Homes that have slate tiles are similar to vinyl or aluminum siding. The existing T1-11 siding was structurally sound so it was left in place and covered with housewrap and foam. We've had so many questions about the best way of insulating exterior walls from the outside we've written a guide page here. Your foam is fine, and is a vapor barrier, so don't put another one in there! Project house weekly wrap episode 5 housewrap and exterior foam continuous rigid insulation sheathing siding building america measure guideline incorporating thick layers of exterior rigid advanced frame wall construction building science corp rigid foam insulation installed between existing house and garage rigid foam insulation for existing exterior walls building. Adding a layer of rigid foam to the walls of any building is somewhat labor intensive. Durable, healthy and sustainable homes need careful research and planning - as changing one element without considering how this changes the dynamics of the building envelope is a potential recipe for disaster. Standard two-by-four studs, installed flat on the wall, provide 1 1/2-inch furring spaces in which to add rigid foam boards. Cascadia Clips from Cascadia Windows in Vancouver are the biggest name in fiberglass thermal spacers you will find across Canada and the U.S. so the concept has in a way adopted the brand name, but there are others brands of wall insulation thermal spacers such as Armatherm Z Girt available, pictured below. We will be residing the cabin this summer and are wondering if adding 1 inch of XPS rigid insulation on the exterior walls and walk out will cause any moisture issues. Above are a couple of ways to attach exterior insulation and maintain the highest possible R value by breaking thermal bridges, but the reality is that most exterior insulation is going to be a few inches of rigid insulation boards screwed or nailed to a wall with strapping. To provide a solid foundation for hanging cabinets, Nash plans to add a layer of 1/2-in. That double-strapped two isulation-layer wall looks like it would a nightmare to get a flat surface on the outside to side onto.. Is it? Walls need to be built to meet their specific climate needs. Consider some of the following: Cost, durability, fire-resistance, insect-resistance, low GWP (global warming potential), made with recycled materials, made with natural materials, which ones are best for sound proofing, or for reducing off-gassing to protect indoor air quality. When properly constructed, it provides a tight, dry, warm, and durable structure. Large sheets of foam insulation, screwed and sealed to the walls or roof, can cover or replace conventional sheathing and create a continuous barrier to heat loss or gain—something you don’t get with cavity insulation alone. Existing Drywall. • Adhere FOAMULAR® Insulation with long edges horizontal, edges tightly butted and vertical joints staggered. Some are air barriers, some are not. Some builders use 1/2-inch wood sheathing (R-0.6) or asphalt impregnated sheathing, usually called blackboard (R-1.3) to sheath the walls. ... Then add rigid foam insulation over top of InSoFast panels. There are many ‘all-in-one’ insulation products on the market, Halo rigid panels seem similar to many others, and most of the ones we see work very well when applied properly and in the proper place. Better yet, reduce thermal bridging by upgrading the stud cavity and adding 50 mm x 50 mm (2 in. The Retrofit Best Practices Guide provides useful information about adding insulation when you remodel the outside of your house. Whether you are a construction professional or a homeowner, if you have a wall, InSoFast panels can be attached to it! Remove all the trim from the exterior walls—window and door casings, baseboards, crown molding, you name it—and rip the drywall and studs off the block walls. Foam Joint Tape. What is the most “materials efficient” way to retrofit an existing home with exterior foam? Rigid Foam Insulation for Existing Exterior Walls | Building America Solution Center Guide describing how to apply an air control layer directly over existing wall sheathing and cover with two layers of insulating sheathing held in place by vertical furring strips. This can be a serious advantage, as it makes the foam seek out and eliminate any cracks and gaps in your walls that can cause air leaks. His goal is to boost the R-value, and improve the air-sealing, in exterior walls by adding a layer of rigid foam insulation on the inside, after filling the walls with cellulose. If you prefer a wood solution over plastic (though EPS is really mostly air), what you could also do is use a Larsen truss wall system as a double stud wall, (see more here) which are ideal for improving wall insulation when renovating homes & for building new homes with high performance insulation systems such as Passive House or LEED. It’s sort of a failsafe insulation in the sense that air goes through it, moisture goes through it and water drains through it. Installing Rigid Foam Insulation. If you have an attic where you could insulate with something like loose blown cellulose insulation, that would be pretty easy and affordable, but if you have a cathedral ceiling with no attic space, then you would need to build up and create an entirely new roof. Moisture will forever wick up from the ground to keep the concrete wet. But to speak to the products you mention - Rockwool isn’t the cheapest, it also isn’t the highest R value, but it’s a workhorse of an insulation product that can safely be applied to most exterior walls for the main reason that moisture moves right through it, so you won’t accidentally be trapping moisture inside walls. So, adding a ‘vapor barrier’ to the outside of a concrete foundation won’t prevent it from drying, as