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insulation….what would you do

jinalaska | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on February 14, 2007 08:01am

rough framing is pretty much done, i’m thinking about insulating similar to a house in vermont featured in fine homebuilding (i can’t remember the month) who put r19 in 2 by6 framing then half inch rigid foam to cut down on heat transfer through the studs  then horizontal 2 by four every 18″ then sheetrock, except i was going to use r21 high density in the stud bays, and 1″ rigid foam…..the house is roughly 2500 sg ft, in southcentral alaska where the winter is long but not too extreme…i will be heating with radiant heat in gypcrete…typical construction in this area is 2 by 6 with r19 in the walls and r40 to 50 in the roof….another option was spraying ureathane, wondering pro’s and con’s…nearest spray rig for ureathane is 130 miles away..i can calculate the cost factors what i’m looking for is reasons why one would be better or not..i was leaning towards the glass and foam deal…what do you think? thanks in advance…john

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  1. BobKovacs | Feb 14, 2007 08:41pm | #1

    I'm thinking I'd spray 1/2" to 1" of urethane and then install the high-density R-21 batts and call it a day.  The foam will act as a major wind/air barrier, and will also stiffen the frame and deaden sound dramatically.  You'll want to do a study on where the dewpoint will occur in your walls system to ensure that you're not trapping moisture anywhere and causing rot.  I'm not familiar enough with the climate in your area to say what the humidity/temps are.

    Bob

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