Ceiling Insulation

If you want to save money on your energy bills as well as enjoy having a comfortable house throughout the seasons, one of the best ways to do it is to insulate your home. Don’t just focus on insulating your walls; you also need to do ceiling insulation to achieve the results you’re looking for. Insulating the walls but neglecting the ceilings is just wasting time and money. For your work to be effective, you will need to place the insulating material between the walls and along the ceiling. Any crawl spaces, pipes, or wirings should also be wrapped in the insulating material.

However, don’t rush to the nearest hardware store to buy batts and blankets. Remember that not all insulating materials are created equal; some may perform better when installed in specific areas, and different materials will also perform differently. This is why several types of insulation exist for several different purposes. Some materials are better suited for ceiling insulation, while others may work better when applied to walls. Batts, blankets, spray foam, rigid foam panels, and reflective insulation are some of the different types you should be aware of.

If you need to do ceiling insulation, you should first check to see if the ceiling is already finished or unfinished. Fiberglass or rockwool batts and blankets are better suited for installing on unfinished ceilings. It’s relatively inexpensive and can be DIY, but you still need to wear protective clothing because the material is a skin irritant and can be hazardous when it gets into the lungs. Fiberglass batts and blankets typically have R-values ranging from R-2.9 to R-3.8.

Another insulation material you can use for unfinished ceilings are rigid foam panels. These materials will decrease the amount of heat being transferred through wall studs, wood, and other elements in the structure. Rigid foam panels are typically made from polystyrene, polyurethane, or polyisocyanurate, and if you want to use them for insulating walls, they are great for both interior and exterior use. The R-values will range from R-4 to R-6.5 per inch of thickness.

Insulating an existing ceiling is a very tricky and expensive task. It can be done, of course, but the usual method of putting up additional layers of fiberglass batts or blankets or applying spray foam insulation will be inefficient, plus the results won’t be as good. Most of the time, insulating a finished ceiling will involve tearing down a layer to apply the insulation between the layers of panels or plywood. The best option would be to do the insulation while the ceiling has not yet been finished. It will be easier and won’t cost as much as if you do it with an existing ceiling.

If you have an attic, you should also insulate between and over the floor joists to block or reduce heat transfer from the living spaces below the attic. If you can, ask the help of a professional contractor to see if you also need to apply insulation between the knee wall studs, the rafters, and crawl spaces. These areas can be tricky, even for an experienced do-it-yourselfer.

Sound Proof Insulation

We expect our home to be a haven where we can rest and relax after a hard day. However, our home can also be a center of activity where all kinds of noises mix to form a cacophony of sound that can disturb even the soundest of sleepers. Some people don’t really think they need sound proof insulation for their homes until they start being bothered by all the noise coming in. You’d be surprised how many people don’t really consider their homes as a noisy place.

Think about it. Preparing food in the kitchen, people eating in the dining room, people watching TV or listening to the stereo in the living room, and all the other appliances in your home like the dishwasher, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, etc. – all of these create sound and noise that can be an annoying distraction. What’s more, sounds from the outside like cars passing by on the street, pedestrians on the sidewalk, a construction crew working at the next block, and other daily occurrences can all add to the bothersome distraction.

You don’t have to put up with all the noise, however. You can have sound proof insulation installed in your home to combat all those sounds, or if you have the skills and tools, you can also do it yourself. There are several different ways to insulate your home against sound, but they all have some pros and cons to them.

For example, the common materials that people use to insulate their homes against heat or cold, like glasswool (also called fiberglass), can work very well when used as sound proof insulation. They just need to be installed meticulously to perform to their fullest capabilities. Glasswool insulation can help reduce noise that’s coming through the walls, but the material will need to be painstakingly cut and fitted around the pipes, wiring, and other elements inside and in between the walls. Furthermore, all holes and cracks in the walls will need to be sealed to help reduce noise as well.

Generally, fiberglass insulation is not really recognized as an excellent sound insulator, although they do make great insulating material for heat or cold. However, modern technology has allowed manufacturers to create high density glasswool insulation that can offer extraordinary performance for both acoustic and energy purposes. There are glasswool products nowadays that are rated up to R-2.7 for wall installations and up to R-6.0 for ceiling installations.

Installing glasswool or fiberglass insulation alone will not provide high level soundproofing, of course. You will also need to take additional steps such as using solid core wooden doors, tightening up the spaces between the wall and the windows, installing high quality storm windows, and even installing thick carpets. If you install storm windows, take note that the wider the space between the storm window and the primary window, the better it blocks sound from coming in. Also, if you have a wall that faces a busy street, adding another layer or two of drywall to that wall will significantly improve noise reduction.