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.
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.