Follow-up on reinsulating attic floor
Back in 2010 I wrote in and received some good guidance from ” Riversong. ” We were considering reinsulating the attic floor. As a follow-up i thought that I would report the results. We had an insulation company remove the fiberglass from the attic floor and fill the cavities with Demilec Agribalance open-cell foam. In the main area of the floor the 2″ X 6′ cavities are filled and then covered with 7/16 osb. The ” outer ” areas without flooring have up to 9 or 10 inches of foam. They installed baffles to protect the soffit openings. In places the fiberglass extended too far into the eves and in other places not far enough. They rate the foam at R-4.45 per inch, but there is also the advantage of air sealing. The utility bills have been reasonable, but with fluctuating prices, it’s a little hard to tell just how much of a savings we are realizing. Of course, it did cost around $6000 — $1,900 of which I could have saved be removing the flooring and fiberglass myself. I figured that their experienced and well-equipped crew of five guys would be worth the extra co$t. Previously, we had significant icicles all along the eves and now there are none. I would guess this is a function of both the air sealing and insulation. There seems to be an another advantage. We use the attic for a modest amount of storage. With the fiberglass, it seemed that things were always dusty. I keep a shop vac up there for occasional cleanup. Now it seems that things remain much cleaner and relatively dust free. Anyways, thanks for the guidance. I would be happy to respond to any readers with questions about spray foam based on our experience.
More recently, we had a Futureroof-slate-look steel roof installed in 2012. I did a lot of research on metal roofing and may be able to answer some questions from a homeowners perspective.
Thanks again!
Russell
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