Best Attic Insulation For Old House

Some homeowners also take the time to build walkways and or storage platforms in the attic prior to installing insulation.

Best attic insulation for old house.

The majority of heat loss and gain occurs in your attic. If you have an unfinished and unconditioned attic like many old houses my first recommendation would be to add batt insulation on the underside of the roof. The attic is often the easiest place to add insulation. For diy attic insulation you ve got two choices.

Check the attic walls and floors adjacent to an unheated space like a garage or basement. Both can be added to uninsulated attics or layered over existing material. It s available in fiberglass mineral wool plastic fibers and natural fibers. When you choose this solution and work at it alone be careful and wear safety gear.

Cotton batting treated with borates is a good choice for an old house retrofit. Or you can also use blown in insulation which has environment friendly materials available. Blanket insulation is available as batts or rolls and is the easiest diy insulation material. To keep the ventilation space clear above soffit vents special baffles need to be installed before the insulation goes in.

There are a couple creative yet expensive ways i would consider retroactively insulating the walls of an old house if you are in a far northern climate where it might make financial sense. For anyone living below the mason dixon line it is never worth the expense to retrofit an old house with wall insulation. Loose fill or batt the common term for blanket insulation. If you live in an older house you ll have to inspect the insulation.

If you are looking for some organic way to insulate your home cellulose insulation will work best for you. Thickness must not be used as the sole factor in determining the r value of loose fill insulation particularly for attic insulation. This type of insulation. You can add r 30 insulation batting throughout your attic.

The traditional option is fiberglass insulation. The national park service advises using insulation treated with borates in historic structures because it won t corrode piping. In most cases the best type of attic insulation will be blown fiberglass or blown cellulose insulation. Inspecting and evaluating your insulation.

Achieving greater r values in attics the higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. Read more about the 3 types of heat here.