Insulation

Garage conversions usually need extra insulation as the garage space will be altered to a habitable room, and therefore needs to comply with building regulations for insulation in this type of room. These regulations set a U-value for insulation, which gauges the rate of heat loss. These are set differently for walls, flooring, and roofs. To comply with building regulations the garage conversion must meet the U-values in all three of the areas, but supplementary insulation can be added to exceed these values and improve energy efficiency. Wall insulation for garage conversions is typically accomplished by making use of internal wall insulation, which adds insulated plasterboard to the pre-existing walls. This will add thermal insulation and stop heat from dissipating through the walls. Insulation must also be installed around windows and doors as these areas can leak heat particularly poorly. Roofs for garage conversions will additionally require insulation. Pitched roofs need insulation to the same standard as the rest of your house. Flat roofs additionally require insulation. This is performed using a cold roof system, where insulation is fixed between the roof joists along with ventilation to prevent condensation forming. The other possibility is a warm roof, where insulation is added above the roof joists. Floor insulation is also needed in garage conversions. This is less difficult if the floor level of the garage requires lifting in order to meet the rest of the house as another layer of insulation can be easily put into either a raised concrete floor, timber joists or a floating floor. If the floor doesn’t need to be lifted it could be necessary to dig out the floor to add the required insulation.