How Do You Insulate Your Attic

In particularly cold climates you might go up to r 60.

How do you insulate your attic.

Place planks 1 by 6 or 1 by 8 or plywood sheaths across floor joists to improve your mobility in the attic. Here is how to insulate an unfinished attic. But if you can t afford to shell out a few hundred bucks for this service. The attic is the easiest place to add insulation to improve your comfort and the energy efficiency of your home.

The pros charge 1 500 to 2 000 to do a 1 200 sq ft. Attic insulation is installed in the floor of the attic so you ll need to do a few things to make the process straightforward. Inspecting your attic insulation. While wearing dust mask and gloves carry r 38 batts of unfaced fiberglass insulation into the attic.

If your attic has enough insulation and proper air sealing and your home still feels drafty and cold in the winter or too warm in the summer chances are you need to add insulation to the exterior walls. Your attic should have a certain amount of insulation in it and the recommended level of insulation for your attic is dependent on where you live. Blown in insulation overview. How much does attic insulation cost.

Never step between joists as you may break through the ceiling below. Do i have enough. No matter what kind of insulation you currently have in your attic one quick way to determine if you need more is to look across the span of your attic. You can do it yourself for about 500.

The attic is one of the primary areas of potential heat loss in your home. This is more expensive and usually requires a contractor but it may be worth the cost especially if you live in a very cold climate. In this video this old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor explain how to insulate an attic. Your home s r value score will guide you toward the type of insulation you need.

Preparing an attic for insulation. In a perfect world you d hire an energy auditor to tell you exactly how much protection you re getting from the few inches of attic insulation you may already have and to pinpoint things like air leaks that you can seal to make sure your insulation will do its job well. Start by installing temporary lighting such as clip lights and laying a few sturdy boards along the joists to create a walkway. Lay the batts across the ceiling joists covering the existing insulation.

In general an attic s r value should be between r 30 and r 49.