Hi Everyone,
I am working on a whole house insulation project since my current house is FREEZING cold in the winter. I have renovated the interior of the house myself, so I would say I am pretty handy. I could however use some advice on how to best insulate some other spots in my house.
The first major area of concern is the attic. I have basically 3 "spaces" in the attic that need help.
The first space is the attic over the original house. There are 2x6 joists with 3/4 plywood running across them to form a storage area. Under this plywood is the original fiberglass batting. There is a kraft paper vapor barrier facing up. The insulation has been compressed over the years and is no more than 1" in most spots. I have found that the person who laid the plywood decking did not notch out the joists where the wires crossed, so I have old wiring that is pinched between the attic decking and the joists. I will be removing all of the decking since I do not need storage in the attic. I will close all of the open junction boxes, then install rafter vents and either 20" (r-60) blown in Atticat insulation or unfaced insulation on top of the existing insulation, then another layer perpendicular.
The second "space" in the attic is basically the same layout as the first (2x6 joists with 1" old fiberglass insulation). However on this side, the ceiling of the master bath sticks up through the attic floor. I have some issues in this area that need to be addressed. First is the fact that there are non-IC rated recessed lights which are covered in insulation. I was going to build a box around these with either sheetrock or foil faced insulation, but I have decided to replace these lights instead. I can currently only get to 2 of 8 from the attic. The other 6 lights are part of the third "space" in my attic which I will get to in a minute. In this area of the attic there are a lot of open electric junction boxes where the lights for the bathroom were tied in. I am going to have to close these as well once I get the lights rewired. My idea here is to replace all of the lights with IC rated, air sealed lights. Then I will air seal around them and insulate the entire thing with 20" of blown in Atticat insulation. On this side of the attic, there seems to be about 6-8" of blown in cellulose. However it is not correctly spread out, it is just thrown about. I am considering bagging it up into contractor bags and just blowing down new atticat insulation.
The third "space" in the attic is the strange one. It is actually the old roof of the original house which creates a space in between the old house and the addition.
The space is COLD. I was thinking that I should fill this entire space with atticat insulation. First I would seal any holes along the master bedroom wall, which happens to be insulated (for the most part). I also have to replace 6 more non-IC rated lights at the end of this space in the master bath. Can someone help suggest what to do in this area? The master bedroom is an addition that is insulated (mostly). The back wall of the master is about 13' high, the top 4 feet of the wall is this "space" in the attic. My thought is that if I fill it with insulation, it might help keep the master bedroom warm.
Any helps, tips, thoughts, suggestions would be very welcome. I am going to make this house warm - it must happen!
Thanks so much - looking forward to the conversations this may spark.
Ohm
I am working on a whole house insulation project since my current house is FREEZING cold in the winter. I have renovated the interior of the house myself, so I would say I am pretty handy. I could however use some advice on how to best insulate some other spots in my house.
The first major area of concern is the attic. I have basically 3 "spaces" in the attic that need help.
The first space is the attic over the original house. There are 2x6 joists with 3/4 plywood running across them to form a storage area. Under this plywood is the original fiberglass batting. There is a kraft paper vapor barrier facing up. The insulation has been compressed over the years and is no more than 1" in most spots. I have found that the person who laid the plywood decking did not notch out the joists where the wires crossed, so I have old wiring that is pinched between the attic decking and the joists. I will be removing all of the decking since I do not need storage in the attic. I will close all of the open junction boxes, then install rafter vents and either 20" (r-60) blown in Atticat insulation or unfaced insulation on top of the existing insulation, then another layer perpendicular.
The second "space" in the attic is basically the same layout as the first (2x6 joists with 1" old fiberglass insulation). However on this side, the ceiling of the master bath sticks up through the attic floor. I have some issues in this area that need to be addressed. First is the fact that there are non-IC rated recessed lights which are covered in insulation. I was going to build a box around these with either sheetrock or foil faced insulation, but I have decided to replace these lights instead. I can currently only get to 2 of 8 from the attic. The other 6 lights are part of the third "space" in my attic which I will get to in a minute. In this area of the attic there are a lot of open electric junction boxes where the lights for the bathroom were tied in. I am going to have to close these as well once I get the lights rewired. My idea here is to replace all of the lights with IC rated, air sealed lights. Then I will air seal around them and insulate the entire thing with 20" of blown in Atticat insulation. On this side of the attic, there seems to be about 6-8" of blown in cellulose. However it is not correctly spread out, it is just thrown about. I am considering bagging it up into contractor bags and just blowing down new atticat insulation.
The third "space" in the attic is the strange one. It is actually the old roof of the original house which creates a space in between the old house and the addition.
The space is COLD. I was thinking that I should fill this entire space with atticat insulation. First I would seal any holes along the master bedroom wall, which happens to be insulated (for the most part). I also have to replace 6 more non-IC rated lights at the end of this space in the master bath. Can someone help suggest what to do in this area? The master bedroom is an addition that is insulated (mostly). The back wall of the master is about 13' high, the top 4 feet of the wall is this "space" in the attic. My thought is that if I fill it with insulation, it might help keep the master bedroom warm.
Any helps, tips, thoughts, suggestions would be very welcome. I am going to make this house warm - it must happen!
Thanks so much - looking forward to the conversations this may spark.
Ohm