How to insulate fireplace wall in attic
Folks, how does one insulate the exposed brick fireplace walls in my attic crawl space. We use the fireplace all winter long, not for heat though, for the fun of the fire. But I get incredible ice dams all winter long too. I need to keep the heat from the fireplace wall from getting into the crawl space.
I am googleing and have not been too successful. Any pointers would be very helpful.
The fireplace runs up through the center of the house – not on an outside wall.
Thanks for you help
John
Replies
>> for the fun of the fire <<
You may want to get some help with that... ;-)
BTW - when you say "crawl space" I assume you mean the empty area in the attic?
I wonder if better attic ventilation would help with your attic problem?
You could frame a chase around the brick chimney keeping the framing 2" away from the masonry, and then staple Insulmesh or Membrane to bag the stud spaces and fill them with cellulose or chopped FG.
Or just fit batts to the stud spaes, then put up a layer of foil faced foam around on the stud faces. How large is that workspace? I have seen suh attics that are only 12" deep or so there, and know of one that is about 22 feet tall in that space.
For something really small, I might forget the framing and just cut foam panerls to surrond it whjile finding a way to isolate it an inch or two from the masonryt face.
I agree tht it also sounds like you have a venting problem
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I do have 4 problems in this space.1 - the exposed brick fireplace wall
2 - 2 20 year old recessed lights from the room below
3 - insulation covering/stuffed over the ridge vents
4 - AC duct work cut thru floor boards and never sealed upSo I am attacking each issue at a time this fall to see if I can improve this situation - I cant stand dragging out the roof rake every snow storm - and even when I do it does help to get the snow off, but not that much.I think I am going to do the rigid foam panels placed into 3 frames - spaced about 2-3" from the brick.Thanks for the tip.
didn't like my little joke, hu?
re:
1 - the exposed brick fireplace wall2 - 2 20 year old recessed lights from the room below3 - insulation covering/stuffed over the ridge vents4 - AC duct work cut thru floor boards and never sealed up
I think you aught to remedy problems 2, 3, & 4 first. If you take care of those, #1 may become a non-issue. If nothing else, remedying #s 2 & 4 will help your utility bills, and you know all 3 will help address your ice-damning problem.
2 - I'm assuming you are saying that the cans are leaking heat into the attic. They should be IC type cans and should be covered with insulation. If you want you can build a 5 sided box out of foam board to cover them, but they still need to be IC type. BTW - I see they now sell foam adhesive caulk at our local big box stores.
3 - I'm guessing a previous HO thought it would be a good idea to try and hold the heat in the attic. You know otherwise. Regardless, whoever blocked the vents didn't understand what he/she was doing.
4 - seal with spray can foam, duct mastic (comes in a bucket at the big box), caulk, or whatever.
Question for everyone else: Ever heard of having a masonry chimney in an attic as a problem?
Matt, your joke was funny!Now you have me thinking about the list again and I think your right. #1 is probably the least important. I actually have 10 very old recessed lights that I have to deal with related to this attic space. 2 from the room directly below and 8 from a room right off this attic space - and that room is not entirely sealed off from this space either. It is kind of hard to explain. Anyway I am going to try to swap out 1 of the lights and if it goes well, then I will do the job myself. If I am not successful, I will get an electrician in to do the job.In the winter when I put my hand in front of these cans, the cold air coming thru is just unbelievable.Thanks for asking about the joke! you got me focused on the right things. Thanks again.John O'
Look very closely at the cans. They may be IC rated. It may be that the only deficiency is the way they are covered in the attic.
I will look at the cans when I get back home this afternoon - but the house is 32 years old and these are original cans - would they be IC from back then?
someone else needs to answer that....