Adding Extra Insulation To Attic Walls

Fiberglass is just that thin fibers of glass that trap air.

Adding extra insulation to attic walls.

The pros charge 1 500 to 2 000 to do a 1 200 sq ft. It needs to be unfaced. 3 have a friend add material to the hopper. The blue line in all the graphs below shows the heat flow through the wall and the red columns show either the stepwise or cumulative reduction in heat flow compared to what it was with an r 2 r 11 or r 16 wall.

Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door. Insulation should be rolled out perpendicular to the joists and unfaced rolls should be used. When adding additional insulation you do not have to use the same type of insulation that currently exists in your attic. Blowing in attic cellulose is conceivably a do it yourself job.

Turn off the power to the outlet. Choose fiberglass insulation batting. As you keep adding more and more insulation you keep reducing the heat flow through the wall more and more. Most attics are insulated with blown in loose cellulose r 3 5 per inch blown in loose fiberglass r 2 5 per inch or fiberglass batts r 3 2 per inch.

Batt or rolled insulation or blown loose fill insulation fiberglass or cellulose can be installed on top of old insulation. Any existing batt or roll insulation in the attic should have the facing against the attic drywall floor or no facing at all. There are various grades of insulating batting for different locations in the house so you ll need a different insulation for interior exterior attic or basement walls. The r value of the batt measures the thermal resistance so the higher the r value the more effectively.

Blown in insulation overview. Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic. Inspect the exterior walls by using an electrical outlet. You should be able to see if there is insulation in the wall.

Cellulose is recycled newsprint treated with a fire retardant. If you need to add insulation in your attic save big by blowing in cellulose insulation yourself. If you use fiberglass over loose fill make sure the fiberglass batt has no paper or foil backing. You can do it yourself for about 500.

Pull down stair or ladder. Remove the outlet cover and shine a flashlight into the crack around the outlet box. Blowing attic insulation isn t hard but it s dusty sweaty work. How much does attic insulation cost.

Attic hatch or door. Use a zippered insulated tent to keep the enclosure draft free attic tent at 7 attic cover insulator 120. Block all vents in the attic floor with baffles making sure to extend the baffles at least four inches above the planned thickness of your insulation. You can add loose fill on top of fiberglass batts or blankets and vice versa.