No Vapor barrier in attic! Need more insulation!


  #1  
Old 12-09-03, 08:58 AM
G
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No Vapor barrier in attic! Need more insulation!

I live in Portland, Oregon in a small 1920 stucco bungalow. Our home inspector recommended addiung insultaion to the attic floor. I wen t up there and there is loose fill insulation (looks like hand applied from a bag) but it is skimpy and uneven. I looked between joists and there appears to be no vapor barrier installed. The attic seems dry and not at all musty or moldy smelling and there are three attic vents...Is it ok to add more loose fill insulation myself on top of the existing, or do i need to dig the old stuff up and add a vapor barrier...any feedback would help a first time home owner greatly!
Thanks...
 
  #2  
Old 12-09-03, 01:09 PM
MusicField
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A good-quality oil-based paint will act pretty much like a vapor barrier. Painting the ceiling will do the job.

Loose fill up over the tops of the attic floor joists; or alternatively, loose fill up to even with the tops of the floorjoists, then bats placed perpendicular to the floorjoists on top of that.
 
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Old 12-09-03, 03:11 PM
C
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It would not justify removing the insulation to add the vapor barrier. You probably have enough paint on the ceiling after 80 years to accomplish the same end. Even latex paint presents a sufficient vapor barrier with three or four coats. In a house of that age, the original paint would have been an oil paint.

You can blow insulation to the appropriate depth needed for your R-value needs there.

Hope this helps.
 
 

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