Insulate Attic And Finsh With Vents

In order to facilitate this exchange of warm and cool air the general rule of thumb suggests installing at least 1 sq.

Insulate attic and finsh with vents.

That said air resistance and interference such as vent grates reduces the area of true ventilation. But not all homes. In an unfinished attic the goal of insulation is to keep the rooms below cool in summer and warm in winter. Soffit vents sit underneath the eaves of the roof of a house to allow air circulation into the attic.

Most codes require a specified minimum amount of headroom and it s tough to meet this requirement when insulating a finished attic especially since most codes require insulation equal to r 38 or more. Of vent for every 300 sq. That means insulating the attic floor only not the walls and having vents in the roof. Ventilation the best method for ventilating any roof is to have some type of venting up high on the roof that allows for rising hot air or warm damp air to escape.

For this to be fully effective low vents should be installed to replace the air that is escaping. With a finished attic insulation must help keep the attic areas comfortable. Covering up the soffit vents with loose fill or batts which can happen if you stuff insulation along the eaves is a huge no no. I reshingle this past year and pulled out old r14 insulation and retaped as many as visually possible areas of vapour barrier leaks cuts in material etc.

For the same reason insulation shouldn t touch the roof s underside. Building codes vary. The attic floor which is the ceiling of the living space below often already is insulated. With the mb insulation program i blew in insulation to fill the cavity and added two duraflo vents to the roof area 52 14 with now 4 and a wind turbine.

The airflow from the soffits to the ridge vent keeps the roof cool and prevents ice dams and the material will block that flow. The air is then exhausted through gable or attic vents above the soffits. To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes. In other words the entire vent opening doesn t count as vented space.