Hi Guys,
I intend to insulate my floors using pink batts and have some questions.
My house has timber floor boards covered with lino above a tall and easily accessable subfloor. I understand that I will just be jamming the pink batts (of appropriate width) between the flooring joists and supporting them there. What I am not sure of is whether or not to use "sarking" (I think thats the right word).
My dirt subfloor is a little damp due to living on a slope so I am concerned about moisture and mould etc. I have read that using insulation can cause moisture to gather due to a temperature differential. Is this what sarking is intended to prevent? If so, how do you use it? Should I be fixing the sarking to the underside of the timber flooring before jamming the batts in? Or do I use the sarking to hold the insulation in place, effectively sandwiching the insulation between the sarking and the underside of the timber floor? Is the sarking even necessary? Am I over thinking it ?
I have also read on an American site that the dirt subfloor needs to be covered with plastic sheeting to trap the moisture in the ground. I have never seen or heard of this being done anywhere else, is it overkill ?
Also, I have heard that commonly insulation is (or was) held in place using chicken wire. I could do this but I am considering more cost effective options. One idea I had was to string very thick fishing line under high tension between screws on the joists back and forth to hold the batts in place, sort of like a primative web. Are there better solutions?
Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.