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I need some opinions guys. We live in northern Minnesota where there is a rather severe winter to contend with as a general rule. We remodeled our house over the past few years afetr having lived here for 24 years. We gutted the inside, stripping the walls down to bare 2 x 4’s. After re-insulating with a Kraft faced R-13 fiberglass, we installed a layer of Foamular on the inside. We did not tape the joints. Over the Foamular we installed 5/8″ sheet rock.
We installed a layer of R-25 batts above the ceiling joists and used a Kraft faced R-19 between the joists. We omitted installing a poly vapor barrier intentionally as a matter of choice.
Recently we were told that by not installing a poly vapor barrier and using special sealed boxes for our light fixtures, etc. , that we are forcing moisture up into our attic and that our insulation is getting wet and becoming useless. All this was decided without even looking in our attic.
When we replaced our old insulation, we saw no evidence of any moisture accumulation in our insulation after 24 years of poorly insulated living. We elected to install soffit vents in every rafter space in order to insure adequate ventilation, and will soon be further increasing the ventilation up there by adding gable vents and roof vents after we replace our old roof ( this is elective — not due to any damage ). We plan to replace our siding with a styrofoam backed vinyl, and replace our roof with a metal roof (clay tile style). If we indeed have created a problem by electing not to use a vapor barrier, will increasing our venting in the attic compensate for this ?
This moisture thing alarms me — should we have installed a vapor barrier ?
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I need some opinions guys. We live in northern Minnesota where there is a rather severe winter to contend with as a general rule. We remodeled our house over the past few years afetr having lived here for 24 years. We gutted the inside, stripping the walls down to bare 2 x 4's. After re-insulating with a Kraft faced R-13 fiberglass, we installed a layer of Foamular on the inside. We did not tape the joints. Over the Foamular we installed 5/8" sheet rock.
We installed a layer of R-25 batts above the ceiling joists and used a Kraft faced R-19 between the joists. We omitted installing a poly vapor barrier intentionally as a matter of choice.
Recently we were told that by not installing a poly vapor barrier and using special sealed boxes for our light fixtures, etc. , that we are forcing moisture up into our attic and that our insulation is getting wet and becoming useless. All this was decided without even looking in our attic.
When we replaced our old insulation, we saw no evidence of any moisture accumulation in our insulation after 24 years of poorly insulated living. We elected to install soffit vents in every rafter space in order to insure adequate ventilation, and will soon be further increasing the ventilation up there by adding gable vents and roof vents after we replace our old roof ( this is elective --- not due to any damage ). We plan to replace our siding with a styrofoam backed vinyl, and replace our roof with a metal roof (clay tile style). If we indeed have created a problem by electing not to use a vapor barrier, will increasing our venting in the attic compensate for this ?
This moisture thing alarms me --- should we have installed a vapor barrier ?