What should I know before insulating my house?

How much insulation should you use?

If you are planning to insulate your house, there are some important things you need to know so as to make the insulation worth the money and efforts you spend. Going for what your neighbors used or what you saw the most in advertisements is surely not the way to decide what material and what type of house insulation you should be using. Every corner has a new insulation company and we do not know how to decide which one to choose as they all promise the best services. Here are some points that can help you decide the same.

Insulation materials

Not every material available in the market can be bought and put up in your house. There are a few points you must look for while choosing the material for your home insulation:

  • What is its thermal conductivity or R-Value?
  • Is it moisture sensitive?
  • Is it easy to install and replace?
  • Is it durable?
  • What is its toxicity level and flammability?

A good insulation material will have low thermal conductivity or a high R-Value. It will not be moisture sensitive and will be very durable, supporting your insulation system for a lifetime. It is resistant to water, solvents and most of the chemicals and should be labelled as non-flammable. Also, on burning it should not produce any toxic material at all! After going through these points you must decide the type of material to be used. There are few tested and verified residential insulation material sellers which have passed tests for these conditions like Johns Manville, Owens Corning, DOW and few more. Roxul insulation is also a very renowned insulation material provider company. These insulating materials will serve you without failure.

Insulation Type

Once you have selected the material you wish to use, you need to understand that not every part of your home requires the same type of insulation, and each type of insulation uses a different type of technique for the same purpose, insulation. There are different types of insulations such as Spray Foam is used in enclosed existing walls and unfinished attic floor insulation, Fiberglass is used in area that require insulation that can withstand high temperatures, Rigid Insulation is used in floor and ceiling insulation applications, Batt is used in foundation walls and unfinished walls. Mineral wool incorporates two materials; rock wool and slag wool. It has about 75% material made from recycled content. Likewise there is a type of insulation for all the area of your residence or other building.

You must also have the knowledge about R-value. It is the measure of how much resistant a material is to heat flow for a given thickness. Greater R-value gives greater resistance to heat flow. So while deciding the material and type you must also check the R-value. This will help you to decide better.

Installation

Buying a good insulation material and installing it perfectly are two different things. To experience a perfect insulation, you need to have both the things done in the best manner.

Before installing any insulation material you firstly need to check a few things about your building:

 Ventilation: ventilation on the roofs is a must so as to dissipate the heat. But it must be noted that in high humid regions, ventilated roofs may result in excess condensation. Overcome this by installing reflecting foil or Bubble wrap insulation.

 Thermal bridging: The building frame in many regions acts as a thermal bridge which makes conductivity possible. To tackle this problem either polystyrene isolating strips can be installed in between metal frame and cladding with R-value 0.2 or polystyrene boards can be fixed over internal or external surface of the frame.

 Gaps: gaps are a great threat to your insulation. So you must make sure you do not leave even the tiniest gap. To do this you can tape up joints and holes where you have reflective insulation. Where you have wall insulation look make sure it butts into window and door frames.

For ceiling insulation, the insulator material is to be places between joists. Areas of alpine climate are suggested to add two layers of insulation. Care must be taken as at times you will need to access the roof top and so the insulation material should be firm in such a way that it is not damaged at that time. In case of floor insulation, subfloor space is to be enclosed as much as possible. The underside of the floor is to be insulated. Weak points while insulating your house can be the crawl spaces. These are spaces left under the roof or the floor for wiring and plumbing purposes. Crawl space insulation must be done in a much planned way so as to keep a balance between the insulation and the wirings. If at any point of time you find difficulty in installation or have any confusion regarding the material to be used, you must seek the advice of professionals who will give you the right information and will provide you with trained qualified contractors.

Where do I get these services?

You can get the materials of your choice, information and fixing services at the site www.insulation4us.com. You can pick and choose the required service and if your delivery costs more than $600, you will get a free delivery nationwide. We have experienced staff that will assist you in choosing the correct materials for your job. You do not build your house many times in a lifetime so making the best at the very beginning should be the motive. You can read customer reviews, look at pictures and order accordingly. Our support team is at your service 24x7 whether it is information or other help you require regarding your residential insulation!

If you keep these things in your while insulating your home, you will hardly face any difficulty in the future and you will get a conduction-free house all season. A right step now will bear you good fruit in the future!