Our house is pretty tall, and has a small 3rd floor area with real stairs off of the smallest bedroom. It's currently got 1/4" drywall over most of it, and wood paneling on top of that. As of now there's no electrical up there, mainly because we disconnected all the knob and tube that previously ran there.
From the looks of it, there's no insulation under the paneling/drywall running along the ceiling. On the "front" of the house, the previous owners look to have built out that sort of half wall, which I would like to take out and bump back out to the knee wall like on the other side. I would consider wiring in a baseboard heater, and we'd probably have to have a free-standing AC unit up there for summer months. Depending
I would anticipate doing most of the work, just looking for suggestions on the right way to do this. It'll never count for square footage on the house, but it would be a nice space to have relatively comfortable. Obviously that will start with insulating, which means removing everything that's there and starting fresh. Should I be expecting to insulate between the studs along the outer walls, before adding drywall?
Both windows will/would need to be replaced.. the larger one is okay, but the smaller one really doesn't seal right at all.
Also, I think the ridge vent is currently only the venting in the roof, so we could address that at the same time if need be.
Pictures..
A ridge vent without intakes down low is doing nothing, so first priority would be cut in soffit venting to get the roof vented properly. Venting is something that very few people do correctly.
In reply to Patrick :
This^^
Additionally, you'll need to ensure that you insulation doesn't block the airflow under the sheathing from the soffit to the ridge.
***and getting sheets of drywall up to this space is likely to be an adventure. Consider farming that part of the job out to someone else.
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
I have already had to bring drywall up to the 2nd floor, and bringing it up to this wouldn't be that much worse. 8' sheets won't fit, so I'm anticipating having to cut each sheet down to 6' to cover the ~23.5' of wall. By my figuring, I could get it covered (minus the main portion of the ceiling) with about 12 sheets. We've farmed out some drywall finishing and tile work already for another project, so budget requirements will probably make this project mine all mine (whenever we do take it on).
I had seen somewhere a product that sits in between the studs/joists and runs the length of the roof, from eaves to ridge. It was supposed to allow airflow on one side, and give a base for insulation to extend to on the other side. Would that be a suitable product to run in that space before insulating? (I'll try to find it again)
Edit: It looks like those are just called insulation baffles, and would probably need to run at the eaves, and then at the peak down past where the "ceiling" would run, to make sure air flows behind the insulation?
Patrick
MegaDork
10/10/19 7:49 a.m.
Yes, but you have to size your insulation to not crush the baffles. My way, when building something, is install the baffles, then cut rectangles of foam board to go rafter to rafter, top plate to baffle, and foam it in place. This creates a solid barrier to keep cold air from penetrating your insulation from the end, as well as stops insulation from running out and blocking the soffit vents. I can't tell you how many houses I have been to where the cellulose guys just filled the soffits and killed all venting.
In reply to classicJackets :
Yup, those are thepieces to allow airflow. But that diagram is assuming your insulation is going on the floor (leaving the entire attic space open). Since you are insulating the rafters you need to keep that air space going all the way up to the flat ceiling.
When I finished an attic room a few years ago, the rafters were only 2x6 and didn't give me enough space to run a meaningful amount of insulation so I scabbed another 3" (ripped 2x6's on to the edge of the existing rafters). It made the room slightly smaller but much better insulated.
