Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

I have a vinyle sided house built in 1998. It has 2x4 walls. We put a plastic vapor barrier on the inside of the walls then filled the space between the studs with batt insulation. (unfaced). The outer wall is osb with no house wrap. On top of the osb is vinyle siding.

I have a small corner of my house where a bedroom window that is broken is. I need to replace the window. That got me wondering, would it be beneficial to remove the siding in this area, replace the entire window, then cover the osb with one inch foam insulating board like you buy at lowes? Then cover with that house wrap material? Then re install vinyle siding. My thought would be to do this a little at a time over the summer until each area around the house has the additional foam board.

Is this worth doing? Will it cause a problem with window/door fit? At lowes it looked like this reflective board is only r.2. The r value goes up with a 3/4 inch air gap but I am not sure how this is done. It jumps to r 6.2 with this gap.

Just trying to make things more comfortable and lower my bills.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

the existing siding will e too small, because the outside of the house will be larger.

around here the foam board is commonly installed to save energy then covered with new siding

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On Monday, February 24, 2014 10:28:14 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I have a vinyle sided house built in 1998. It has 2x4 walls. We put a plastic vapor barrier on the inside of the walls then filled the space between the studs with batt insulation. (unfaced). The outer wall is osb with no house wrap. On top of the osb is vinyle siding.



I have a small corner of my house where a bedroom window that is broken is. I need to replace the window. That got me wondering, would it be beneficial to remove the siding in this area, replace the entire window, then cover the osb with one inch foam insulating board like you buy at lowes? Then cover with that house wrap material? Then re install vinyle siding. My thought would be to do this a little at a time over the summer until each area around the house has the additional foam board.



Is this worth doing? Will it cause a problem with window/door fit? At lowes it looked like this reflective board is only r.2. The r value goes up with a 3/4 inch air gap but I am not sure how this is done. It jumps to r 6.2 with this gap.



Just trying to make things more comfortable and lower my bills.

3.5" of fiberglass gives you about R13
If you had 2 x 6 construction you'd have about R19
I doubt that adding R2 is worth it. But there are 1"
rigid insulation products with much higher, eg R6 rating.
If I was going to do it, that's what I'd be using. The obvious
issues are how to deal with the increased thickness vs siding,
windows, etc.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

Plus, I would focus on beafing up the attic insulation and sealing the upstairs plane. With less heat rising upstairs you'll feel less drafts downstairs.

Drafts under your ground floor doors are symptom of excess openings in the "top" of your building.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On Monday, February 24, 2014 9:28:14 AM UTC-6, wrote:
I have a vinyle sided house built in 1998. It has 2x4 walls. We put a plastic vapor barrier on the inside of the walls then filled the space between the studs with batt insulation. (unfaced). The outer wall is osb with no house wrap. On top of the osb is vinyle siding.



I have a small corner of my house where a bedroom window that is broken is. I need to replace the window. That got me wondering, would it be beneficial to remove the siding in this area, replace the entire window, then cover the osb with one inch foam insulating board like you buy at lowes? Then cover with that house wrap material? Then re install vinyle siding. My thought would be to do this a little at a time over the summer until each area around the house has the additional foam board.



Is this worth doing? Will it cause a problem with window/door fit? At lowes it looked like this reflective board is only r.2. The r value goes up with a 3/4 inch air gap but I am not sure how this is done. It jumps to r 6.2 with this gap.



Just trying to make things more comfortable and lower my bills.

How will the siding be too small? Wouldn't it be hidden by the corners at the ends of the run?

Is it possible to get deeper j channel so as too handel the problem around windows and doors? Just brainstorming. I have not done any of this before.

My attic has a bonus room. it is insulated with r-13 between the rafters so as to allow air to flow through on top of it.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On 2/24/2014 10:28 AM, wrote:
I have a vinyle sided house built in 1998. It has 2x4 walls. We put a plastic vapor barrier on the inside of the walls then filled the space between the studs with batt insulation. (unfaced). The outer wall is osb with no house wrap. On top of the osb is vinyle siding.

