My semi-new house has a roofline and attic that covers both the garage and a small portion of the house. This area is largely uninsulated. I could insulate the whole thing, but is there a better way to divide the temperature controlled house from the garage and only insulate that area? There is no divider in the attic between the garage and the house, so it all gets cold and hot.
I was thinking of sistering the joist and creating a small wall in the attic space that could then be insulated and then insulate the attic floor, etc.
Ideas? Thanks for reading.
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Sure, you can build a wall up there, but it is astight and unconfortable a place to work as I imagine, this is a good place for some of that doublebubble foil wrap insulation that is sold under various names ands exaggeratted claims. it is easy to ut to shape and staple into place right up there
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then add the insulation behind it??
In new construction a firewall would be required between the two areas, at least in most jurisdictions.
Maybe someone missed this during construction? I agree ... firewall issue here. Maybe the ceiling is a fire rated ceiling providing the separation.
Thanks for the advice, so I should put up a full wall in the attic? There is enough room to stand up, so it would not be that painful. What would serve as a fire separator? Studs, insulation, wallboard both sides?
Thanks again.
Two layers of drywall.
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Not necessarily ... check w/ the BO. May depend on the jurisdiction. Some 5/8 type X. Some 1/2 type X. 2 layers only if it is NOT type X, I think. The garage ceiling is more likely his fire barrier, I think. Only his BO will know for sure, though.
Great. Thanks and sorry for the stupid question.
I'm with DanH - It needs a fire separation of some sort.
"I was thinking of sistering the joist and creating a small wall in the attic space that could then be insulated and then insulate the attic floor, etc."
Why do you need a wall seperating the parts of the attic to put insualtion on the floor?
If you are going to use blown in insulation tht will be higher than the joists then you might need to build a small barrier. Just some strips of plywood maybe 12, 18" wide.
And I can't image a "semi-new" house that does not have insulation on the attic floor unlesss this is "conditioned space". And if it is while you might want to divide off the space you don't want to put insulation on the attic floor.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks for the post.
The house was built in 1986, but is new to me. I should have clarified that. I could insulate the entire garage, but was thinking it made more sense to separate the conditioned part of the house from the unconditioned garage. Once the separation was made, I could heavily insulate the conditioned section. Am I off base?
Is there no ceiling in the garage? Definately insulate only what you need to ... later if you heat the garage ... you can add to it.
I'm confused.
Is the garage attic and the house attic all one big attic?
(so either the garage is reall tall or you are in a rancher?)
If you have flat ceilings in the house, where is the thermal barrier between the house and the attic?
The floor of the attic should be insulated if built in the 80's!!!
If the roof of the attic is insulated, then i recon you dont have soffit and ridge vents?!?!
If there is no insulation, then I would think you would want to insulate the attic floor!
Are there trusses or rafters? (I assume rafters since you spoke about ceiling joist)
Before insulating, if there is none, get some foam and fire caulk and whatever the jurisdication allows under their code, and seal up any holes from the ceiling into the attic (wire holes, along the top plate/ drywall line, around ceiling boxes, especially where chases come up thru (i have seen 2'x2' holes in top of a chase that funnels tons of conditioned air right out of the house)
This will save a lot of energy costs. Then I would blow insulation in the attic floor space. Depending on jurisdiction and codes, you might want anywhere from R-19 to R-42+ as a minimum.
Regarding fire blocking walls, again depending upon code, you might be alright.
If the garage has a drywall ceiling you have some separation. Every area has something different. (PA currently allows 1 layer of 1/2" drywall so it is pretty minimal but every area is different and each area changes their code pretty regularly too)
Let me know if I am not thinking this thru correctly and good luck
The garage and part of the house share one big attic. There is no divider in the attic space between the garage and the house, which to me is a huge waste of energy. There is soffit and a ridge vent, but I want to place a separator in the attic and get the house section of it insulated.
Thanks for the help.
You don't need to separate the attic spaces to lay/blow more insul on the attic floor above the living spaces. Just lay/blow a few feet past the living space.
What's the motivation to separate the attic space?
I guess I dont understand where the energy is being wasted.
If the whole attic is unconditioned space (soffit and ridge vent, etc) then it is all outside the thermal envelope and it doesnt matter if the two attics are connected or separated.
Just insulate the ceiling of the house and seal the ceiling of the house from the attic thoroughly and you have a good energy envelope