I am a recently retired guy who has a background in the aluminum industry and I have experience in home building from many years ago so i need help to know the latest technologies.
I want to improve the R factor in my attic area. My house is one story and i have a high ceiling in my living room which leave me with a “bubble structure” in my attic over that area which forms the sidewalls and ceiling of the living room area. As a result I have verticl walls of that structure which only have 2×4 depth. My current insulation is 4″ fiberglass batts so I am loosing a lot of heat energy.
I need to know the best method for increasing my R factor.
Should I:
fir out the side walls so additional batting layers can be installed,
Wrap the complete walls in a blanket of fiberglass insulation
put ridge board insulation across the wall studs?
I need your advice!
Replies
Please fill out your profile or at the least where you live. This will help us determine our responses. Thank You
I live in Nashville, Tennessee
That will help. i don't have your answer but there will be people along that will be able to help, don't give up.
I don't know what ridge board insulation is, but my first thought is to place foam panels ( Rigid foam sheets) on the face of those studs. EPS or Foil faced polyisoanurate.
Best would be to take out the FG batts and have spray foam installed there, but that is probably overkill, price wise.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
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Thanks for you input Piffin,
I don't know what ridge board is either! A typo on my part, I meant rigid board as you suggested.
i can't wrap my head around your structure
can you post some pics ?
Maybe similar to this one I just designed. The guys will finish framing it in tomorrow, so I can shoot pictures of it.Except I think the OP has vertical walls to the shaft.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
hey showoff.... nice render viewMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
worked for me - I emailed it to customer with a generic estimate "in excess of 6-7 thousand Dollars"She responded, I want it!And had a check in the mail for 5K deposit.One reason I like working in 3D CAD - it really sells!I have to check, but I don't even think that was in render mode.we have several now - illustrated, sketched, textured, ...all simpler and faster than rendered for the computer to produce on screen.I usually position the camera using visible line or illustrated mode, then switch to produce a rendering to adjust lights etc.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
yesi think chief has about 10 views including "line drawing " and "watercolor"
if i only knew how to put it all together...
using a lot of time in on-line trainingMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
I have tried to attach photos and have followed the directions to upload but i am having difficulty attaching the photos to the message.
Duh!
Can you advise?
butch....
1st.... are you on a windows machine...as opposed to a mac ?
cause this is how i do it on a windows machine ( also...i use Internet Explorer )
before you start ...get the pic you want into a folder you can find
next... resize the photo so it's about 1k - 2 k---3k....
after you resize it , do a "save as" and save as a . jpg
and give it an identifier so you can tell it apart from the larger original pic
then...
go to bt
and start your post.... after you get some words down.... go to the bottom and click on ATTACH
browse to the folder where you saved the resized pic....
select it ...and press
DOWNLOAD
when you've downloaded all the pics you want , press
DONE
this should put you back into your post ....
press
POST
... you can always go back and edit your post
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 3/3/2009 8:16 pm ET by MikeSmith
View Image
that pic is "EMBEDDED"
if you RIGHT CLICK a photo, it will usually display a drop-down menu.... choose
COPY
then.... you can EMBED the pic
by a keyboard command...."ctrl -V".... control V
View ImageMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Really cute Kid. I love the sun glasses!
butch,,,,you're getting there.... try sizing it in irfanview... choose 640 x 480the file size can easily be 10x bigger than the one you usedhey... that's my grandson, Phalen... with his swimming gogglesMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
I will sharpen my skills and figure out how to get these pict. embedded and get back to you later.
Thanks for your help and keep the grandson close they grow up so fast!
embedding is far less important than resizing to somewhere between 75 and 250KB.I can't embed because I use firefox. You need to be using explorer to get ebd with Mike
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You can embed with Firefox. It just takes a simple HTML code. It may not seem simple at first, but if you can spell "Firefox" you can remember the code.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
OK, true, but old dogs and new tricks....I got other fish swimmng in my head
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I understand if you're not up for a challenge, at your age...<g>
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I will try this again!
I am using explorer!
That looks like you want to be carefull not to prevent the soffit ventsfrom working - how is this attic vented anyways?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
In this area of the attic there is a ridge vent.
I will watch the clearance, i have lots of room so it shouldn't be a factor.
cool..... you got it !
View Image
ok... now i forgot the question
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 3/4/2009 12:53 pm ET by MikeSmith
Thanks for being patient on the photo embed!
the Question!!!!!!!!
The vertical sides of the ceiling structure only have 2x4's so the fiberglass batt insulation is only 4 inch. Effectively I have an attic surface with only 4 inches of insulation. I want to increase the effective R factor.
Should i fir out the 2x4's so i can install additional fiberglass or as someone suggested put rigid board insulation across the 2x4's.
What do you suggest?
The picture suggests that you have room in front (toward the camera) for a second framed wall. You could knock that together with 2x4, non-structural, staple housewrap or mesh used for cellulose retention to the frame, tilt it up and attached it to the top of the existing wall for lateral support, and set back 8-12 inches. Then fill the cavity with cellulose, to the top of the other wall. All the R you need.
Principle #1- Fiberglass and cellulose insulation are both hindered if they're not encapsulated on all six sides. My #1 goal would be to install some type of barrier (not to be confused with a vapor barrier) that would "protect" the back side of the insulation.You can do this with several different materials, but my personal favorite would be Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) foam board. It seems you have plenty of room, so why not install 2-5" worth? If you can find a foam producer in your area, they can make the foam panels whatever size you want.Personally, I would install 2"x4'x8' panels and foam the joints so it's relatively air tight. This will increase the performance of the existing insulation, add ~R8 to your wall/ceiling section, and significantly reduce the air infiltration and exfiltration.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
i think i know what you want , but i'm not surecheck out this thread and see if it helpshttp://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=112323.91also... have you looked at the thread called "Mooney Wall " ?both of those threads are how i would treat wat i think is your situationMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Thanks Mike!
Since i have a relatively small area to Insulate can i loose pack with Cellulose to achive a good R value. I have pleanty of room i can actually make my barrier wall as far from the existing wall as practical and pour in from the top, then cap the top with 1/4" plywood to contain.
usually if you can buy cellulose, you can also rent a blower...
then you can put up some insulmesh and denspak your new thicker wall....
the results you would get from "pouring " the cells will be unsatisfactory at best
besides, think of all the fun you'd have... can you get someone to help with the hopper while you run the nozzle ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
yes I have a friend who can help me and I will pursue that route.
Thanks for your input (and patience)!
Hey Mike,
I think Butch followed your advice:
"next... resize the photo so it's about 1k - 2 k---3k...."View Image
Butch,
If you resize the pic to about 100k everyone will be happy. Anything smaller may leave out critical details.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
yeah, well another one who shouldn't listen to me100kb----200kb-----300kb.... damned decimal pointsMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
may not want to use rigid foam insulation. The BO may declare it a fire hazard. Codes vary somewhat on this issue.
Covering the walls in batt would be OK. You shouldn't have to fur out. the trick is to get it to stay in place ... which shouldn't be hard. Do you need to insulate the vaulted ceiling, too?