I'm a mechanical engineer and I like your strategy! Combining all the insulation types, depending on the application. Many just bury a home with spray foam, which can be a disaster. I saw one of your vids with Home Depot house wrap. I'm curious if you have identified good quality, but more affordable wraps? Maybe a video? Most all of the box store wraps I see are woven. IE, junk! Tyvek and Typar is what I spec due to the non-woven comp, with a perm rating. It's expensive though! I think you absolutely get it, that air seal has to be a big priority in proper insulation.
Thank you! Tyvek is the best stuff but you're right it's expensive. The stuff we use is inexpensive box store woven stuff like you said. We don't need it to shed water like in a true exterior application. We use it primarily to secure the batts in place in a sturdy fashion and then provide an air barrier over them to reduce wind washing inside those spaces because they're almost always ventilated. I don't know of an inexpensive, high quality, non-woven house wrap though. The job those wraps have to do is pretty important, so I'd probably just spend the cash. Andy
I knew it was certainly a great idea to subscribe to your channel! I even got my notifications set for when a new vid is uploaded! Thank you for these insulation tips !
beyond air leaks, it seems putting the foam board along the bottom essentially brings that duct and the joist space underneath it "into the envelope"? i have a similar setup where i have ducts running in a joist bay (2x8 joists) where i can't easily get fiberglass insulation underneath. foam board and foam like what you;re doing seems like it would work well enough to protect the duct and still give some insulation to the ceiling underneath
You are absolutely correct, it brings it "into the envelope / conditioned space of the home." It sounds like you've been reading up on your building science, nice work! So yes if you foam board off / isolate the sections that you can't get to with foam board and foam sealant that will be a huge boost in efficiency for you. Andy
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 haha, thank you. Yeah, i got an obscene quote to seal and insulate my attic (35k for 2500 sq ft of a challenging attic). so I'm DIY and learning a lot from your videos. Do you have an opinion on froth packs vs the newish Spray foam can insulation likely stanely has? other vidoes on youtube show they work well enough and little more beginner friendly. plus its easier to carry a foam gun around an attic vs two little propane tanks. thanks for all the videos, they're very appreciated!
@@donjay5216 You've just educated me. I've never seen this product before but just watched a video. For a homeowner I would definitely recommend using this over tanks. The tanks are HARD to maneuver in an attic and make the chances of a slip and fall through a ceiling higher for sure. Definitely use a good respirator with chem rated cartridges (full face is the best option) and also make sure to get that duct fairly clean first. If there's duct wrap on it now remove that stuff first. That's an obscene quote to do your attic! We would come in at half that and likely even less. What part of the country are you in? Fire away if you have more questions. I also just added links to a few products beneath the video. Andy
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 awesome thanks for the advice on that foam, i'll go in that direction. im in Long Island NY, quote was by a franchisee of the other guy with all the good videos, but i think i got the "we're busy go away quote". it is a complicated attic though. 2400 sq ft, 3 separate access points. pull out old stuff, air seal, add soffits, 40' of knee wall, 80 recessed lights, need to build access to one part of attic. the works. happy new years and thanks for all the help
Here are links to products that can be used for this. The first is a Stanley spray foam kit. Watch the youtube video for how to use it. I have not used this product but it looks like it would work well www.amazon.com/dp/B0D984XDK8/ref=twister_B0DMNTMVVW?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 Additional Option: Vega Foam Fire Spray Foam also on Amazon Traditional 2 part spray foam kit from Home Depot: www.homedepot.com/p/FROTH-PAK-210-Spray-Foam-Sealant-Insulation-Kit-12031897/320450849?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&srsltid=AfmBOopwH9yghfe3QGzmR_lc6tIi2CdrGtUoAYmWEaJ7FMC_IZxcvU-q_jg&gQT=1 Full Face Mask and respirator: You can buy more expensive ones from 3M, but this looks like it would do the job: www.amazon.com/LJSXFI-Full-Face-Gas-Mask/dp/B0C145L2W9/ref=sr_1_6_pp?crid=REP934BLQS5P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3wdKmmoTA5QJYC_xCKdLcrXuky7z7jHgqzari3sGCsjaRluQKpIBbTKbhuqmY1FjJCyjgJEirmXukAoAWskycRRttwWteqad8grlxbO_M3a-dmY3VOsjPMZKjDggbcJxRNUjrct5d9UqYFRM8m7HUz3kf7QctVmmA6Zwm2kmaGM58hHrz5_qdInGhxM6rC66FBZmmjY6g3CHDV7bAOAsFCfT-rlTkX1jmnQ3hmWVY5NpjiHHgC0hL2g4oCOmjRy5WL1N2zndqME1Uf5ldNg5erWrxTJ9jrQvtz9QhBi9P3zyBYFvWpMAU38I8n0C9uYUyS9w1eKnbESNbp49_nZ1zpl6Sk3fAwq0Nv88TyNqnnx7mJBEZRSWFqJWjyuSYBUWyZRM8IXEjVMZ39neMv23VWBWUTIRO82f-NtBUXLR1n9QWbFiuJsCQ33pmzQy864p.9xN-Uqr3iSOr1AwZ8146hVnnosU8A6oKgb0uqlL7CA4&dib_tag=se&keywords=full+face+mask&qid=1736346778&sprefix=full+face+mask%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-6
I'm a mechanical engineer and I like your strategy! Combining all the insulation types, depending on the application. Many just bury a home with spray foam, which can be a disaster. I saw one of your vids with Home Depot house wrap. I'm curious if you have identified good quality, but more affordable wraps? Maybe a video? Most all of the box store wraps I see are woven. IE, junk! Tyvek and Typar is what I spec due to the non-woven comp, with a perm rating. It's expensive though! I think you absolutely get it, that air seal has to be a big priority in proper insulation.
