Insulating the ceiling between beams

[NatalieA]

what would be best practice to try and get some insulation between the ground and 1st floor on an timber beam cottage?

We have recently moved in and winter was absolutely freezing!

I have noticed that we have no floor insulation in our bedroom as when the carpet was up you can literally see downstairs via some small cracks.

The ceiling of the ground floor at the moment just has some ply board pinned into the voids collecting dust.

 

[paulc]

Normally, the ground floor rooms will be around the same temperature as the rooms above. Consequently, there will be minimal heat loss. Uninsulated lofts (or minimal insulation levels), single glazed windows, and cold draughts are likely to be the main culprits for your freezing bedroom. Both loft insulation and eliminating draughts are low cost and can make a huge improvement. Windows can be expensive to upgrade to double (or triple) glazing, although secondary glazing is a cheaper option.
It may be worth getting a thermographic survey done to identify exactly where the heat is being lost, and you can concentrate on the worst areas first. Unfortunately, it is getting a bit late in the year to do such a survey (best done when it is freezing outside).

I've insulated some of the ground floor ceilings here - It has made zero difference in temperatures in any of the rooms.

 

[NatalieA]

Okay thanks, I’m trying to get the room under the bedroom habitable so before we done the finishing bits didn’t know if it was worth insulating the ceiling.

It’s not just our bedroom that was freezing it’s the whole cottage, and still is compared to the 70’s kitchen extension, that I have insulated the loft in.

We have a brand new thatch on the roof so I don’t think we can do any more insulation in that area as I believe it needs a flow of air between.

We do have cracks in our bedroom where we can see daylight between the beams and the roughcast infills. (stuffed with sheep wool for now) I didn’t know if getting the whole bedroom lime plastered with a cork or hair additive would help to insulate but something we need to save up for!
We have measured up for a simple 5mm acrylic secondary glazing to use on all windows in winter.

Thanks for letting me know it’s not helped with your project, think I’ll direct my time to another thing on the list

 

[paulc]

A thatched roof should help to keep the place nice and warm. Plugging the cold draughts will go a long way in improving matters. Although finding all of them isn't always that easy - I had one hidden behind wallpaper, and another masked by timber trim around window reveals (crappy replacement windows done back in ~1976, and a huge gap had been left at the top of the frames). On the ground floor, there is a gap between plaster & floorboards around the perimeter of each room. As I renovate/redecorate, the skirting gets removed and the gap filled with expanding foam.

Depending on the thickness of your walls, it might be worthwhile insulating them with cork or woodfibre boards. I've insulated a couple of bedrooms here (solid 9" brick) and haven't detected any noticeable improvement in heat loss - Have temperature/humidity sensors in all the rooms and data is recorded. Comparing the rate of heat loss overnight between insulated & uninsulated rooms, there might be 0.1-0.2°C difference in an eight hour period. That said, the insulated walls feel warmer, so that should reduce any condensation forming and put a stop to black mould.

As for hemp plaster - A work colleague slapped a thick layer of the stuff on the walls of her Victorian cottage. She was not impressed with the results and didn't think it made any real difference.