DIY Home Insulation: Book 2: Attics and Lofts: A comprehensive guide to insulating your roof space or loft conversion

The cost of heating our homes in the 21st century is on the rise. By insulating our homes we can save money on energy bills and enjoy a better living environment, with fewer drafts, less dampness and less noise from outside. A well-insulated home will be warmer in winter and also cooler in summer. Good insulation can even increase the value of our house.

The ideal reader of this series will be a homeowner with a reasonable set of tools and enough DIY experience to wire a socket extension, dry line a wall or do basic carpentry. A few specialist skills, such as plastering, may either have to be farmed out or acquired on the fly, although I have also given some pointers to aid the novice, should they wish to give it a go. No obscure materials are required - everything needed in this series of books will be found in DIY shops and builder's merchants.

This series uses British houses as its base, but the content is as internationalised as possible. The principles of good insulation are universal. Although construction methods differ between, say, Europe and North America, you can still encounter structural panels, timber, stone and brick walls anywhere in the world. Providing the correct insulation materials are chosen, the designs here can be used for most building types anywhere. Measurements where given are written in both millimetres and inches.

We all know from our school science days that heat rises. By insulating our roof spaces we can stop heat leakage and literally put a lid on our energy bills. The materials required are available in most DIY shops and the costs are not excessive. In an era of rising energy prices, the incentive to stop wasting heat from the top of our houses is a strong one.

This book explains how to do tasks that are unique to the roof space of a home. For example, how to make an attic access hatch, how to remove ceiling downlights and how to avoid moisture traps caused by rising air entering a cold space. It explains in detail how to insulate both heated and unheated roof spaces and how to finish the work to a good standard.

This book is in two parts - Part I is about insulating unconverted attics and Part II concerns the relining of existing loft conversions. It uses the author's own house as a case study, with accompanying photographs from his insulation work.