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Attic insulation newbie

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  • Feb 12th, 2007 10:01 pm
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Jr. Member
Nov 17, 2003
138 posts

Attic insulation newbie

OK so I have a 70+ old home with a ceiling that I am planning on throwing some insulation down on. The house is in a climate that has hot/humid summers and very very cold winters.I have never done this and need a spot to bounce very basic questions off people who have done this before. There is currently R5 up there but I am lookig to boost this significantly.

I looked at the insulation that is up there right now. It is very very dirty/dusty. It is fibreglass insulation, not loose-fill. When I took some up, I didn't see any plastic underneath it. It is just laid on top of the ceiling. It didn't look like it was faced with a VB either. I am assuming this means that there is no VB and I will have to put a VB down. Does this mean I have to pull up all the insulation that is there right now and trash it? If I do have to do this, do I have to clean up all the dust and dirt before installing the VB?

If my joists are 2x6's, will they be safe to walk on? I'd prefer not to use a loose-fill and a blower but I also don't want cracks in my ceiling.

Next is roof baffles. Do I have to put baffles where roof rafters/ceiling joists meet, even if there is no soffit vents? I didn't walk over to look as I dont want to walk on the joists just yet. How hard/expensive is it to put roof baffles on?

I am sure I will have more questions to come as I plan out this venture.
2 replies
Deal Fanatic
Feb 1, 2006
9645 posts
911 upvotes
Muskoka
On a house that old, there definitely won't be a vapour barrier, they weren't used at all back then. Your walls won't have it either. Most old houses are so full of air leaks that it doesn't matter anyways, from a structural/health perspective. Unless you have ice damming problems, of course.

Why are you not wanting loose fill? Blown-in insulation is probably your cheapest, most effective option, at this point. A better option would be to take out all of the old insulation, and then have the whole attic sprayed with Icynene (Google it, it's great stuff), which will super insulate it, and also air seal it (good if you have ice/water problems up there, or don't want any in future). I've actually one this before at one of my old houses, it was a pain taking all the crappy old insulation out (especially as it was a heat wave at the time!), and Icynene is expensive, but it made a huge difference in energy costs, sound proofing, and in preventing warm air from getting into the attic.
Deal Addict
Dec 1, 2003
1291 posts
10 upvotes
whatever you do make sure its doesn't contain asbestos, if you rnot sure have it tested

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