Insulation is a very key component of the house as it helps keep the heat inside the house
in the winter months and keeps the cool air inside the house in the summer months. There
are two basic ways of having your house insulated. One is to have the insulation blown into
the walls and ceilings after the drywall is on the walls, or to have have strips of insulation
called batts stapled to the 2x6 studs that make up the walls and the bottom 2x4's of the trusses
that make up the ceiling before the drywall is applied.
Here is the insulation after it has been stapled to the 2x6 studs.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. If you have the insulation blown in,
then you can most likely do it yourself as you can usually rent the machine and buy the insulation
yourself. By blowing it into the walls, you will probably get all of the nooks and crannys
in the walls filled completely. The ceilings will have an even layer across the entire area
that you are insulating if you have them filled with blown insulation. However, the drywall needs
to be on the house before you can blow insulation in otherwise the insulation would just fall out
of the wall. This could present a problem if you are drywalling during the winter months as you need
to have the house a minimum temperature for the drywall tape and compound to work. Finally, because
the insulation is blown in as loose particles, it acts much like a bag of potato chips in that it
can settle over time, so you may end up with areas of the walls that no longer have much insulation
in them.
Here is a ceiling after the insulation has been stapled to the trusses.
By insulating the house with batts of insulation, it will take a little longer as the insulation has
to be stapled to the 2x4's that make up the ceiling and the 2x6 studs that make up the walls. It
also has to be cut in order to fit around windows, heating ducts, plumbing fixtures, etc. which all
adds to the time necessary to do the job. Due to the fact that the insulation has to be cut to
fit, some of the insulation may not fit tightly around areas which could allow some air to flow in
and out. Batts of insulation have to be put on before the drywall is applied to the walls, so you
will have no problem with keeping the house at a minimum temperature for the drywall. Batts of
insulation also do not generally settle much over time as the insulation material is attached to
a paper facing that is stapled to the 2x6 studs that make up the walls.
Here is another room with the insulation in stapled to the 2x6 studs.
We went with the batts of insulation as we were getting ready to drywall in the middle of the winter.
We also felt that the settling factor of the blown in insulation might be a factor years from now
and we did not like the prospect of having to blow more insulation in later. The company that
installed the insulation also has a caulk and seal package. The caulk and sealing material is
applied to all of the joints and cracks along the exterior walls of the house. With this package we
felt that the possibilty of the batts of insulation not covering all the nooks and crannies would be
taken care of sufficiently.
If you choose to install the batts of insulation yourself, wear long sleeve shirts and gloves as
some people have alergic reactions to the tiny fibers of fiberglass that make up the batts of
insulation. Also, when installing the insulation in the walls and ceilings, do not staple the
insulation to the face of the studs.
Make sure that you staple the insulation to the inside of the studs so that the drywall can lay
flat against the face of the studs and not on top of staples.