Vintage Home and Blown In Insulation
Has anyone done this? I heard you cannot do future wiring after the installation.
What is the best insulation for the roof of a cape cod style home?"Cool-Vent, a rigid insulation panel composed of polyisocyanurate foam core from Hunter Panels, is manufactured as a ventilated nailbase roof insulation panel. This quality steep-slope insulation board offers sustainable thermal insulating characteristics while also allowing air circulation within the roof assembly. A standard 1-inch air space permits airflow in all directions to give improved cooling and ventilation; this ventilation space helps reduce moisture vapor and heat build-up.
Cool-Vent extends the life of your roofing system by the nature of its design: Its polyisocyanurate insulation base provides the highest R-value per inch of any insulation panel.
The Cool-Vent is a 4 Ft by 8 Ft composite insulation panel consisting of three parts - "
The above is taken from http://www.deerparkroofing.com/insulati … -house.php
Blown insulation will be the simplest way to insulate attics. You have a choice of fiberglass, rock wool, and cellulose. Fiberglass will probably be the most expensive and cellulose the least costly. You can also use foam which is about 5 times more expensive than fiberglass but extremely effective if installed properly. If you blow insulation into an old attic, be sure the contractor installs good baffles. Baffles are 2 to 6 inch tall metal or cardboard barriers (like a miniature fence) that keep the insulation from falling into the eaves and keep the insulation from blocking the air that needs to circulate through your attic.
If you are going to live in your house for a while, you might want to invest in the foam. It doesn't ever need replacing and really is significantly better at insulating than anything else. We live in a mostly hot area and have found that attic foam works the best, but I hear that it is even more effective in cold areas. Also consider insulating your garage door if you have one.
Yes GmaGoldie... I have done this. I added the blown in insulation to my attic years ago (had a really old house). It made a huge difference in keeping my house warm and cool. I was able to update some electrical "things" and wiring a couple years later.
I did have a local roofing company, AnyWeather Roofing - https://www.anyweather.com/roofing/ come out and inspect things. They advised me how to add the insulation while keeping proper venting / ventilation in the attic which was really important so make sure you understand this and how to do it if you are renting the equipment and blowing the insulation in yourself. It's not difficult but again very important.
