A properly insulated foundation can result in lower heating costs and more comfortable below-grade rooms, if you have any. It can also help prevent moisture problems, insect infestation, and radon infiltration in your home. In the United States, the most common types of foundations include the following: * Basements * Crawl spaces * Slab-on-grade floors. [...]
Posts from ‘April, 2009’
Insulating Floors over Unheated Garages
Insulating any floors above your unheated garage will help reduce the energy costs for the above conditioned space. Before insulating or deciding whether to add insulation to these floors, first see our information about adding insulation to an existing house or selecting insulation for new home construction if you haven’t already. Insulation Techniques When insulating [...]
Choosing Wall Insulation for New Home Construction
Unlike traditional stick-frame houses, houses constructed using structural insulated panels, insulating concrete forms, and concrete block insulation literally have the insulation built into their walls. Therefore, these houses usually have superior insulating qualities and levels. If you’d prefer to build a stick-frame house, you should consider using advanced wall framing techniques. These techniques improve the [...]
Cathedral Ceiling Insulation
Properly insulating your cathedral ceilings will help reduce heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. Insulated ceilings allow ceiling temperatures to remain closer to room temperatures, providing an even temperature distribution throughout the house. Before insulating or deciding whether to add insulation to your cathedral ceilings, first see our information about [...]
Duct Insulation
Properly insulating air ducts located in unconditioned spaces such as attics, crawl spaces, garages, or unfinished basements can help improve your home’s energy efficiency. Air ducts supply conditioned air from your space heating and cooling equipment to your living spaces. They also return an equal volume of air back to the equipment to be conditioned [...]
Attic Knee-Wall Door
A knee-wall is typically a partial height wall that is usually found in the upstairs level of finished-attic homes. These walls are notoriously leaky and often uninsulated. Knee-wall doors need to be weatherstripped. They also need a latch that pulls tightly against the weatherstripping and the frame to achieve a solid seal. Use construction adhesive [...]
Attic Pull-Down Stairs
When attic access is gained through pull-down stairs, the frame for the stairs fits in a rough opening and leaves a gap, much like a door or window, which must be sealed. If the gap is small (less than 1/2 inch), caulk can be used as the sealant. If a larger opening exists, then a [...]
Attic Hatch
An attic hatch or scuttle hole is simply a removable portion of the ceiling that allows entry to the attic. A scuttle hole is often located in a closet or main hallway. For air sealing, weatherstripping can be installed either on the hatch itself or on the inside of the trim or base where the [...]
Attic Access Insulation and Air Sealing
Adequately insulating and air sealing the access to an attic— especially to unconditioned attics—will help lower your heating and cooling bills. A home’s attic access, which could be an attic hatch, pull-down stairs, or a knee-wall door, often goes uninsulated. This gap in the attic insulation increases heat loss in the winter and heat gain [...]
Attic Insulation
Properly insulating and air sealing your attic will help reduce your energy bills. Attics are often one of the easiest places in a house to insulate, especially if you’d like to add insulation. Before insulating or deciding whether to add insulation to your attic, first see our information about adding insulation to an existing house [...]