Floor Attic Insulation

Bringing the floor up to code.

Floor attic insulation. 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. No matter how old your home is it s a good idea to see if there are ways to improve its insulation. But before even they can start on a job that involves altering your home s structure they ll. Stop using your attic for storage.

When you are in the attic you re usually stepping carefully on top of the floor joists looking down at the back side of the drywall. First you ll need to measure the area you want to floor so you can calculate how much wood you ll require. Most homes are insulated in the attic and any floors located above unfinished basements or crawl spaces. The most effective places to add insulation to older homes are exterior walls attics basements and crawl spaces.

The higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. R value is a measure of insulation s ability to resist heat traveling through it. These r values are a sum meaning this should be the total r value once you add up the entire depth of insulation. To floor an attic you ll need to install a sub floor for support before laying your plywood floor.

Also insulate 4a any portion of the floor in a room that is cantilevered beyond the exterior wall below. However if you keep the storage weight to a minimum you may be able to build a storage platform above the insulation by attaching supporting beams to the sides of the trusses. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. 4b slab floors built directly on the ground.

You ll have to construct a wooden frame or sub floor with boards 16 inches apart to provide extra support for the floor. Start with the attic floor. Even easier you can also use a prefabricated attic floor kit designed specifically to raise the attic floor above the insulation. Although it s common to talk about installing insulation on the attic floor most attics don t really have a floor.

Attic flooring consists of materials as basic as sheets of plywood as well as more elaborate interlocking floor systems. 4c as an alternative to floor insulation foundation walls of unvented crawl spaces. They have floor joists or the bottom chords of roof trusses with drywall below. Floors above cold spaces such as vented crawl spaces and unheated garages.

Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new. The table below shows what levels of insulation are cost effective for different climates and locations in the home. Modifying an attic floor s joist system is a job for the pros. Attic insulation between roof trusses.

Insulation level are specified by r value.