Amazing video!! We currently live in a 1958 Cape Cod home with very old batting insulation within that knee wall scrawl space that are stapled to the roof rafter areas--of which most of them are falling down and not working properly which is why are are looking to update it (pictures in the below links) What would your approach be if a Cape Cod does not have soffit vents? We do have ridge vents at the peak of the roof and gable vents up in the peak area as well. We have had 2 different energy companies come out to our house and give us their opinions on what to do and it was typically a combination of: - Spray foam the corner of the house (where the soffits typically would be) up until it reaches the knee wall/slope area before it goes into the actual sloped area - Spray in packed cellulose in the sloped area - Spray in cellulose in the Devil's triangle peak area. - Combining all of this with some foil/foam stuff to seal in the cellulose. - A graphic of this is highlighted in the "Company's Plan" link below Both companies said by doing this we wouldn’t need to insulate the lower flat attic since this would now be a “conditioned” space nor would we have to spray foam any of the air gaps from let's say canned lights, etc. I kind of see the logic here, but I feel you would want to also seal off any air gaps between the 1st and the 2nd floor since we already have return vents upstairs in our HVAC system. They also said that since this would now be conditioned space, the area of the attic wouldn't be too much hotter than our actual bedroom on the other side of the knee wall--which I find hard to believe.... Secondly-I always thought that the attic needed ventilation but according to these two companies, they said we didn’t need ventilation since they would be making it a conditioned space. If we were to completely seal that attic space, that means no air would be going through the slope area and out of the ridge vent-which I thought was the reason for having such things. With this setup, I am worried about moisture build-up, mold, and reducing the life of our roof. Additionally--I am not so sure about the spray foam since from what I read contains a bunch of toxic materials, and we can't even be in the house from 24-72 hours after they spray it in, which is concerning since it is unknown what the long-term effects from this may be after breathing it in constantly. The companies said they don't recommend batting insulation anymore for the areas that touch the roof hence why they switched to spray foam..... Looking for any professional guidance on this project--trying to be the most effective since the summers in this house are unbearably hot. Thanks so much for any help! idge vent-which I thought was the reason for having such things. With this setup, I am worried about moisture build-up, mold, and reducing the life of our roof. Additionally--I am not so sure about the spray foam since from what I read contains a bunch of toxic materials, and we can't even be in the house from 24-72 hours after they spray it in, which is concerning since it is unknown what the long-term effects from this may be after breathing it in constantly. The companies said they don't recommend batting insulation anymore for the areas that touch the roof hence why they switched to spray foam..... Apologies for the long comment--Looking for any professional guidance on this project--trying to be the most effective since the summers in this house are unbearably hot. Thanks so much for any help! Wish you guys serviced Northern Virginia/DC area.... Links to pics below: Insulation Pic 1 - imgur.com/a/vrfyJHv Insulation Pic 2 - imgur.com/a/GFaDcS7 Insulation Pic 3 - imgur.com/a/j0i4evM Insulation Pic 4 - imgur.com/a/vGZdE1E Company's plan - imgur.com/a/KrqS5xs
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
18 күн бұрын
Thanks! I took a look at the pics and you have a pretty standard Cape design home. I'd say their overall approach is good, with one caveat I explain below. If they spray foam the underside of the roof in the knee wall spaces as well as the exposed gable end walls inside the space that will make those spaces "conditioned spaces." That will eliminate the need to do any air sealing in those spaces. If they then dense pack the slope bays and air seal / insulate the upper attic space that should produce a good solution (it sounds like you have good ventilation in the upper attic). The only question I'd have is what type of spray foam do they want to use on the underside of the roof? In my opinion and the opinion of many others in the building science community, the ONLY type of foam that should ever be used for insulating the underside of roofs is closed cell foam. This is because closed cell foam at 2" thickness creates a vapor barrier. Most companies use open cell foam because it's faster/ cheaper/ easier and the homeowners usually aren't aware there's a difference. However -- open cell foam does NOT have a vapor barrier. And water vapor can migrate through it, get trapped against the shingles and rot the roof. I have worked on jobs where this has happened and have dealt with the after effects. It is not a myth. Closed cell foam is more expensive, but I would not want to play with my roof. We don't use closed cell foam in these situations because it's prohibitively expensive and I simply don't like the idea of a roof having a coating on the underside of it if it can be avoided. At least 25% of the attics we work in have a small roof leak somewhere that the homeowner was unaware of. A well ventilated attic will tolerate small minor roof leaks (it sounds crazy but we see it all the time). Heck I have a video showing an example of this. If you have foam sprayed onto the roof there's a solid chance you're not going to know you've got a leak until you've got a real problem (happened on the project that I worked on). If they use open cell foam you may never have a problem (at least not that you'll be aware of for several years). It is just not what's recommended. I'd recommend having them quote you for closed cell foam on the underside of the roof. But first DO your research on this...google closed cell versus open cell foam when applied to roofs and you'll learn all that you need to. You may also learn that you want a different contractor in the process (but hopefully not). Hope this helps! Andy
@agacom1
17 күн бұрын
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 thanks so much for your thoughtful reply!! Super helpful. One quick follow-on question to this-we were thinking of not doing the spray foam, so out of the contractors plans-what would you suggest they do if they don’t do the spray foam, but something else? Do what you did in this project in the video where you leave that roof line untouched and then just do batting on the knee wall and the cellulose spray foam in the bottom? We would like to keep our crawl space semi-workable for storage so the cellulose spray in on the bottom were on the fence about… Thanks Andy!
