lot of DIY experience.

I saw some Bastion insulation foam boards and similar products I thought I might be able to glue to the ceiling and then paint over. 

Any suggestions? I’ll be slowly posting more as I try to tackle more issues. I am targeting ceilings atm because another post said most heat loss occurs via the roof.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JenO. It's fabulous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about insulating your ceiling.

Before you attempt any work around asbestos, you'll find the information in this guide useful: Asbestos for households and the general public. You'll also find this factsheet handy. Within it, they suggest sealing the asbestos with good quality paint. I need to strongly advise you not to take risks with asbestos to save money. Your health and the health of others around you is paramount. You must wear appropriate PPE whilst working with asbestos, and this includes disposable overalls and shoe coverings, gloves, and a class P1 or P2 disposable respirator appropriate for asbestos. As a general rule, you should avoid sanding, drilling, breaking, cutting and disturbing asbestos where possible. 

Do you know if there is already insulation in the ceiling cavity? If there is, then adding more onto the inside of the ceiling might only have limited results. If you seal the gaps you've mentioned, you should see a significant improvement in retaining heat within the house. You should find this step-by-step guide useful: How to winter-proof your home. You'll also find some handy hints in this discussion about getting your home ready for winter.

If you'd like to post some images of the various gaps around your home, then our helpful members would be more than happy to suggest some D.I.Y. methods of filling them.

I look forward to assisting with your issues around the home.

Mitchell

[redracer01]

Hello @JenO 

As you mentioned in your other post you were looking for some easy diy friendly methods to keep the heat in.  The winter-proof your home steps as mentioned by @MitchellMc is a good way of starting to tackle basic winter proofing steps that  should help immediately to keep some of that heat in. I would only add possibly getting some thick carpet rugs that might block off those gaps without having to spend too much money on repairs. As to putting insulation in your ceiling I agree with @MitchellMc we have to be very careful and not jump in with a renovation that may end up costing you thousands that you might not be prepared to spend. Take care!

Cheers,

Red        

[MitchellMc]

I like the idea of using rugs @redracer01. I have timber floorboards with some large gaps in areas, and we're thinking of using rugs, as you've mentioned. I know a considerable amount of heat is lost through them as the house is on piers.

What type of floors do you have, @JenO?

Mitchell