Insulation

Garage conversions often necessitate additional insulation as the garage space will be altered to a habitable room, and therefore needs to comply with building regulations for insulation in this kind of space. These regulations set a U-value for insulation, which measures the rate of heat loss. These are set differently for walls, flooring, and roofing. To adhere to building regulations the garage conversion must meet the U-values in all of these areas, but additional insulation can be installed to surpass these values and improve energy efficiency. Wall insulation for garage conversions is typically performed by making use of internal wall insulation, which adds insulated plasterboard to the existing walls. This will add thermal insulation and prevent heat from dissipating through the walls. Insulation must be added around doors and windows as these areas can leak heat particularly severely. Roofs for garage conversions will also require insulation. Pitched roofs need insulation to the same standard as the rest of the property. Flat roofs also require insulation. This can be performed using a cold roof system, where insulation is fixed between the roof joists along with ventilation to avoid 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 elevating in order to meet the rest of the house as another layer of insulation can be easily added to either a raised concrete floor, timber joists or a floating floor. If the floor doesn’t need to be elevated it may be necessary to dig out the floor to add the required insulation.