permaculture

["Mike Morris" <MikeM@di.denel.co.za>]

> We would prefer to take up the carpet and have the timber floorboards 
> exposed - but how do we get around the problem of "insulating"??  Any 
> suggestions extremely welcome!

You might well find that the house gets warmer just by taking up the
carpets!  After all, wood is not too bad at heat storage.  If that
doesn't work, and you can get access to underneath the house you
could well staple some of that plastic-foil type of insulation
(don't know what it's called in your part of the world) under the
building.

If you can't get under the building, can you close it all in? (if it 
is not already closed -- from your description it sounds like the 
underside of the floor is open)  If it is closed you will have a very 
effective dead-air space under the floor, and should not need to 
worry about it too much.

How well insulated is your roof, though?


Mike Morris                     Living in paradise,
Mike.Morris@iplan.co.za         Working in Cyberspace.

Ph: +27-21-788-4171        Cape Town, South Africa        34.40'S 18.30'E