Tring to add insulation to attic, what I have is next to nothing. I have 6″ joist with a 1″by covering. Do I pop the boards up and clean out what is there, reinstall boards? Or just blow cellouse in on top of what crap that is there? In places all I have is just shreaded up newspaper. Am I to worry about a vapor barrior, none now?
In the future I want a sprayed foam roof, but don’t have the $$$ now. I want to do something. Sounds funny, don’t have the money to save money. Which way should I go or am I just wasting my time???
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This reply will mainly serve to bump your post up towards the top of the heap so you can get some good answers.
I see you are in Michigan, so a vapor barrier on the warm side wouldn't be bad, but I don't see how you're going to ba able to do that now. I seem to recall some "rule" about if you put the vapor barrier in the inner third of insulation it won't get the insulation wet, but am not sure. If that were true, you could put poly film down on the 1 x boards and then add 12" of insulation of your choice over that. That would give you a pretty high R-value--nearly R-36 (depending on th existing insulation and what type you add).
I think pulling the boards would be a lot of work and would be inclined to leave sleeping dogs lie and just insulate over them--blown cellulose is fine, IMO, or roll out batts perpendicular to the joists (though I guess it really doesn't matter which way it goes in your case). If you leave the vapor barrier out, you could just blow in cellulose or chopped fiberglass and hope that and moisture eventually migrates to the dry side. See what others here have to say. You can also check ouyt a web site called "buildingsciences.com" and they explain all about insulation and vapor barriers for different climates.
After re-reading my post a was a bit confussing. My options are to pop up the boards clean out the junk insulation, lay a vapor barier on place, reinstall boards, then blow in some cellulous in the joist cavity
Or like you stated, "let a sleeping dog lay" just keep the boards there and blow in some cellous in the joist cavity.
Of coarse keep clear path for sofett venting. This would be just intill I can get the $$$ for a spray foam roof.
Any thoughts???????
If by a spray foam roof, you mean foam sprayed over the roof deck (on the exterior surface of the roof), I would recommend against it. Others here may argue (and I'm surprised they haven't chimed in yet!), but I've heard that if you ever have a leak, it will be impossible to determine its location because the foam acts like a big sponge and you won't know where the water is first getting in. I guess the belief is that no water will ever get in, but anyway, I would urge you to really check it out before going that route.
If you mean spraying foam on the inside between the rafters and against the underside of the sheathing, that would be okay, then you could use the attic space and heat/cool it as living space.
Since you are planning on doing more in the way of insulation later, maybe just blowing more insulation over what you have (even leaving the boards in place) would be an okay temporary "fix" to reduce heating/cooling costs.