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We recently bought a 1.5 story bungalow with a finished attic. The whole house is pretty cold. The finished attic has three forced air heat vents, but doesn't stay very warm, especially the floors. There are two crawl spaces alongside the length of the room. When we had someone inspect the crawlspaces we found out the the exterior rafters (the sloped part!) seems to be insulated. The batts of insulation seem to extend from the eaves all the way up to the peak of the roof. When we looked up into the tiny attic that is now above our finished attic space, we found that it has a solar vent and no insulation along the bottom.
Here is what each of the insulations companies proposed:
Company A:
1. Pull up the floor boards in the crawl spaces and blow in insulation.
2. Blow insulation on the "floor" of the pitched part of the "new" little attic. That would essentially insulate the ceiling of our attic living space.
He did NOT recommend insulating the knee walls because the sloped rafters were already insulated.
Company B:
1. 1. Pull up the floor boards in the crawl spaces and blow in insulation.
2. Insulate the knee walls of the crawl spaces with batts.
He did NOT recommend insulating the ceiling of our attic living space because it would interfere with ventilation in the summer and the rafters of that small area are already insulated..
My main question is do we insulate the knee walls or not? Some diagrams I've looked at seem to show that it's proper to insulate the rafters OR the floor boards and kneewalls, but not all three.
I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly, but I'll shoot off my opinion.
First of all, your walk-up finished attic is going to be a little colder than the main floors simply because the warm air has to travel farther.
Second, I'm a BIG believer in doing things myself! It's MUCH cheaper, I learn a lot, and I know I've gotten it done right (you'd be surprised by how many service companies simply send in some loser who has no idea how to really do the job right). Do NOT be afraid to do your own insulating!
Third, you will never go wrong with correct insulation. Get in behind your knee-walls and measure to determine whether you have 16" or 24" studs. Go get kraft faced insulation and install it between the studs on the outside of your knee walls.
Fourth, determine the width of insulation you need above your attic ceiling. You do not need kraft faced insulation for this. Cut and install it yourself, making sure that you do not go through the drywall! Be sure you do not put insulation over your eave vents or roof vent.
Second, I'm a BIG believer in doing things myself! It's MUCH cheaper, I learn a lot, and I know I've gotten it done right (you'd be surprised by how many service companies simply send in some loser who has no idea how to really do the job right). Do NOT be afraid to do your own insulating!
Sadly Filet's experience is not unique, be very careful of them insulation companies. Loser is a good description of many I've run into.
I also do not completely understand your concern.
First you want a good under roof air flow system. Do you presently have the ability for air to pass under the roof boards and between the insulation in all areas?
Second, you want all the areas that can lose heat insulated. That definitely includes the kneewall areas if you have them. Depending on your house and how much volume is in the kneewall areas governs. Some houses use those areas for things like storage. Others, you just pump the sucker completely full or at least provide adequate amounts, being sure never to block off the underroof air flow. Isolate the living spaces from the cold in all cases.
Third, any attic volume that is not occupied wants max insulation to isolate it from the living spaces. That unoccupied volume is also typically vented. Many designs the under roof air flow dumps into this isolated attic volume. But there should be a continuous insulation barrier around the entire house shell.
If you have floors that are exposed to outside temps, again you want them to be adequately insulated. You want an insulation envelope around the entire living space.
Beware of them insulation boys. The type of jobs, the high school drop outs get. Lot of them just put in the day. Not the type of job I would want either but it does pay to get it done right. I'm with the Filet Mignon, the best insulation jobs are those you do yourself.
I am in a sort of similar situation, except under our living room is our uninsulated garage, not crawl space. The floor in the living room is freezing and drafty. I put up insulation faced with vapor barrier, I think it was R-30 or something (can't even remember right now) but it didn't help. I think the problem is just too many cracks and crevices for cold air to get in. I was thinking spray in may be the best way to solve this... the spray in stuff isn't cheap even if you DIY. I saw $1/sq ft, at 1"???? 1" being R-6. I would think I'd want at least 18". So I am looking at 600 bucks just to do the one 200 sq ft room!!!
The Energy Dept. uses the term- Envelope.
So, think of your finished space the same way. You want a "total" envelope of insulation. Think of it as a cube- you want insulation on all 6 sides.
And you'll want appropriate insulation in specific locations (barring space restrictions).
Generally, it would be something like this:
Floors: R19
Walls (vertical): R13 (for 2X4 wall)
Sloped walls/ceilings: if roofing is on the other side of framing- R19
if attic space is on the other side of framing- R30
Ceilings (flat): R38
I am in a sort of similar situation, except under our living room is our uninsulated garage, not crawl space. The floor in the living room is freezing and drafty. I put up insulation faced with vapor barrier, I think it was R-30 or something (can't even remember right now) but it didn't help. I think the problem is just too many cracks and crevices for cold air to get in. I was thinking spray in may be the best way to solve this... the spray in stuff isn't cheap even if you DIY. I saw $1/sq ft, at 1"???? 1" being R-6. I would think I'd want at least 18". So I am looking at 600 bucks just to do the one 200 sq ft room!!!
For those applications, you can not cover the surface and expect it too work all that well. Like living room over the unheated garage. Cover the joists with foam panels. Doesn't work. So much of the cold is leakage around sills, joist rim members, on and on. Lots of lil cracks and crannies for the cold to find its way into the joist bays.
Do a comprehensive analysis before hand and don't spare the insulation. Really best done during a major rehab, you rip open the walls and find all them crannies. That cold is a devil that wants to get in.
Pump the joist bays full of some type of insulation. Blown in cellulose, rock wool or some type of foam. Then it works pretty well. Hopefully the walls above are insulated. If not, lots of cold air can find its way over the floor via the baseboard areas. Happens in lots of old houses built without being insulated during constructions. Floors are freezing.
we have recently moved from a house to a bungalow, we thought we would be nice and warm and cosy but we find the bungalow much colder than our house. We have put lots of insulation in the loft, we have been told we have cavity wall insulation, but we always have our heating on, but visit our family and friends and they often say, no we haven't had any heating on all day. Help, what is the answer. Thank you
we have recently moved from a house to a bungalow, we thought we would be nice and warm and cosy but we find the bungalow much colder than our house. We have put lots of insulation in the loft, we have been told we have cavity wall insulation, but we always have our heating on, but visit our family and friends and they often say, no we haven't had any heating on all day. Help, what is the answer. Thank you
Age of house would help a lot as to your concerns. Construction codes and practices are more advanced today than 50-70yrs ago.
Older homes were notorious for air leakage- and I'm sure that's probably what your fighting. No amount of insulation will do any good if you can't stop the transfer of conditioned air to the outside and being replaced by the outside air.
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Yeah, be careful of the losers......
