Putting Insulation In Old Walls

Walls both exterior and interior are the next area to insulate in a home.

Putting insulation in old walls.

I really don t want to tear all that out and open the walls. Most communities have building codes that require a minimum amount of insulation in a house s exterior walls and ceiling. Adding 2 inch thick insofast panels will bring your walls to r 13 30 percent more than the iecc minimum. Your walls in their present state have an r rating of about 3.

Insulation in house exterior walls is one of the primary defenses against heat and energy loss. The grade of batting will vary depending on the wall that you re insulating. Rigid boards work best on exterior walls along with a vapor barrier. The answer in many cases is yes.

There is zero insulation in the walls. Can you simply add new insulation on top. Choose fiberglass insulation batting. The walls have the original lath and plaster with 1 2 drywall over that.

The third area that needs proper insulation is the floors. Insulating interior walls isn. Unfortunately however builders didn t insulate the walls of most homes built before the 1980s. The r value of the batt measures the thermal resistance so the higher the r value the more effectively.

There are various grades of insulating batting for different locations in the house so you ll need a different insulation for interior exterior attic or basement walls. The advantages of insulating interior walls. I m doing a small remodel on a 100 year old home to use as rental property. Before switching to spray foam insulation tom used to use polyisocyanurate panels that way he would build a 2x4 wall insulate between the studs with batting paper face removed then cover the whole thing with foil faced panels and seal them with foil tape before putting up wall board.

When considering new insulation installation or home retrofit insulation many dc area homeowners wonder if it s necessary to remove the old insulation first. So if your house was built before insulating walls became standard you can potentially save a great deal of energy by insulating. Fiberglass batts foam or cellulose can be used to insulate the interior walls. According to the international energy conservation code iecc for your area mass walls ones made of thick block brick stone or adobe should be at least r 10.

I m not a big fan of blowing in insulation from the outside.