How To Insulate An Old House Attic

I get asked a lot about insulating old houses especially in the wintertime.

How to insulate an old house attic.

But the answer is unique to every house. The insulation materials used in older houses are not as effective in keeping heat in as the new ones. The answer to making an old house inhabitable is insulation. Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic.

This answer will vary from old house to old house. Beware that insulating your old house without having a good ventilation path between the exterior of the building and the insulation is a big mistake. People fall in love with the character rich architecture of these homes but they don t want the crazy heating and cooling bills that come along with that character. Chances are good that if your house was built before the 1960 s there is little to no insulation.

But that might be a bad idea. Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door. The insulation must meet doe standards. Pull down stair or ladder.

How to insulate a house. Rather than insulating the whole home and potentially causing. Attic hatch or door. Use a zippered insulated tent to keep the enclosure draft free attic tent at 7 attic cover insulator 120.

Now do not insulate an unfinished attic rather insulate the floor. Even if you bought the house with insulation already installed into it it s best to double check. As mentioned most heat loss is typically through the roof. Some common insulation methods can actually cause long term damage.

Roughly a quarter of the average home s heat is lost through the roof. If the attic is unfinished the insulation should be installed on the floor. If you use the attic as a playroom or an office then you can insulate the rafters. Seal up air bypasses before adding attic insulation or you ll be wasting money attics are one of the easiest and most cost effective places to add home insulation.

This old house general contractor tom silva shows affordable ways to create an energy efficient attic how to know what insulation is behind your walls if you live in an older home understanding what pads your walls is essential to keeping your family safe. Since warm air has a tendency to rise and cool air to fall insulating the attic is the place to start.