I have a small woodworking shop (15 x30). The roof is not insulated, has exposed rafters/trusses. One end of the shop has 2×4 rafters, the other 2×6. The roof has continuous ridge vents. Can I put sleepers on the 2X4’s to make them 2X6’s and then put fiberglass insulation between the rafters? Do I need to run those air baffle things from soffit to ridge?
Thanks for any help. I’m a woodworker, not a carpenter!
Mike
Replies
plan on putting in a cieling and then someone will surely jump in with a TON of advice...as it is..yer in for a hassle to do any good.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Can I put sleepers on the 2X4's to make them 2X6's and then put fiberglass insulation between the rafters?
You can upsize the rafters if you want, but don't -- it's a waste of time. You should not be thinking of insulating between the rafters. Insulate between the joists instead.
Do I need to run those air baffle things from soffit to ridge?
Maybe -- you need to assure that the insulation can not block air as it passes upward from the soffits to the ridge vents. The best way to do that is to use baffles. Depending on the slope of the roof, you might not need them to go all the way up.
Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.
Personally, I would not worry about venting this unless you store in a lot of green wood or do a lot of painting with water based products.
the only source of water in there otherwise is one man breathing and sweating. Maybe half a gallon a day.
That is - unless you plan to kill yourself with a torch / torpedo heater. What knind of heat???
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Thanks for all the replies. I perhaps mix up the terms rafters and joists. I plan on insulating up against the roof sheathing, but allowing for airspace. I live in florida, so ice dams are not a problem! However, if you don't let the roof breathe apparently you can cook a roof with the heat and decrease the life of your shingles. I think I'm going to try some of that double-sided reflective barrier insulation. It's supposed to give you R-14.5 and can be cut to fit between the joists. I will run a small air conditioner to drop the heat to the 80's and reduce some of the humidity in the summer. May also run a dehumidifier to keep stored wood and projects at a more constant moisture content. Mike
Nix on the bubble wrap. The only ones who claim that much Rvalue for it are the salesmen.
And you definitely don't want it under the shingles if you are worried about cooking them. That is one of the kinds of insulative barrier they used when running test studies to learn whether shingles loose life span from higher heats.
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In our shop, we stapled aluminized fabric radiant barrier under the top 2x4s of the trusses. This reflects a lot of the Summer heat while leaving a channel for air to flow from the gable vents under the roof sheathing to the ridge vents.
Some people might laugh at this but our "ceiling" is made of double-layer Reflectix (white poly-bubble-bubble-foil) stapled to the bottom of the trusses with the white side down. Both rooms in the 1000 sq.ft. shop stay comfortable in the winter with a total of 30K BTU heat from two wall-mounted propane units. For our dry 105F summers, we have a swamp cooler that easily maintains 75F.