Floor Attic Insulation

Stop using your attic for storage.

Floor attic insulation.

Start with the attic floor. 4b slab floors built directly on the ground. The table below shows what levels of insulation are cost effective for different climates and locations in the home. But before even they can start on a job that involves altering your home s structure they ll.

No matter how old your home is it s a good idea to see if there are ways to improve its insulation. Attic flooring consists of materials as basic as sheets of plywood as well as more elaborate interlocking floor systems. 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. Attic insulation between roof trusses.

The most effective places to add insulation to older homes are exterior walls attics basements and crawl spaces. First you ll need to measure the area you want to floor so you can calculate how much wood you ll require. Modifying an attic floor s joist system is a job for the pros. 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.

R value is a measure of insulation s ability to resist heat traveling through it. Also insulate 4a any portion of the floor in a room that is cantilevered beyond the exterior wall below. To floor an attic you ll need to install a sub floor for support before laying your plywood floor. How to lay attic flooring on top of fiberglass insulation.

The solid base. 4c as an alternative to floor insulation foundation walls of unvented crawl spaces. Although it s common to talk about installing insulation on the attic floor most attics don t really have a floor. Insulation level are specified by r value.

Bringing the floor up to code. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new. 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.

The higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. You ll have to construct a wooden frame or sub floor with boards 16 inches apart to provide extra support for the floor. Even easier you can also use a prefabricated attic floor kit designed specifically to raise the attic floor above the 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.

Find your zone on the map and then use the above insulation r value chart to determine the level of insulation you need to properly insulate your attic walls floors and crawlspaces.