How Much Spray Foam Insulation Do I Need In Attic
Earlier this year i got a question about a home that had spray foam insulation in the attic.
How much spray foam insulation do i need in attic. X 1 in 504 board feet. When using this spray foam insulation cost calculator it is generally a good idea to factor in about 10 extra spray foam insulation cost to account for over spray waste and yield variations due to your particular ambient conditions. A lot of builders and homeowners are going with spray foam insulation because of the airtightness benefits but then the questioner mentioned that the spray foam contractor had intentionally left big holes to the outside by not sealing the gable vents. Attics with spray foam insulation are so cool.
Inspecting your attic insulation. To determine how much foam you ll need you need to know 2 things the area to be insulated square feet and how thick you want your insulation inches. Nothing unusual about that. We mean that literally by the way.
This alternative to traditional building insulation fiberglass can be applied into wall cavities holes concrete slabs and even onto roof tiles and. Check the chart on the blown in insulation bag to determine the number of bags necessary to reach your desired r value based on the square footage of your attic. 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. To insulate 1 inch thick.
Since closed cell foam has a higher r value per inch installers generally spray 2 in walls and 3 in rooflines to meet the energy code requirements of r 13 and r 19 respectively. August 18 2020 do you need a safer alternative to spray foam attic encapsulation read more august 6 2020 more info on spray foaming ducts read more july 13 2020 locating your air ducts in the attic read more. Multiply both of these together and you get the number of board feet of insulation that you need to buy. To determine how many bags of blown in insulation you ll need measure your existing insulation so you know your current r value and subtract that from the recommended levels see do you need to add insulation for how to find recommended levels for your zip code.
First things first you need to go up into your attic inspect the condition of the insulation and calculate the current level of insulation. When you insulate the top of your attic with spray foam you re bringing your attic into your home s envelope as a result you can reduce the temperature in your attic by a lot anywhere from 120 degrees to around 95 during peak summer. To insulate 2 inch thick. Although spray foam insulation has been in use since the 1940s primarily for aircraft for the past 30 years continual product innovation has seen the increased adoption of spray foam insulation in residential and commercial construction.