This old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor demonstrate the proper way to insulate an attic.
Best way to insulate attic in texas.
Keep in mind that you still want to have air venting under the roof especially with asphalt shingle roofs whose life can be shortened by excessive heat.
This type of insulation.
Which type of insulation is best for.
Insulating a finished attic there are two basic ways to insulate a finished attic.
The most common type of insulation batts and blankets are great for diy projects.
If only the living space will be insulated wrap the insulation around the room s walls and ceiling and then continue along the floor of the non living space.
You can use products like radiant barrier on the underside of the roof spray foam or even good old fashioned batts of rock wool denim or fiberglass.
See below for a shopping list and tools.
I d blow insulation on the attic floor after air sealing of course.
What type of insulation is best for your attic.
If you don t have hvac and ducts in the attic spray foam on the roofline isn t really necessary.
The higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation.
Achieving greater r values in exterior walls in exterior walls add insulating sheathing to achieve a greater r value in your wall system.
Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.
The big disadvantage with spray foam is cost.
Moving the attic insulation and air barrier to the underside of the roof deck allows the attic to be part of the insulated spaces.
Further attic insulation can be done with attic tents which insulate the attic drop down stairs and slice your energy bill by about 145 annually.
Focus a lot of energy pun intended on the underside of the roof to keep the heat out of the attic and not just the floor of the attic.
Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.
It s available in fiberglass mineral wool plastic fibers and natural fibers.
The two types of attic insulation available for diy are loose fill insulation and batts insulation.
Blanket insulation is available as batts or rolls and is the easiest diy insulation material.
You can achieve better thermal performance in your attic by adding an additional layer of insulation.
It s generally 3 to 4 times what you ll pay for blown cellulose or fiberglass.