Hey guys…
150 year old Victorian farmhouse — central OH.
No existing insulation.
Hot summers, Cold & windy winters.
Summers are currently extremely unpleasant.
Winters – Astronomical heating costs, nominal interior overnight temperature of 55 degrees with heat set at 70 degrees.
True 2×4 balloon framed construction.
Newly installed vinyl exterior siding. (yeah yeah, I know)
Sheathing under vinyl is original 1x T&G pine – actual thickness approx 7/8″
Whole house renovation
Complete tear down of existing plaster to expose studs for new electrical, insulation, heating/cooling etc.
Installing new energy efficient windows throughout.
Question:
Since a 2×4 wall will only accept an R-11 or R-13 batt, what is the best way to increase the available insulation area?
I have considered the following possibilities:
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Furring strips attached to studs
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Framing a second 2×4 stud wall inside the exterior walls
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I like this idea because it will also provide additional noise deadening properties to the house.
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I am concerned about having 2 layers of batt insulation – are there any moisture / vapor problems associated with doing this?
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This method would decrease the amount of usable square footage.
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Keeping existing 2×4 walls as is and applying sprayed insulation.
Well — suggestions and critiques desired. Personal experience with similar projects?
Thanks all.
Edited 5/22/2004 11:50 am ET by petmonkey
Replies
No problem with two layers of batts if there is only one VB face, but FG batt insulation is without a doubt, the worst insulation valyue you can choose. dens pack cellulose, BIB, or spray foam would each do far more for the money.
also, while you have the walls open, be sure to add firestop blocking between studs.
You don't mention any housewrap or tarpaper under the vinyl siding. If that is true, I don't wonder that you have trouble heating the place. In that case, you definitely need to spray foam.
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>Complete tear down of existing plaster to expose studs for new electrical, insulation, heating/cooling etc
Why? Have you ever gutted plaster and lath, and if not, are you living in the house during the demo?
If your motivation is to replace the electric, I think you might be better off snaking new electric and blowing cellulose into the walls.
Can you post more details of your project, and you might get some good info...
remodeler
With true balloon framing, it's pretty easy to run new wiring without ripping down ( and the mess ) of the plaster. I did my whole house in a weekend by myself.
A good heating contractor should be able to run heat/AC the same way, maybe involving a closet or two if ducting is involved. You didn't mention what kind of heat. Hot water base is pretty easy to run.
After the above work is done, I would have an insulation contractor come in and blow in insulation from the inside. You'll have to patch a bunch of holes, but I think it's still less work and aggrevation than gutting everything out.
Good luck whatever you decide!
I would suggest dense pack (blown-in) cellulose. It will fill every nook and cranny in your wall cavity and eliminate air infiltratiion almost completely, while still allowing your walls to breath. My guess that with the age of the house, your studs are a full 4" so you should achieve close to R-16 (R4/inch of cellulose). Your windows and doors will represent a greater heat loss in your wall area thanthe walls themself. Of course the attic/ceiling is the major heat loss and cells works wonderfully there.
I had a similar situation in reconstructing my 100yr old home. Since I was replacing all windows and doors anyway, after blowing in my wall cavitys, I used 1x2 furr strips over a radiant barrier (a rolled foil faced kraft paper called Dennys Foil) then sheetrock. This allowed my use of standard 6-9/16" jambs. It is hard to quantify the effect of a radiant barrier, but on the several projects I have used it, people have been impressed with the results.
I live in central Ohio also and all the houses I have rehabbed both for my use and as investments have had blown in cellulose. All with the standard depth of wall studs. On the house you describe you will pick up a little more R value because your wall studs are probably a full 4" thick, or at least 3 3/4". And as the others have said with full balloon framing fishing wires should be no problem at all as well as helping with stategic use of duct work. Tearing out all the plaster and lathe is insane unless you absolutely can't avoid it especially if you live in it, but even if you don't its a big mess. DanT