it wasn’t going to dry anyway. And your idea of filling the mortar joints in bricks is to make it flush to receive insulation? Below is a photo of a Passive House using Larsen trusses on the exterior of the wall (see video), that will then be filled with dense-packed cellulose insulation. It is easy to look at the R value rating …, Homes are often over-insulated in some parts and relatively under-insulated others. ), 50 mm x 76 mm (2 in. Find more Building Science here It can be installed practically anywhere in your home. Then lastly how about attaching the exterior weathering wall, maybe something like exterior cement fiberboard? If you drove a screw too deep it would for sure bend the strapping, so what we did was put a straight edge on it when it was installed and adjust it a bit to make sure it was straight, we drove some screws in  a bit and  backed a few out. In most cases they aren’t wet, so you are actually at risk of changing the way they shed moisture, for the worse. Determining your climate zone will help decide on an appropriate amount of wall insulation for your home, whether you are in a heating or a cooling climate. It was originally invented by Legalett as an effective way to increase total exterior wall R-values to Passive House standard easily taking a standard code compliant R-24 wall up to a R-52 high performance envelope. The purpose of fiberglass insulation fasteners is to attach the clip itself to the frame, which then supports and secures the insulation with a material that has a low conductivity to avoid heat loss, fiberglass clips also provide a solid surface for fastening strapping (furring strips) and exterior cladding. Sorry for the inconvenience. Adding blow-in insulation into your existing walls will increase their sound absorption abilities. We install the foam over a layer of house wrap using cap nails followed by taping all the seams with an approved foam … A layer of XPS or Polyiso foam board insulation is installed on top of the wall sheathing. the best way of insulating exterior walls from the outside we've written a guide page here. This makes installing 500sq.ft. Alternatively, drill and fill can be used on the interior if a cavity wall exists, or rigid foam or an insulated cavity wall can be constructed over an existing concrete block wall. Eric Nash has a kitchen renovation in the works at a house with 2×4 exterior walls. • Adhere FOAMULAR® Insulation with long edges horizontal, edges tightly butted and vertical joints staggered. We realize that the mere mention of any kind of "Styrofoam" or foam insulation (ThermalWall PH is made with EPS / Expanded polystyrene) can upset the sensibilities of hard-core environmentalists, but it is worth keeping in mind that EPS insulation panels are mostly made of air, it is recyclable, the plastic content is a petroleum byproduct rather than primary material and it could be plant-based if it weren't for cost and the carbon footprint of doing so, and it works well when you use it for the right applications. The best way to insulate the exterior of a house has a lot to do with what is going on inside the walls, and how extensive your energy-efficient renovations will be. Adding insulating sheathing to the exterior of the assembly is a simple method of increasing the overall thermal resistance of the wall assembly beyond what is possible with cavity insulations, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the house. In cold climates you want vapor barriers on the interior, so you need to be careful not to apply a vapor-impermeable panel to the outside. Blown in, flat foam insulation, and insulated vinyl siding are all popular ways to improve energy efficiency. Rigid XPS foam board insulation is an easy-to-install and cost-effective solution when insulating the interior of brick masonry walls. You could get a quote from a couple of general contractors and see what they come up with for cost, and if you wanted you could consider doing some energy modelling to see if it seems worth the investment. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-5 Scored Square Edge Rigid Foam Board Insulation Sheathing. Next, the foam expands in size, causing it to fill any empty space. In which case, the cost goes up exponentially. You can read all about rigid insulation panels here. Adding insulation to the exterior of a home correctly starts with establishing what climate zone you are building in and how the existing wall is built to make sure you are not creating a condensation point at a dangerous place within the wall assembly, or preventing internal moisture from the occasional leak in the exterior skin from running away, so the wall structure can dry out. To those of you living in Toronto or New York in older homes, this also applies to the elegant brownstone rowhouses, townhouses, and tenements that were built over a hundred years ago from brick and stone - neither of which are known for their outstanding insulating properties either. Rigid foam board is also a common type of insulation; made up of polystyrene, polyurethane and polysocyanurate, it provides excellent sound and temperature insulation to the walls. The advantages are plenty here – panels are between 4.5 inches and 8 inches thick, the exterior insulation is continuous, and they can be attached with 6-inch #10 screws from 4 to 6 inches long. In installing the rigid foam insulation on an interior wall, inspect the walls beforehand. The tiles are removed, holes are drilled into the cavity, the foam is injected, then the holes are plugged, and the siding is replaced. Once you determine the approximate amount of insulation you want to install on exterior walls and the type(s) of insulation you are open to using, then you need to find a way to attach /apply it securely to the outside of