Faced Or Unfaced Insulation In Attic Floor

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Faced or unfaced insulation in attic floor.

Like blanket or batt insulation foam board comes in faced and unfaced varieties. Unfaced batt insulation is often used for beefing up the r rating with the r rating being the insulation rating scale that says how much or how effective insulation needs to be in that space. If your attic floor has no insulation install faced batts or faced rolls between each joist with the moisture barrier facing down against the drywall or plaster ceiling below. Kraft faced or paper faced insulation comes in batts and long rolls.

The kraft paper. Insulation being unfaced doesn t mean it s a bad choice. I ve always said adding insulation to your attic is some of the best money you can spend to make your house more energy efficient but whether to use faced or unfaced insulation is a great question. Air migrates from warmer spaces toward colder spaces and insulation is designed to help prevent or at least slow that migration.

All kraft faced insulation is easy to cut with a sharp utility knife or insulation knife. Insulation in rolls called batts comes in two varieties. Basement finished exterior walls. Roll insulation is best for floors ceilings and roofs with a long joist or rafter bays and for tall walls.

When local building codes require a vapor retardant faced insulation is one of the best options. Any time you use a faced insulation the paper needs to be facing toward the living space. The batts are precut to fit into cavities on standard 8 foot high walls. You should only use faced insulation as the first layer of insulation.

The same applies to faced unfaced and other kinds of insulation products. If a moisture barrier is required or recommended in your climate zone you will want to use the faced board again reflective facing is a good choice to insulate your walls. Faced or the type with paper is typically used in first time applications such as in walls ceilings floors and in crawl spaces. Whether using loose fill or batts put the vapor barrier closest to the warm side of your installation where hot moist air would get in facing the house s interior in cold climates beneath floor insulation and the attic s interior in hot climates on top of floor insulation.

What is the right insulation for an attic. If there is already insulation between the joists increase the r value by installing unfaced roll insulation right on top. Run the unfaced strips perpendicular to the.