I built my own house last year and I am planning on building again soon. The building inspectors in my area said that I did a great job on my house, but they don’t offer much in the way of advice.
The next house that I build I would like to explore more options for improving energy efficiency. In the January 2004 issue of Fine Homebuilding there was an article on fiberglass insulation and alternatives. One alternative was using layers of XPS foam board on the exterior of the house and using 1 x 3 furring strips to nail the siding to. The article does not go into detail about other aspects of using the thickened foam board such as how to treat trim around windows and doors since the foam board adds up to 2 inches of thickness to the outside of the house before siding is applied.
If anyone has used the foam board before can you please explain to me how to treat windows and doors with the added thickness and are there any other problems that I should be aware of when using the foam board to increase energy efficiency.
Replies
This is something I am also considering.
http://www.uas.alaska.edu/ct/whats_new/persist/index.html
http://www.north-rthn.org/newsletters/ABSN-Fall-02.pdf
RayMoore2G has some good experience in this area, maybe he will chime in with some tips.
Windows & doors - Windows: order windows with jamb extensions the width you need - or use vinyl windows and make your own jambs (returns) during trim-out. Or, use stock jambs and make your own jamb extensions. Doors: for stock doors, make your own jamb extensions, or for special order doors, order them with with the correct sized jambs. You may want to mount your windows/doors on strips of wood the same thickness as your foam so you won't be nailing through the (somewhat compressible) foam. Use a good window/door flashing tape.
Re the foam board, check around for some that is borate treated - keeps the bugs out as foam board can in deed make bugs sung :-)
I don't know what your time frame is, but look at this thread.
http://forums.prospero.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=67972.280
He will be doing it in reverse. Running 2x'b (I think 2x3's) and the inside and then dense packing the whol mess with celulose.
Edited 2/23/2006 8:18 pm by BillHartmann