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Property/DIY

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Dirty Loft

3 replies

GatheringRequirements · 16/10/2014 12:57

We have recently purchased a house and realized our loft was too dirty to store anything,I have never lived in an old house before so don't know about how lofts will be.Is loft being dirty common?how do you clean it?What do you do to stop it getting too dirty

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 16/10/2014 19:08

I expect it is an older house, with an unfelted roof ( you can see the underside of the tiles from the loft).

Is that right?

How near is the house to needing retiling?

GatheringRequirements · 20/10/2014 15:00

Hi PJ,

Thanks for the reply, the house s builtin 1930's ,we checked the loft again the roof is felted and from the documentation we got for the house it looks like the roof is 6 years old. We are really puzzled on how so much dust is in loft, do you think we should retile it?

Thanks

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 20/10/2014 16:26

No, if it has recently been reroofed and is now felted, it will not get much new dirt in it.

The dirt is probably black, and is 80 years of soot and dirt which settled on the roof and blew in through the gaps between the old tiles. The new felt (or hopefully breathable membrane) will prevent more dirt getting in that way, and I bet there is hardly any soot or factory pollution in your area now.

Buy a canister vacuum, with a replaceable cartridge filter (and buy a spare) and the huge paper bags that go inside it (this will reduce the clogging of the cartridge) and give the loft a really good clean. Wear a dust mak and goggles as well as gloves.

If it has old yellow fibreglass insulation, I would personally take it up, bag it, and take it to the tip before cleaning. It sheds irritating dust and fibres, and your is probably full of the black dirt. You can now get brown mineral wool treated with Ecose (look at the wrapper) which is a finer, softer filament, and the Ecose prevents it shedding dust and fibres. I will never use yellow fibreglass again.

Loft insulation is not expensive, and you might even get a subsidy if you have it done at the same time as cavity fill.

The black dirt is very heavy, like sand, so don't try to carry it through the house in bin bags or they may burst. Anything you carry down from the loft, clean and bag up before taking it down from the loft.

An electrician can very easily add loft lighting for you, because the lighting circuit for the upstairs lights is in the loft.

Fit the stiff plastic foam lagging round any waterpipes up there, and tank jackets round any water tanks.

You can lay loft flooring after you have cleaned it.

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