It all started with a little sheetrock in the attic area - last spring we tore out the wood panelling (painted red) and said that soon enough, we'd re-finish the attic and maybe put the bedroom up there.

I've always known that the attic bedroom is the coldest & hotest room of the house, depending on the season, so I didn't really figure that we'd want our master bedroom up there.  But it didn't fully register with me that, to that extent we were losing energy through the attic.  So, as Sarah and I were planning out how to re-finish the attic, I decided that NOW was the best time to consider a solution for why the attic is losing energy.

 I scheduled a home energy audit with Minnegasco for $100.  When they came out a couple weeks later, I was excited to see what needs to be done for the best temperature control & energy savings.  First they tested the furnace for safety and efficency.  Basically my furnace is 20 years old, along with my water heater.  My furnace operates at 67% efficency, which is average for older furnaces.  A new furnace would be approximately 85% efficient.  

Next, the auditor began the blower test.  He placed a large fan blower in my side entry door, along with the wrap that seals off the doorway.  Once he turned on the blower, he adjusted the speed & velocity of airflow - in short, a couple minutes later all my coniditioned air was sucked out of the house & in return, cold air from outside was being drawn in through the small cracks & drafty spots in my house.  At this point, the auditor began taking photos of the cold spots in the house with a thermal camera.  The pictures are online here.  In the photos, the cold spots are 'black' and warm spots are 'white' - anything in between is gray.  He was able to point out areas that need to be sealed with foam or caulk.   I also shared all my project plans with the auditor & he gave me good tips on what materials to use & how to best do the job.

 On his recommendation, I went out and purchased 2-part insulating foam from a local insulation supply warehouse in Hopkins.  I also talked with those folks for a long time - they deal primarily with contractors, so they've got professional products.  The foam I purchased will cover 600 board feet (meaning 600ft of stud cavity at 1 inch).  I'll be using it to seal any and all air leaks in the attic.  

So after doing all this research, and tests on my house, here is the plan...   Remove the old - reuse the fibe-glass batting in other areas of the home (such as rim joists in basement).  Completely remove the vermiculte loose fill because it's Insulating value is R-2.3 per inch - I can easily double that! Plus, it will be peace of mind after I remove it.  I'll use 2" stryrofoam boards (R-5 per inch) overlapped to equal R-20 in the attic floorboards, then foam all seams and gaps in the foam board.  Continue with Dense Cellulose fill until I get a total value of R-40 (or more).  Currently I figure I've got R-15/17 in the floor boards

For the kneewall, a similar solution - one sheet of 2" styrofoam board, then foam seal the seams to ensure air tightness.  Then horizontally place R-15 batts over the 2x4 studs & use a foil faced sheet to hold this in place.  This should give me a total of R-32 where I currently have R-9.

The slant wall is a difficult area because only 3 1/2 inches separate the living space from the cold roof.  Plus, I want to make sure the underside of the roof is properly ventalated (right not it isn't).  So I'm going to use the same R-15 batts paired up with a 12 inch air schute.  It's also tricky because I've got to feed this up through the rafters, since I"m not removing the slant wall or ceiling from the room.  That leaves a big mystery as to what is above the ceiling.  I figure that once I've got the air chutes in place, I can put any remaining cellulose fill above the ceiling.

The end walls are fairly straight forward.  Since they are exterior walls i'm going to use the R-15 batts again which is the best Resistance value per inch (and cost).  However before I do this, I'm going to spray a thin later over the exterior wall to give some air seal and keep cold air from passing through my insulation.  And most imporantly, I'm also going to foam seal the rim above the wall which goes directly to the underside of the roof.  Until I do that heat will rise right up to the roof & escape outside.

Did I mention the built in storage cabinets in my attic?  Those things bleed air - so I"m going to tack up some foam sheets & go crazy with the spray foam.  They are kinda nice to have, but if it were up to me, I wouldn't put them in new.  

And still there is more to do.  While I'm vaccuming out the vermiculite, I'll also clear out the soffit vents, which are jammed with fiberglass.  And when everything else is put in place, I'll staple up some cardboard air chutes and foam seal them in place.   The nice thing about cardboard chutes here is I can bend them to cover the top side exterior wall below, then leave about an inch for air to flow into the cold crawl space.  

