You will need:

• Fibre insulation
• Pipe insulation
• Tape measure
• Kitchen knife
• Respirator mask
• Rubber gloves
• Overalls
• Bin liner
• Hammer
• Panel pins
• String
• Builder’s tape
• Chipboard panels

Laying the insulation

Put down some panels of chipboard so that you can work across the loft without accidentally treading on the ceiling below.
Lift all the insulation materials into the loft and unroll the first length so that it fits between the ceiling joists. Start at one end of the roof space and work across, laying each roll of insulation into the spaces between the joists.
Leave a small 25mm (1in) gap between the end of the rolls and the eaves to allow air to circulate.

Tip: The loft hatch is often a very cold spot as warm air is drawn up into the loft space. Cut some insulation and fit this over the back of the loft door. Keep it tidy by putting the roll in a bin liner and then attach it with string and panel pins or tape.

Using loose-fill

Alternatively, if your loft has very uneven spacing or lots of cross rails, use insulation granules which can be poured into any shaped space between the joists.

Dealing with obstacles

If you need to trim the rolls to fit around obstacles, use a craft knife or sharp kitchen knife. Butt the ends of rolls together.

Tip: Do not lay insulation over any recessed ceiling lights. Lift any electrical wiring to lay on top of the insulation to prevent the wire overheating.

Cold water tank

The area under the cold water tank should be left uninsulated so that warm air rising from the rooms below will prevent the water or pipes freezing.
The tank itself should be wrapped with a layer of the insulation. You can buy a water tank ‘jacket’ or make your own by taping a length of insulation material around and over the top of the tank.

Insulating water pipes

Protect exposed water pipes with foam tubular pipe insulation.
The tubes have a ready-cut split along their length and can be pushed onto the pipes and trimmed with a knife to fit around bends.

You will need:

• Torch
• Pair of adjustable spanners
• Small hacksaw
• Pencil
• Emergency pipe repair kit
• Fine grade steel wool
• Hammer
• Block of wood

Step 1: Turn off the water supply

Cold water: Turn off the main stopcock that is usually in the kitchen. This will stop the flow of cold water into the house. This is normally a brass valve with a circular handle.

Hot water: It’s important to switch off your boiler and immersion heater before draining the hot water. Then, turn off the valve on the cold feed pipe to the cylinder and run all the hot water taps to get rid of water in the pipes.

Step 2: Tie up the ball valve

If you can’t find the cold feed pipe valve, tie up the ball valve in the cold water tank and turn on all the cold water taps to empty the remaining water in the tank.
When no more water comes out, run the hot taps until these run dry as well.

Tip: You should also turn off the electricity if the water leak is near wiring, sockets or switches.

Step 3: Remove the leaking section

When the water has been turned off, hold the emergency repair section next to the pipe and mark use a hacksaw to saw through the pipe to remove the leaking section.

Step 4: Fit the emergency repair

Smooth the ends of the cut pipe with some steel wool.
Fit the repair piece using the new olives supplied and tighten the joints.

Tip: If you don’t have all the right tools or a repair section, you may be able to temporarily stop the leak by hammering the pipe flat on each side of the leak. Place a block of wood behind the pipe as you hammer.