Attic Insulation Vapor Barrier Up Or Down

Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic.

Attic insulation vapor barrier up or down.

Vapor barriers are sheets of plastic or other material placed on one side of insulation sheets. Reply dee january 15 2015 at 8 12 pm. You have made the bold decision to insulate your attic. If you install fiberglass batt insulation with a kraft paper vapor retarder in a home which way do you face the vapor retarder.

Use a zippered insulated tent to keep the enclosure draft free attic tent at 7 attic cover insulator 120. The heat being lost from the house below warmed up the attic so that moisture was lost through the vents as vapor. Yes you should put unfaced insulation either rolls or batts on top of existing insulation so that you only have on vapor barrier facing the heated house. As of right now there is about 7 of blown in insulation in the attic.

Attic hatch or door. What if you find asbestos in your attic. A vapor retarder is a material used to prevent water vapor from diffusing into the wall ceiling or floor during the cold winter. In any case the vapor barrier must point to the warm side.

This acts as a barrier to keep heated moist air from rising up into the attic during cold weather. To the inside of the home or the outside of the home. Not every wall does. The insulation fiberglass or cellulose is then placed on top of the drywall with no vapor barrier above or below.

Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door. My biggest concern right now is the vapor barrier. If the batts are your only layer meaning the attic joists are currently uninsulated you should install them with the vapor barrier down facing your living area below. I do not see a vapor barrier underneath the current insulation.

Now with attic insulation heat is no longer lost from the living space such that moisture may remain trapped in the attic vapor barriers were therefore necessary to reduce moisture flow into the attic. Adding a second vapor barrier could cause condensation to become trapped in the insulation between the two vapor barriers. Pull down stair or ladder. After the insulation is in place you will want to add a vapor retarder sometimes called a vapor barrier if you need one.

Attic vapor barrier detail for cold climates the best approach for a vented attic in a cold climate is installing a layer of drywall with a good coat of latex paint the paint creates a semi permeable vapor barrier. This barrier is meant to keep moisture from getting to the insulation in the walls and ceilings and it is required by building codes when insulating most houses. In this case use r 38 insulation as recommended above by energystar.