Add to Old Attic Insulation, Plus Vapor Barrier?
#1
10-06-03, 12:26 PM
Add to Old Attic Insulation, Plus Vapor Barrier?
Hi. We have a 1929 Cape Cod style home in Western (BRRRR) New York state. Our summers are very hot and humid and the winters are very, very, cold and snowy!
Our old attic is insulated with what appears to be a 3" batting, paper side faces up, and then blown in stuff on top of that.
We have a serious icycle problem every winter on our tiny (hardly there) eaves. My husband has tried putting more vents in these tiny eaves (he drilled 1" holes), but there is a knee wall area on the second floor of the house that is un-insulated. We think the attic should have more insulation. (?) Home has 1000 sq. ft. on first floor and about 400 sq. ft. on the 2nd. floor. Very steep, pitched roof.
Questions:
1. We would like to store stuff up in the attic by adding some plywood to the floor. We hate the mess of the blown in stuff and would like to remove it and add more batting insulation in it's place. Would this be a good idea?
2. Should we be adding a vapor barrier? And where?
3. My husband has also added some vents in the 4 corners of the upper side walls of the house, hoping that cool air will get in there to alleviate the icycle build-up. And we are renovating a bathroom on the second floor at the same time, so we were able to get into one of the tiny areas to insulate ONE of the knee walls.
4. Is there a simple rule to follow as to "when and where" a vapor barrier should used? For the second floor bathroom, should we have the vapor barrier in this room facing in or out?
Sorry this is so long, but we have "major" concerns/questions here.
Thanks for any input you can give us.
Our old attic is insulated with what appears to be a 3" batting, paper side faces up, and then blown in stuff on top of that.
We have a serious icycle problem every winter on our tiny (hardly there) eaves. My husband has tried putting more vents in these tiny eaves (he drilled 1" holes), but there is a knee wall area on the second floor of the house that is un-insulated. We think the attic should have more insulation. (?) Home has 1000 sq. ft. on first floor and about 400 sq. ft. on the 2nd. floor. Very steep, pitched roof.
Questions:
1. We would like to store stuff up in the attic by adding some plywood to the floor. We hate the mess of the blown in stuff and would like to remove it and add more batting insulation in it's place. Would this be a good idea?
2. Should we be adding a vapor barrier? And where?
3. My husband has also added some vents in the 4 corners of the upper side walls of the house, hoping that cool air will get in there to alleviate the icycle build-up. And we are renovating a bathroom on the second floor at the same time, so we were able to get into one of the tiny areas to insulate ONE of the knee walls.
4. Is there a simple rule to follow as to "when and where" a vapor barrier should used? For the second floor bathroom, should we have the vapor barrier in this room facing in or out?
Sorry this is so long, but we have "major" concerns/questions here.
Thanks for any input you can give us.
#2
10-07-03, 10:04 AM
insulation
First off that insulation you have that the paper faces up Has got to be turned over. The paper face has tobe to the room side or the warm side of the wall this will be the V/B so moisture from the home dont get into it. The paper face batts or the poly film should always be on the room side.
There is a new R-25 called attic blanket Miraflex. You could turn all the paper face over and lay this on top of it
ED
There is a new R-25 called attic blanket Miraflex. You could turn all the paper face over and lay this on top of it
ED