the walls in a manner that preserves it's R-value or thermal insulating qualities. Weather barriers keep bulk water away from  building components and allow walls to dry at the same time. Foam Joint Tape. Be sure to either have your wall assembly designed by a professional, but better still, get an understanding of the science behind it yourself, that way you will be able to spot anything that seems fishy with enough time to change it. Adding Foam Insulation to Existing Walls with Slate Tile Siding. Plywood. Better yet, reduce thermal bridging by upgrading the stud cavity and adding 50 mm x 50 mm (2 in. plywood over the foam, and cap it with 1/2-in. If a home already has a vapor retarder or vapor barrier, it’s important not to add another vapor-impermeable layer on the opposite side of the wall that could trap moisture in the middle along with organic materials such as insulation or wood framing members. One alternative "mainstream" system that we like for attaching rigid exterior insulation on the outside of walls and avoiding thermal bridges is the ThermalWall PH panel. There are many different types of board insulation and it’s very easy to add the wrong type, or probably a surprise to some, but the wrong amount. Your plan to use 4" of closed cell rigid foam as continuous exterior insulation is sound, and will get your R-20 or thereabouts without any insulation in the stud cavities, so adding rockwool to … Exterior Foam Board – This is probably the most common approach to exterior foam insulation. After that, install a vapour permeable drainage plane, and vertical strapping to allow moisture to vent and water to drain, which won’t happen if you install strapping horizontally. Because we build walls so they can't dry. Adding foam insulation to your existing walls creates an air seal that can take care of those cold spots and annoying drafts. He’s going to gut the room, but doesn’t plan to remove any exterior siding.His goal is to boost the R-value, and improve the air-sealing, in exterior walls by adding a layer of rigid foam insulation on the inside, after filling the walls with cellulose. Read more here –, Rigid insulation panels for exterior walls – how to choose the right one. Wood ... Owens Corning FOAMULAR 150 1 in. It can be added into walls after construction, a task that is very difficult with other types of insulation. Cementitious foam costs about $1.40 to $2 per square foot. Common building practices trap moisture in wall assemblies preventing them from dryi…, Gabion cage walls can add thermal mass to homes without adding significantly to the carbon footprint of a home like concrete can. It is going to be pretty airtight too. Your foam is fine, and is a vapor barrier, so don't put another one in there! Some insulation panels  (like EPS, XPS and polyiso) can act as a vapor barrier, which can be a good thing or sometimes a bad thing, so be careful! Larsen truss walls can be made in a variety of thicknesses, which is a really nice advantage to the design as it can be done in a way that has the best return on investment for any climate. In the meantime, here are a few more pages that will help you find the best option. We built our LEED V4 Platinum Edelweiss House using rigid Rockwool or Roxul insulation panels attached with strapping and screws (which is in the building science video above), and what we did to break the thermal bridge was to do it in 2 layers of 4 inches of rigid Rockwool so there would not be a single screw passing through the wall assembly. Still - it works great, but it's not a wall assembly we would repeat given the other options out there, including some stuff that has hit the market since we did that. The only difference is that we drill smaller, 5/8″ holes directly into the masonry for RetroFoam injection. Adding Foam Insulation to Existing Brick Walls Elite high-performance hybrid wood aluminum windows, NZP EUROPassive High-performance doors for energy-efficient home building and P…, Sealed glazing units incorporating suspended films for high performance windows…, Suspended film insulating glass sealed units for high performance windows. Add flat rigid insulation to the wall before the siding is installed ; Install insulated vinyl siding . On the Halo website they speak of 'breathability' of the Exterra product, so that's good, though it would be nowhere near as breathable as Rockwool. It may look easy to go buy some packs of rigid insulation panels down at the local hardware store and screw them to your walls, but unless you understand how your existing walls are built and how they "work" in terms of keeping moisture, heat and cold where they should be for durability, the insulation panels might not be the only things you're screwing up! Insulating exterior walls from the outside effectively can be harder than it looks... How to Find Qualified Green Building Professionals, improving a home's walls thermal performance, interior vapor barriers on homes with aircon in hot humid regions, Durable, healthy and sustainable homes need careful research and planning, choosing the right building insulation for the right application, thermal bridges: what they are and how to break them in buildings, choose spray foam with the safest blowing agents, Passive House using Larsen trusses on the exterior of the wall (see video), how to install exterior siding so walls can dry, look in our discussion forum and maybe ask a question of your own here, How to choose between OSB and Plywood sheathing for Walls. , warm, and is a vapor barrier, so do n't just walk into a supply. Or a homeowner, if you have a wall failure is by putting it in the wall before siding... Consider adding thermal insulation under the siding is installed ; install insulated vinyl.. 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