Greeting all,
Any thoughts about Insulating and winterizing a Stone Cabin.
The walls are about a foot thick of field stone with a Knotty pine trong and groove wall directly on the interior of the stone.
The Ceilings are all cathedral and made of 2×6 the floor are 2×8 all on 16″ centers. None of it is insulated.
Right now it is just seasonal use. I would like to insulate for year round warmth.
Do you think that the ceiling and the floors might be enough.
what type of insulation techniques can you recommend.
Thanks in advance.
-PSMASTER
Edited 12/1/2004 1:26 pm ET by psmaster
Replies
Sounds like a very cool structure. I just love stone buildings.
The 'low hanging fruit' is always the roof. Start by putting a good lid on it.
If you want to keep the cathedral (and you have open rafters, I would propably cover the rafters with rigid foam panels, and blow dense pack cellulose behind it. Finished ceiling of your choice over that.
Unchanges, the walls are going to constantly work against you with all of that thermal mass, like a radiator in reverse. Cold objects 'suck' heat directly from warm bodies in the same way that a warm radiator gives heat. Folks do find this concept hard to grasp...
A warm radiant floor would give you the best fighting chance for comfort against the cold (radiant) walls, though this is obviously not the most energy efficient battle to wage. A radiant floor is generally a good choice for spaces with high ceilings anyways, since you do not waste energy overheating the air up where there are no people.
One thing you could consider is moving the nice(?) T&G on the walls to the ceiling, or removing it from the walls and reinstalling it over insulation.
Welcome to BT, first off.
The best bet, like as not, will to be to insulate over the existing roof structure, and on the inside of the existing walls.
Why that way? Labor & effort, mostly. It would be a real pain to strip the ceilings bare and insulate "up" into the resulting spaces. Whereas, stripping the roof off would let you add either insulation or insulation and ventilation (depending upon need/AHJ/preference).
The stone walls are just that--mostly as is, and wanting to stay inviolate. That means the best way is to get the inside finish off to expose the wall structure that exists. You may wind up treating the existing walls like a basement wall--with a furred-out wall that can be insulated.
Is this over a crawlspace, basement, or what? Radiant floor heat may be just the ticket. What are the existing utilites (NG/propane; furnace/stove; how is the water heated. etc.)?
Thanks for your input.I would like to point out that the interior is plain rafters with no ceiling treatments also the floor to this cabin is over a crawlspace again with open construction no insulation or covering.I do Plan to do a retrofit radiant floor Heating system.On problem is that the whole cabin is 600 square feet.to take any floor space any ie. studding out the walls, would be a shame in a small space.-Psmaster
studding out the walls, would be a shame in a small space
True enough, but those will be some cold walls without some insulation. Set a 1 1/2" partition wall 1/2" off the existing, that gives room for 1 1/2" of insulation.
Hmm, now that I think about it, I wonder if going after drafts & infiltration might be a better approach. The open rafter bays are already collecting the warm air, so there's some "r" value in the collected air mas there. There's some thermal mass to the heavy stone walls, too. All of which is to not much use if the windows & doors leak air.
I'm thinking of a bit more than modern windows and low-expansion foam, too. On the northern side of the house, a porch with storm glazing creates an "ari lock" of sorts. That could help some all around, adding "living" space as well as keeping some of the drafts out. Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)