How Do You Insulate Your Attic

Lay the batts across the ceiling joists covering the existing insulation.

How do you insulate your attic.

In particularly cold climates you might go up to r 60. The attic is one of the primary areas of potential heat loss in your home. Start by installing temporary lighting such as clip lights and laying a few sturdy boards along the joists to create a walkway. Place planks 1 by 6 or 1 by 8 or plywood sheaths across floor joists to improve your mobility in the attic.

Inspecting your attic insulation. The attic is the easiest place to add insulation to improve your comfort and the energy efficiency of your home. 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. But if you can t afford to shell out a few hundred bucks for this service.

Here is how to insulate an unfinished attic. 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. If you need to add insulation in your attic save big by blowing in cellulose insulation yourself. 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.

Preparing an attic for insulation. First things first you need to go up into your attic inspect the condition of the insulation and calculate the current level of insulation. While wearing dust mask and gloves carry r 38 batts of unfaced fiberglass insulation into the attic. If your insulation is just level with or below your floor.

How much does attic insulation cost. In general an attic s r value should be between r 30 and r 49. You can do it yourself for about 500. Your home s r value score will guide you toward the type of insulation you need.

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. Do i have enough. Blown in insulation overview. In this video this old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor explain how to insulate an attic.

Never step between joists as you may break through the ceiling below.