How Do You Insulate Your Attic

If your insulation is just level with or below your floor.

How do you insulate your attic.

Your home s r value score will guide you toward the type of insulation you need. Preparing an attic for insulation. In particularly cold climates you might go up to r 60. If you need to add insulation in your attic save big by blowing in cellulose insulation yourself.

Lay the batts across the ceiling joists covering the existing insulation. But if you can t afford to shell out a few hundred bucks for this service. While wearing dust mask and gloves carry r 38 batts of unfaced fiberglass insulation into the attic. In general an attic s r value should be between r 30 and r 49.

How much does attic insulation cost. Attic insulation is installed in the floor of the attic so you ll need to do a few things to make the process straightforward. Never step between joists as you may break through the ceiling below. The attic is one of the primary areas of potential heat loss in your home.

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. 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. First things first you need to go up into your attic inspect the condition of the insulation and calculate the current level of insulation. You can do it yourself for about 500.

In this video this old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor explain how to insulate an attic. Here is how to insulate an unfinished attic. Start by installing temporary lighting such as clip lights and laying a few sturdy boards along the joists to create a walkway. Inspecting your attic insulation.

Place planks 1 by 6 or 1 by 8 or plywood sheaths across floor joists to improve your mobility in the attic. 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. 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. 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.

Blown in insulation overview.