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
16 күн бұрын
@@agacom1 You're welcome! If they did the same thing in your Cape that I do in this video you'll have a fine result. Batting the knee walls with R-19 fiberglass and covering them with a building wrap is the easy part. The other critical things are sealing the voids underneath the knee walls, air sealing the outlets in the knee walls with foam / caulk, and air sealing all of the air leaks in the floor of the knee walls before insulating with cellulose. Lastly, if your knee wall spaces are not vented via soffit or under shingle vents, they should be vented using something like the slant back vents that you see me use in the video. You never want to have an insulated, unconditioned space that is unventilated. It becomes a perfect situation for mold growth. Hope this helps! Andy
@agacom1
15 күн бұрын
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 this is perfect. Thanks so so much Andy--learned more from you than I have other contractors physically coming to my house! Keep up the great channel!
@TysonBrandow
2 ай бұрын
Thank you! Unfortunately I only have 4 inch roof joists… even further why baffles won’t work…
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
2 ай бұрын
You're welcome! Yes, baffles are a tough deal with these (unless the inside sloped drywall section is removed or the roof area). We've done well over a thousand homes this way and it's a standard weatherization practice in our area. The biggest thing is having the lower knee wall attics AND upper main attic effectively ventilated.
@renner1182
2 ай бұрын
We are excited and have an appointment scheduled in a couple weeks! All of your videos and informative information is what totally sealed the deal for us to choose Insulwise. We’ve only had our cape cod home for a year and noticed our current insulation isn’t doing the job. I’m very eager to see the results!
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
2 ай бұрын
Hi there, thanks for the kind comment! We do everything we can to help homeowners understand why their homes are not as comfortable or energy efficient as they'd like them to be, and then show our unique and effective ways of remedying those issues. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks!
@kevdog20
2 ай бұрын
Some people have reported that cellulose insulation leaves their house smelling very badly for a very long time. Many months or even years after it has been installed. I wanted to ask you what your experience has been with this and if there is a specific cellulose brand that is better and doesn't smell and have this problem over another?
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
Ай бұрын
Good question. Cellulose insulation basically just smells like paper, as far as I can tell. We air seal all of the attic floors that we work in prior to insulating them, so there really isn't much of a smell that comes down into the home. I've used just about every brand of cellulose insulation out there and it all smells pretty much the same to me. That said -- there have been a few cases of cellulose insulation being used as a damp wall-spray application in new construction and it was not allowed to dry properly before the drywall was put over it. I've heard of that creating a bad smell, but not cellulose on it's own.
@Erriapo95
21 күн бұрын
How do you guys blow the insulation in the ceiling area of that space? Do you cut an access door into it? Or do you feed the blower into the gaps and just let it fill up?
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
20 күн бұрын
In this case the upper attic area was large enough that we were able to cut a hole in the ceiling and enter that way. We then patched the ceiling afterward. Sometimes these upper ceilings are just too small though. If they are less than 6ft across than we will usually have to blow the upper attics by tubing up through the slopes and blowing those areas that way. It always depends on how much room we have. Thanks!
@Erriapo95
20 күн бұрын
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 Thanks for the reply! I have this situation and was wondering what the best course of action would be. May need to snake a camera up there to do an inspection before I cut a hole. I have a dormer as well that connects to that area and it would be best to have access to it.
@Xrager101x
2 ай бұрын
Very informative video. When you put the foam board in between the studs, does the foil backing need to be facing outwards? I have a wall along side an enclosed staircase that always feels hot. It only has batt insulation between the studs in the attic. Thank you
@Xrager101x
2 ай бұрын
I was thinking I could pull the batt insulation , put the foam board in and put the batts back on top of it. Again, thank you!
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
2 ай бұрын
In the video it doesn't matter which side the foil is on. We were using the foam board to block transition gaps beneath the knee walls and it was buried in cellulose insulation later. But-- if the foam board were to be exposed -- you would want the foil side to face outward. The foil covering will act as a radiant barrier, reflecting attic heat back toward the roof and away from the home. So I believe in your application you would want it facing outward. Hope this helps! Andy
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
2 ай бұрын
For the best result you'd want to leave the batts in place in between the stud bays of the knee wall, and then go over top of the studs with foam board. You never want to have air gaps between the insulation and the surface that you're trying to insulate, this can allow for convection currents to occur. Andy
@ДмитрийСергеевичКорбан
3 ай бұрын
really cool
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
3 ай бұрын
Thanks!
@Mopjockey1234
3 ай бұрын
I have a similar design house in Bucks County PA and was considering eliminating the knee walls entirely and making it basically all sloped walls top to bottom with just a small space at the top where it is flat 4 feet wide for a ceiling. Is that feasible or better to keep the knee walls and insulate like you have done here? Right now it’s gutted to the studs for a full remodel.
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293
3 ай бұрын
Hmm..I've seen a few houses where that was done, but you end up having a fair bit of useless space at the bottom of the triangle. I have also seen where shelving / dressers have been built into the knee walls to better utilize the space. Those things get tricky to insulate though on the back end / knee wall attic side. The simplest way IMO is to leave it as is. If you use the methods that I've shown here you'll have good results. There's always ways to optimize it / make it better, it's just a matter of the time and money that you want to spend on the project. Good luck to you!
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