Help old Florida home

realsoon61 · 03-23-2009, 03:11 PM

I have a 1959 old florida home with a flat tar and gravel roof. I been in this house for two years and the summer heat has been a ouch to my wallet. this house gets so hot the are will not shut off. The inside air temp gets higer than the a.c. thermostat setting. I am replacing the old soffit vents to a 4x6 vent. Note there is no Insulation and I have only 7 1/2 inches from celling to roof. How much if any room do I have to put blow Insulation in. Cant put in bats It would be to hard.

Bob Mariani · 03-23-2009, 03:41 PM

Put in as much as you can fit and afford. The more the better. Seems like you may need new stones on the roof also.

realsoon61 · 03-23-2009, 04:26 PM

I read someware that I need to keep some open air space in the rafters. Wont that cook the roof even more?

Bob Mariani · 03-23-2009, 05:02 PM

you never want to seal any ventilation, but this type of insulation will settle. Should be some sort of foam venting boards at the edges to prevent this insulation from clogging any soffit venting.

Scuba_Dave · 03-23-2009, 05:08 PM

I'd build a peaked roof over the house with proper ventilation & insulation

realsoon61 · 03-24-2009, 10:14 AM

no ,there is nothing to hold any insulation back other than the soffit vent itself. The vent does have a screen in it to prevent pest from getting in. It sounds like I will rent a blower and fill the space up with blown Insulation. Will this get moist in the winter? What have you herd on this elastomeric coating for the top of the roof? They say it is real Reflective of the suns rays. Thanks

fitzsm · 03-26-2009, 10:55 PM

there are no easy answers to your question.It sounds like your roof rafters are your ceiling rafters.So that would mean you have sloping ceilings,to blow this area you will need an opening or two between each rafter the openings can be made from roof (outside or ceiling inside) are you better at fixing your roof or repairing your ceilings.Now to the insulation blow the insulation in a soft blow method packing this area to tight will lead to sweating problems.I hope this works out for you.I would say you have a 95% chance of this working well for you.

realsoon61 · 04-22-2009, 02:35 PM

I have not heard from any other people on this problem for some time now. Is there any other help I can do ?