Hitting a Wall

We've hit a wall! While many people spent their Fourth of July weekend/week manning a grill, working on their tan, and enjoying time with family and friends, we spent our week working.  Never will be too soon to see rolls of fiberglass insulation and foam board, in fact I would probably go into convulsions just seeing cotton candy which I have sworn off for life after rolling it's close cousin into my 83 year old balloon framing.  Here's a crash course on what we did and why:

Notice the white color between the wall studs.  We lined each stud cavity with a polystyrene product that acts as an insulation and seals the walls to prevent air infiltration.  To really seal it up we used spray foam which I highly recommend following the directions for and using tight fitting gloves because my fingers were black in areas where it made contact with my skin!  We put the foam in first, then spray foamed around the perimeter of each piece and also around any areas air could get in or out of the house such as plumbing pipes and electrical boxes.  The white pieces in the ceiling that look like inverted egg crates are called baffles.  The baffle creates a small tunnel like cavity to allow air to flow between the soffit and the roof vent. Unlike the walls you want to allow air flow in your ceiling to prevent ice damming which creates unwanted moisture and icicles of mammoth proportions!

After we had foamed and sealed everything it was time to roll the fiberglass insulation.  While the fiberglass rolls would have been sufficient in the walls we went the extra mile with the foam to get a higher R value which means we are limiting the airflow in and out of the house so you get less heat loss and gain which is a huge energy savings!  You could not skip to this step in the ceiling though because without baffles the fiberglass would clog the soffits and create moisture problems of epic proportions!  There was nothing baffling with our choice on that one:)

The blue walls you see is 1/2 inch polyisocyanurate which has a reflective foil that is installed facing the exterior.  This serves to reflect the suns radiant heat so the heat from the sun stays outside and the temperature of the house is controlled by your thermostat not the exterior climate conditions.  Having a professional spray foam this area will yield only slightly better results for approximately 3x the cost.

Rolled insulation is exactly what it sounds like.  It comes in large hay bale like rolls and can come faced or unfaced.  The facing is like a craft paper covering on one side which is pictured.  This unfortunately did not cut down on the itch factor and even wearing a mask, long sleeves, jeans, and leather gloves in 85 degree heat did not stop the small fiberglass fibers from bestowing on us what can only be compared to full blown allergy season.  Itchy eyes, cotton mouth, and prickling skin were the unwelcome side effects of working with this innocent looking pink fluff!

After a week of sweating and swearing we passed our insulation inspection and waited for drywall to begin.  We waited, waited, and waited.  After yet another ugly go-around with our builder we are finally moving forward and the walls and ceiling are going in!  Meanwhile... since patience in not one of my virtues and construction had hit a wall, I hit back!

Before:1930's Coal Room

After: Goodbye coal room, hello office space!