Insulation
Insulation
How to Make Handling Insulation A Lot Less Itchy, Use Low-Itch Encapsulated Insulation.
Don Ames
Having a good coat of insulation in all exterior components of your home is a necessity for the home to be energy efficient. Your home can have the most efficient heating or cooling system available, but if the conditioned air just passes through the homes exterior surfaces, the efficiency is lost. The efficiency of your heating system is only realized if the home is well insulated.
Installing insulation under a floor can be a difficult job at best. Add in the fact that insulation can be very irritating to the skin and nose only makes insulation projects worse. Lying on your back in an 18 inch under floor space stuffing insulation up between floor joists can take a lot of the fun out of a lower power bill.
Wow, low itch insulation
Several insulation producers have kept your itchy nose in mind and produced a product that will make the under floor insulation job a little less uncomfortable. Insulation batts wrapped in perforated plastic or other material is available and will greatly reduce the dust and irritation from fiberglass fibers. One brand of wrapped insulation is made from a low-irritating material called Miraflex Fiber.
The wrapped batts are available in most R-values and a variety of widths. They can be stacked one on top of the otheer to increase R-value rating.
Why the perforations
The wrapping that surrounds these batts have been perforated for a reason. These holes are important to allow the insulation to breath and release any moisture that might need to pass through the insulation. Without these holes in the lining, moisture cold get trapped and allow mold or mildew to grow.
Air seal the floor first
Before you get all those insulation batts in the way, be sure and air seal the floor first. Use spray foam, caulk, sheet metal and screws, whatever works to fill all the penetrations in the floor. Plumbing, wiring, heating ducts and dryer vents all will often times pass through holes in the floor. Also, pay special attention to the areas directly under the bathrooms. Too often the plumber will have left big holes here.
Install the batts correctly
As with other under floor insulation, the wrapped batts need to be installed in contact with the sub-floor. To get the most out of the insulation project, be sure you do not leave air space between the sub-floor and the insulation.
If the floor joist are no farther apart than 24 inches, you can use a compressed air staple gun and string. The string and staple gun make the project go faster and easier. Attach the string no farther than six inches apart where stapled to the joist.
With floor joist that are farther apart than 24 inches, you will need to use wood slats to hold the insulation in place. At this distance, string would allow the batts to sag down away from the floor in the middle. Wood slats should be placed no more than 12 inches apart and can be attached to the bottom of the floor joist with a air powered nail gun or stapler.
With this low-itch insulation, you will be more comfortable installing it and you will be more comfortable in your home after the under floor insulation project is completed.
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