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When I was racking my brain on how to insulate my attic and have the Hydro Manitoba pay for the insulation I thought of one method.

I had cut a 2' wide inspection hole on the very center of one 14' wide panel to see what I was up against. I drew up a graph of what size and thickness of batts I could possibly push to each end of the 16" wide rafters as they tapered down near the walls. I would use a 1" blue Styrofoam to cover past the gap b4 replacing the cutout.
As it meant going into every room and cutting a 2' wide strip for 60' I compromised and installed 2-faced bubble foil and covered that with ceiling tiles. (I had already used 1" Styrofoam in 1992.)

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Hi JD

The previous owner tried screwing a smoke detector up on that thin ceiling board. There is a hole the size of a fist there so I can see the insulation up there. It's yellow and the vapor barrier is on the bottom or the warm side. The home was originally made in minnesota so maybe I'll stick to the way the maker did it like you suggest.


JD could I just cut the vapor barrier up there now and just add more insulation with the proper R value up there with the old stuff instead of pulling it all out?. Then add a new vapor barrier there if I can't use "faced" insulation.


When you spoke of proper venting in preventing ice dams I didn't know exactly what you ment so I researched it. Maybe I'm wrong but to my knowledge there is nothing like that for the attic on my roof. All I've seen is the furnace vent, vent for kitchen sink,and vent for bathroom area.

I've never took a ladder and looked up there just seen it from a distance so maybe I'm wrong?


I'm not planning on doing the whole place at once in one day. I would like to do it in sections. Maybe like 4 sections one weekend. Do some more another weekend so i don't burn myself out.


Thanks again
Brad

Let me make sure I got this right. Basically you removed the ceiling panels, nailed up 2 faced bubble foil and installed ceiling tiles over the foil is that correct? If It is that does sound alot simplier. So no vapor barrier is needed with bubble foil?



Thanks for your idea

Best way to get around the vapor barrier on wrong side depending on season (extreme hot ) ( extreme cold ) is to spray in 3-4 inches of foam into walls, floors and ceiling (above panels ) I have factory spray in foam in my home with no vapor barrier and never had an interior mold issue. foam insulation is rated highest for R value and no vapour barrier is required as it is a perfect seal to the walls and studs. foam averages R4 TO R8 per square inch depending on type of foam used.

fargoman wrote:Let me make sure I got this right. Basically you removed the ceiling panels, nailed up 2 faced bubble foil and installed ceiling tiles over the foil is that correct? If It is that does sound a lot simpler. So no vapor barrier is needed with bubble foil?



Thanks for your idea

If you look at the lower left corner of my picture you can see the 1" Styrofoam T&G that I had covered the whole ceiling with prev. I then replaced the vapour barrier just at the insp. hole; installed the cutout and sealed the edges. Put back the 1" foam and then decided to install the foil and finish with ceiling tiles.

I could have gone with more R value in the foam but then the top of the doors.........

So the layers from top to btm. are; VBarrier, ceiling, styro, foil, tiles.
It's the best I can do without doing a complete roof which is intact.
I used drywall screws to attach the foam and also the foil b4 covering with ceiling tiles.

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The foil acts like a vapour barrier and the old plastic is quite porous so there is no trouble with moisture and the t&g foam also acts like one. There are more exp. foil and they are low fire rated too.
Still a work in progress. LOL

Thanks for everyone's help

I feel better about how to complete this now. If I have any more questions i'll be back.

Hi Brad,

You got a lot of good replies in this thread. Plenty of good alternatives to think about. If you do end up installing new batt insulation, you will want to remove the old insulation. There is limited room up there and you will want it insulated as efficient as possible.

As for my venting comment, that is a comment from a man who keeps his ice in a glass. Our Northern members like Bill, Troy and others would be better authorities than me.

JD