Putting Insulation In Old Walls

Fiberglass insulation is energy efficient affordable easy to install and readily available in a wide variety of sizes types and r values.

Putting insulation in old walls. Expert advice on how to install fiberglass insulation including methods for insulating walls floors ceilings attics and more. Unfortunately however builders didn t insulate the walls of most homes built before the 1980s. The answer in many cases is yes. But christine flynn and liz bagley aunt and niece owners of the 1916 two family house that is the current this old house tv project were facing just that until toh general contractor tom silva came along.

There are various grades of insulating batting for different locations in the house so you ll need a different insulation for interior exterior attic or basement walls. Can you simply add new insulation on top. In a region where january temperatures consistently hover below freezing you really don t want to be living in a house with no insulation. The r value of the batt measures the thermal resistance so the higher the r value the more effectively.

The third area that needs proper insulation is the floors. Insulation in house exterior walls is one of the primary defenses against heat and energy loss. Includes cutting and fastening insulation and insulating around obstacles. Just because you find insulation in one wall doesn t mean that it s everywhere in the house.

So if your house was built before insulating walls became standard you can potentially save a great deal of energy by insulating. When considering new insulation installation or home retrofit insulation many dc area homeowners wonder if it s necessary to remove the old insulation first. Walls both exterior and interior are the next area to insulate in a home. Rigid boards work best on exterior walls along with a vapor barrier.

In a perfect world you would be able to unscrew invisible bolts remove drywall panels install insulation and reinstall the panels our less than perfect world of permanently attached wallboard means time consuming hacking away of gypsum individually removing drywall screws or nails installing r 13 or greater fiberglass roll insulation and re installing the drywall. Inspect and measure the thickness inches of any insulation in unfinished basement ceilings and walls or above crawlspaces. The grade of batting will vary depending on the wall that you re insulating. Choose fiberglass insulation batting.

So can you put new insulation on top of old insulation.