Then I suppose after all this, I'll have to make my wife happy and do some old fashioned sheetrocking.  I'm putting 3/8" sheetrock over the exisint 1/2" sheetrock.  When we tore off the waynes coating (wood panels) we exposed this sheetrock, which was unpainted, suggesting they directly installed the wood panels.  Well, the sheetrock underneath was torn up & it'll be easier to put a new layer of sheetrock in place.  I'll have to read up on mudding & taping.  Then while I'm getting the walls ready, my lovely wife will be picking out the most fashionable color to have me paint onto the walls.

 Geez, I forgot to mention that I'd be nice to put cellulose in all my exterior walls in the main level...  Anyone want to help out?

PHOTOS: 

(Knee Wall with 2" foam boards & foam spray to seal all cracks) 

( I had more than enough foam spray - so instead of just sealing the gaps in end walls - I completely filled them & shaved them off to level) 

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Chad Pruden - revised plans for insulating j   | Super Administrator | 2008-02-16 00:42:42 I've decided against removing the vermiculite from beneath the attic floor boards - it's best to leave the vermiculite & not disturb it - so I'll distribute a thick layer of cellulose fill over it, to blanket in any asbestos fibers. From a cost and effort perspective, this makes more sense - although it would provide a peace of mind to see all the asbestos removed - the act of removing it would be a health concern. I've had the house tested & it's well within the safe levels (regarding asbestos). The easist, safest, and most cost effective solution is to blanket the floorboards & create an air tight barrier between the living spaces & attic.

Jamie     | 207.38.190.xxx | 2008-02-27 14:05:00 Hi Chad, I came across your attic project while searching Google and find it very informative and helpful. I have a house with an attic that has the wood paneling over all the walls and my wife has been wanting us to sheetrock it and paint it some womanly colors. Is this pretty expensive to have someone do it? I sort of want to try it ourselves and see if we can learn to do it, even though I've never tackled a project like this. Any input would be appreciated! Good luck finishing up the project. Jamie

Chad Pruden     | Super Administrator | 2008-03-01 11:36:42 Jamie, thanks for the message. Sounds like a good do-it-yourself project. I sent an email that should help a bit. My project is slowly going along; other things in life took priority, plus I want to wait until it warms up a bit to finish the rest. I really should have started the project outside of the heating season.

Jamie - Thanks for the advice.     | 24.39.207.xxx | 2008-03-01 12:04:16 Hey Chad, Thanks a lot for the email. I can't wait to remove some wood paneling and see what lies behind it so we can take the next step. Really helpful stuff. Yes, I am a comic so it might be some good fodder for material. I am afraid though if I do something major like lose an arm or something, I'll have to rewrite the whole act. Thanks again, Jamie

Chad Pruden     | Super Administrator | 2008-03-01 12:14:19 Let me know if you ever visit MN for comedy. My favorite comedy club in Minneapolis is Acme. http://www.acmecomedycompany.com

Jamie Lissow     | 24.39.207.xxx | 2008-03-01 16:33:28 Acme is one of my favorite clubs too. I haven't been there in over a year, I will let you know when I have a date on the books.

Donna - Mrs.   | 66.141.6.xxx | 2008-03-24 17:35:43 careful with that asbestos. Nice article btw, the texas mesothelioma lawyers that helped my family when my father was diagnosed were of great comfort.

Chad Pruden     | Super Administrator | 2008-03-31 10:27:02 Yesterday, I was able to get more work done - With the help of August - I installed Styrofoam boards around the in-wall cabinets. One of the cabinets was split apart, so I could see daylight from the other side - I closed that up and nailed it back into place. Otherwise, most of the Styrofoam boards are in place - so coming up soon, I'll get the industrial spray foam going. Probably when the outdoor temps reach 50-60 degrees.

Chad Pruden - update 6/2   | Super Administrator | 2008-06-02 09:44:04 We're completely done insulating behind the walls. And just finished putting up the sheetrock. Now just some mudding & paint. Also, I need to re-create the attic entrance doors & I'm going to hinge & latch the doors (previously they were just secured with screws).

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