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As of two weeks ago, I became a Long Island home owner. I have a extended, partially dormered cape code home. It's a fixer upper and I've talked to 6 to 7 contractors to get estimates and etc. Before we start renovation, i just noticed our second floor, which is the former attic of the house and now has 1 bathroom 2 bedrooms is very hot. The house is all carpet, so I wonder if the heat is just trapped there.
I spoke to my contractor, he said the insulation on the second floor might not be working that well. However, he also mentioned that due to the structure of the house and the proximity of the bedroom walls to the roof, the temperature might not make a whole lot of difference even if new insulation is put in.
I want to see if anyone has a cape cod too and how did you go about insulating your second floor and resolve the temperature problem.
You need a separate a/c unite dedicated to the second floor to keep it cool. My former home with good insulation was fine with in the heating season because heat rises.
Perhaps spray foam insulation might help some with the heat but, any way you slice it if the roof is in direct sunlight you are not going to keep that area cool with insulation. You could try cutting in a ridge vent in conjunction with vented soffits but, it will require you to remove old insulation and install baffles under new insulation.
Glacia is spot on....Cape Cods are built on being great in the heating season. Heat rises and you dont need much upstairs. I even seen some with no heating in the 2nd fl. They suck in the summer. With the roof right above you and min. space for insulation they are a homeowner headache. Def. look into putting in a ductless split system for the 2nd floor.
Thank you all for your advice. I asked the same thing. Personally, I dont care about it being too hot because I am just afraid of being cold all the time. I think we might just leave it as is and go through one winter and see how it goes. The next time we fix our roof, we'll probably put in the insulation then.
Since we wont move in until fall, we'll install the split AC system next spring or something when our money is not as tight. =]
With a cape, you will always roast in the summer. Our old house was a cape and the bedrooms upstairs were like a furnace in the summer ; but we would put one ac unit in one of the rooms and leave the doors open ; that way the whole upstairs cooled off.
In the winter, it was very cosy upstairs and never cold.
A light color may reduce the temp a bit but not that much.
Is the insulation barrier in the rafters, floors, both or none?
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