A couple of years ago a raccoon ripped open an eave vent in a cathedral
ceiling next to the chimney and just above a casement window and moved
in. It took awhile for me to catch on. I eventually caught and
relocated several raccoons and had the vent repaired. I sleep just
beneath that cathedral ceiling in the loft. B4 the repair I was able to
sit in the casement window and hold a digital camera in the hole and
snap a few pictures. It appeared that any insulation in there had been
pushed back. I'm guessing fiberglass batts. The repair was combined
with re-siding several months later, and the insulation was never
replaced (my bad). I can confirm this in both winter and summer by
reaching up and feeling the temp differential in that one 16"? run in
the ceiling. I can touch the ceiling from the loft. I'm thinking about
cutting a wide hole through the ceiling sheetrock and blowing some
cellulose into that run. How doable is this (inside the house), and
what alternatives are there?

p.s. there is some chance that I may reroof in the near future (hail
damage). This roof is 2 1/2 stories up. Would it be easier to do this
repair then? Of course the roofers in this area are swamped and want to
do the roof and run to the next job.

"finding z0" wrote:

The repair was combined
with re-siding several months later, and the insulation was never
replaced (my bad). I can confirm this in both winter and summer by
reaching up and feeling the temp differential in that one 16"? run in
the ceiling. I can touch the ceiling from the loft. I'm thinking about
cutting a wide hole through the ceiling sheetrock and blowing some
cellulose into that run. How doable is this (inside the house), and
what alternatives are there?

You might want to consider just buying a couple of cans of expanding foam and
drill some small holes in the drywall. Read the label to figure out how much you
need - overfilling is not a good idea.

Is there any provision for ventilation within the rafter cavities (for
example, soffit and ridge vents)?

Many cathedral ceilings have some provision to circulate air under the
roof sheeting, for example:

http://www.cwc.ca/design/building_sc...igure-6.12.gif

and if yours has such provision, you don't want to defeat it by
stuffing the space with insulation.

Michael Thomas
Paragon Home Inspection, LLC
Chicago, IL
mdtATparagoninspectsDOTcom
847-475-5668

MDT at Paragon Home Inspections, LLC wrote:
Is there any provision for ventilation within the rafter cavities (for
example, soffit and ridge vents)?

Many cathedral ceilings have some provision to circulate air under the
roof sheeting, for example:

http://www.cwc.ca/design/building_sc...igure-6.12.gif

and if yours has such provision, you don't want to defeat it by
stuffing the space with insulation.

This is a half roof with the eave vents at the top and bottom eaves.
It covers a large second floor room, with a loft space near its upper
edge. We sleep up there.One would have to be careful not to overfill
the space, and to leave room at both eave vent ends as well so as not
to block the circulation.

This is a half roof with the eave vents at the top and bottom eaves.
It covers a large second floor room, with a loft space near its upper
edge. We sleep up there.One would have to be careful not to overfill
the space, and to leave room at both eave vent ends as well so as not
to block the circulation.

By "half roof", are you referring to the sloped portion of the ceiling
above a knee wall, like the portion to the right of the knee wall in
this illustration?

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/p.../knee-wall.gif

Michael Thomas
Paragon Home Inspection, LLC
Chicago, IL
mdtATparagoninspectsDOTcom
847-475-5668

MDT at Paragon Home Inspections, LLC wrote:

By "half roof", are you referring to the sloped portion of the ceiling
above a knee wall, like the portion to the right of the knee wall in
this illustration?

Looks more like the left side of the illustration in your first post.
The loft area is under the upper portion. Most of the room is below the
rest. It's easy to reach the ceiling up there. There probably is still
insulation in the rest of the run toward the bottom. After all, what
would a raccon do with it anyway...