How Insulate Attic Bedroom

Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.

How insulate attic bedroom.

Insulating a finished attic there are two basic ways to insulate a finished attic. 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. Given the size and complexity of the room we decided to split this insulating project into three phases. You can t just insulate the entire rafter bay because you ll trap moisture against the underside of the roof sheathing and cause it rot out.

But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates. You ll want to buy enough batting to lay at least 10 to 14 inches over the entire space. It s available in fiberglass mineral wool plastic fibers and natural fibers. Blanket insulation is available as batts or rolls and is the easiest diy insulation material.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. That becomes the thermal barrier. This type of insulation. Most codes require a specified minimum amount of headroom and it s tough to meet this requirement when insulating a finished attic especially since most codes require insulation equal to r 38 or more.

Now to do that you have to be very careful to make sure you maintain some ventilation space. See below for a shopping list and tools. And the answer to that is if that attic is going to be a heated finished space then the insulation moves from the ceiling of the second floor up to the underside of the roof rafters. To insulate an attic get some batting made out of mineral wool fiberglass or recycled foam.

To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes. Additionally purchase some loose fill insulation to insulate corners and angles where the batting won t fit. Insulate across the top of flat attic. Insulate the vertical external wall and the lower section of the pitched roof as far as the beam below the window see photo.

Insulate the horizontal section of ceiling. This old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor demonstrate the proper way to insulate an attic.