On Apr 30, 8:15 pm, BZ wrote:
Chris Lewis wrote:
How warm do you want it to be? About the cheapest, but still pretty
good, you could install 15" unfaced batts, and line the inside with
vapor barrier. That's better than Kraft faced batts. You'll
lose a small amount of R having to compress the batts slightly, but the
loss would be minimal.

I called a radio call-in show about home repairs, and the host said to
just buy the wider Kraft paper batt insulation and cut it with a utility
knife. He said it cuts very easily once compressed, and gave me a
simple method for doing so. Yeah, it's a hassle, but it's not a big
one, and it'll end up being the least expensive way to get the job done.
I've got a few places where I can use the cut pieces, so it won't all
go to waste.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Set up a sheet of plywood on
some sawhorses. Line up the batt on the edge of the plywood, measure
the width, and use a straitedge (like a rip of plywood) to compress
the batt so you can cut it. A utility knife will work, but even
better is something like an OLFA with the blade extended. i find it
best to add 1/2" to the width. Use production mentality--measure all
your stud cavities at once, and stand in one place and cut as many as
you can. Won't take long at all. I believe John Mansville has the
prescored batts which would be even better. Yeah spray foam is great,
but it's a lot of work, expense, and mess, and how good do you need
this to be?