Thank you! Tyvek is the best stuff but you're right it's expensive. The stuff we use is inexpensive box store woven stuff like you said. We don't need it to shed water like in a true exterior application. We use it primarily to secure the batts in place in a sturdy fashion and then provide an air barrier over them to reduce wind washing inside those spaces because they're almost always ventilated.
I don't know of an inexpensive, high quality, non-woven house wrap though. The job those wraps have to do is pretty important, so I'd probably just spend the cash.
Andy
I knew it was certainly a great idea to subscribe to your channel! I even got my notifications set for when a new vid is uploaded! Thank you for these insulation tips !
Awesome! Thank you!
beyond air leaks, it seems putting the foam board along the bottom essentially brings that duct and the joist space underneath it "into the envelope"? i have a similar setup where i have ducts running in a joist bay (2x8 joists) where i can't easily get fiberglass insulation underneath. foam board and foam like what you;re doing seems like it would work well enough to protect the duct and still give some insulation to the ceiling underneath
You are absolutely correct, it brings it "into the envelope / conditioned space of the home." It sounds like you've been reading up on your building science, nice work! So yes if you foam board off / isolate the sections that you can't get to with foam board and foam sealant that will be a huge boost in efficiency for you.
Andy
@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 haha, thank you. Yeah, i got an obscene quote to seal and insulate my attic (35k for 2500 sq ft of a challenging attic). so I'm DIY and learning a lot from your videos.
Do you have an opinion on froth packs vs the newish Spray foam can insulation likely stanely has? other vidoes on youtube show they work well enough and little more beginner friendly. plus its easier to carry a foam gun around an attic vs two little propane tanks.
thanks for all the videos, they're very appreciated!
@@donjay5216 You've just educated me. I've never seen this product before but just watched a video. For a homeowner I would definitely recommend using this over tanks. The tanks are HARD to maneuver in an attic and make the chances of a slip and fall through a ceiling higher for sure. Definitely use a good respirator with chem rated cartridges (full face is the best option) and also make sure to get that duct fairly clean first. If there's duct wrap on it now remove that stuff first. That's an obscene quote to do your attic! We would come in at half that and likely even less. What part of the country are you in? Fire away if you have more questions.
I also just added links to a few products beneath the video.
Andy
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 awesome thanks for the advice on that foam, i'll go in that direction.
im in Long Island NY, quote was by a franchisee of the other guy with all the good videos, but i think i got the "we're busy go away quote". it is a complicated attic though. 2400 sq ft, 3 separate access points. pull out old stuff, air seal, add soffits, 40' of knee wall, 80 recessed lights, need to build access to one part of attic. the works.
happy new years and thanks for all the help
Here are links to products that can be used for this. The first is a Stanley spray foam kit. Watch the youtube video for how to use it. I have not used this product but it looks like it would work well
www.amazon.com/dp/B0D984XDK8/ref=twister_B0DMNTMVVW?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
Additional Option:
Vega Foam Fire Spray Foam also on Amazon
Traditional 2 part spray foam kit from Home Depot:
www.homedepot.com/p/FROTH-PAK-210-Spray-Foam-Sealant-Insulation-Kit-12031897/320450849?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&srsltid=AfmBOopwH9yghfe3QGzmR_lc6tIi2CdrGtUoAYmWEaJ7FMC_IZxcvU-q_jg&gQT=1
Full Face Mask and respirator: You can buy more expensive ones from 3M, but this looks like it would do the job:
www.amazon.com/LJSXFI-Full-Face-Gas-Mask/dp/B0C145L2W9/ref=sr_1_6_pp?crid=REP934BLQS5P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3wdKmmoTA5QJYC_xCKdLcrXuky7z7jHgqzari3sGCsjaRluQKpIBbTKbhuqmY1FjJCyjgJEirmXukAoAWskycRRttwWteqad8grlxbO_M3a-dmY3VOsjPMZKjDggbcJxRNUjrct5d9UqYFRM8m7HUz3kf7QctVmmA6Zwm2kmaGM58hHrz5_qdInGhxM6rC66FBZmmjY6g3CHDV7bAOAsFCfT-rlTkX1jmnQ3hmWVY5NpjiHHgC0hL2g4oCOmjRy5WL1N2zndqME1Uf5ldNg5erWrxTJ9jrQvtz9QhBi9P3zyBYFvWpMAU38I8n0C9uYUyS9w1eKnbESNbp49_nZ1zpl6Sk3fAwq0Nv88TyNqnnx7mJBEZRSWFqJWjyuSYBUWyZRM8IXEjVMZ39neMv23VWBWUTIRO82f-NtBUXLR1n9QWbFiuJsCQ33pmzQy864p.9xN-Uqr3iSOr1AwZ8146hVnnosU8A6oKgb0uqlL7CA4&dib_tag=se&keywords=full+face+mask&qid=1736346778&sprefix=full+face+mask%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-6