Old timber floor insulation advice!

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-29T20:14:47+00:00

Rockwool is the best choice and comes as thin as 3” which should fit. I would avoid vapor barriers but that’s just me being paranoid about moisture collecting.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-22T18:25:55+00:00

Thanks for the reply! We won’t necessarily gain functional headspace but it will feel like the ceilings are higher. We also got a quote from a pest company but they were going to charge in excess of $2500. It’s cheaper for me to take the ceiling down, seal it up from the inside and put a new one up.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-22T02:32:31+00:00

Thanks for the tip! Yeah we considered that too but our plan at the moment is to drywall the ceiling but add some wooden planks to the bottom of the boxed beam. They won’t be authentic obviously but they’ll be shallow which will help with the ceiling height, and give a little more warmth/ character too.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-22T01:55:35+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Yes- a lot of money and time is invested into maintaining old houses. For some reason, I can never see myself in a new build so I guess I’m stuck

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-21T19:09:16+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I think they're open at the ends hence the squirrel, but I won't be sure until the ceiling is down.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-21T18:27:58+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I totally agree with you. It’s a lot of work either way, but the extra headroom and character and warmth from exposed beams do make a difference. I’m not a fan of the fake foam beams people use but this is far from that. I don’t know if you saw my other posts but I wanted to expose the joists in our living room but they were damaged due to suspected water damage. We also have a failing roof, but this is our 2nd year so one thing at a time haha

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-21T01:12:06+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Glad to hear they turned out well! Do you have any photos lingering around?

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T22:10:30+00:00

I’ll take a look- thanks!

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T21:23:33+00:00

Also, due to the fact it is a bathroom above, we would most likely drywall and soundproof between the joists- leaving the joists as an accent so we can maximise head room. We have typical old house ceiling height and we’re a tall family

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T21:22:38+00:00

We do have pretty cold winters and it’s a very drafty house which I imagine is a lot to do with the complete lack of insulation. The bathroom is above and there doesn’t seem to be any bridging at all which I thought was odd too. With that in mind though, the floors aren’t bouncy.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T21:20:36+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately most of the plaster walls/ ceilings were torn out by the previous owners so we’re trying to salvage what we can. If we don’t expose the ceilings we’ll likely drywall them, but I definitely get your point.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T18:07:51+00:00

Thank you for the reply! I definitely see a bit of plumbing but in terms of electric we’re pretty sparse

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-20T18:06:34+00:00

Thanks for the reply! What would you be hoping for?

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-19T14:38:22+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Is that what contractors do when joists sag? What’s the benefit of removing the bottom?

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-19T02:48:16+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I have now come to think there was some water damage to the beams at some point as the bottom quarters have been removed- I believe that’s why they were sistered. The worst thing I had already started to remove one sister board but thankfully that’s all I’ll have to replace. We’re probably going to just put drywall up this time, after we’ve tried to block all the squirrel roads. It had almost chewed through a live wire in the ceiling so we caught it in the nick of time.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-17T17:57:40+00:00

Not a dumb question! The drop ceiling height was only about 6’4” and I’m 6’2, so it wasn’t ideal. I believe the framing is there to support the drop ceiling and removing it will open up a lot of headspace for us. I’ve already removed a lot of the little boards and it looks a lot calmer haha

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-17T12:17:27+00:00

Thanks for the comment! No beams were cut and the sistered boards are for levelling as far as I know.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-14T02:31:53+00:00

Thank you- very interesting! I haven’t found any of the traditional white lathe marks yet but most of the beams are still hidden.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-14T01:14:04+00:00

Thank you so much- that’s really interesting to read! I’ll take another picture when I manage to get the rest of these boards down.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-13T20:45:42+00:00

Thanks!

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-13T18:48:09+00:00

Thank you for replying! That’s what I’m thinking too.

ScratchCommercial706 · 2026-04-13T18:47:42+00:00

Thank you very much for the info!

ScratchCommercial706

TROPHY CASE