I have a small corner of my house where a bedroom window that is broken is. I need to replace the window. That got me wondering, would it be beneficial to remove the siding in this area, replace the entire window, then cover the osb with one inch foam insulating board like you buy at lowes?

Then cover with that house wrap material? Then re install vinyle siding. My thought would be to do this a little at a time over the summer until each area around the house has the additional foam board.

Is this worth doing? Will it cause a problem with window/door fit? At lowes it looked like this reflective board is only r.2. The r value goes up with a 3/4 inch air gap but I am not sure how this is done. It jumps to r 6.2 with this gap.

Just trying to make things more comfortable and lower my bills.


Take a look at www.insofast.com for an idea. It is thicker than you
want, but they can accommodate your existing window from what I saw.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

wrote in
:

I have a vinyle sided house built in 1998. It has 2x4 walls. We put a
plastic vapor barrier on the inside of the walls then filled the space
between the studs with batt insulation. (unfaced). The outer wall is
osb with no house wrap. On top of the osb is vinyle siding.

I have a small corner of my house where a bedroom window that is
broken is. I need to replace the window. That got me wondering, would
it be beneficial to remove the siding in this area, replace the entire
window, then cover the osb with one inch foam insulating board like
you buy at lowes? Then cover with that house wrap material? Then re
install vinyle siding. My thought would be to do this a little at a
time over the summer until each area around the house has the
additional foam board.

Is this worth doing? Will it cause a problem with window/door fit? At
lowes it looked like this reflective board is only r.2. The r value
goes up with a 3/4 inch air gap but I am not sure how this is done. It
jumps to r 6.2 with this gap.

Just trying to make things more comfortable and lower my bills.

Keeping in mind what others have commented, another possibility:

1.5 inches thick - Tyvek Thermawrap R5.0 Insulating Housewrap


http://www.builderonline.com/insulat...wrap-r5-0.aspx

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

If you build a small model, you will find that the siding is too short by the thickness of the siding on the adjacent corner. Unless you have corner molding that is wide enough to hide the increased wall thickness, you will have a problem with what you are proposing. If you could put rigid 1" foam insulation on the inside walls and then cover that with new sheetrock, you would lose about 2 inches total in length and width of the interior of the house without having to do all the work of removing and then residing.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On Monday, February 24, 2014 10:07:47 PM UTC-6, wrote:
If you build a small model, you will find that the siding is too short by the thickness of the siding on the adjacent corner. Unless you have corner molding that is wide enough to hide the increased wall thickness, you will have a problem with what you are proposing. If you could put rigid 1" foam insulation on the inside walls and then cover that with new sheetrock, you would lose about 2 inches total in length and width of the interior of the house without having to do all the work of removing and then residing.

Is there a way to purchase a wider corner jam to hide the difference? Maybe it is not worth it. It was an idea to do on a small north sided wall where I have to replace a window anyway. Maybe it is not worth fooling with.

I would purchase new siding to make up the difference, but there is no way I could find siding that matches since the siding is tan and was put on in 1998.

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On Monday, February 24, 2014 10:07:47 PM UTC-6, wrote:
If you build a small model, you will find that the siding is too short by the thickness of the siding on the adjacent corner. Unless you have corner molding that is wide enough to hide the increased wall thickness, you will have a problem with what you are proposing. If you could put rigid 1" foam insulation on the inside walls and then cover that with new sheetrock, you would lose about 2 inches total in length and width of the interior of the house without having to do all the work of removing and then residing.

Is there a way to keep from having to modify the window?

Adding insulation by foam board to existing house?
 

On Monday, February 24, 2014 10:07:47 PM UTC-6, wrote:
If you build a small model, you will find that the siding is too short by the thickness of the siding on the adjacent corner. Unless you have corner molding that is wide enough to hide the increased wall thickness, you will have a problem with what you are proposing. If you could put rigid 1" foam insulation on the inside walls and then cover that with new sheetrock, you would lose about 2 inches total in length and width of the interior of the house without having to do all the work of removing and then residing.

Is it hard to take off vinyle siding and reinstall and get it to look okay? Or is the vinyle destroyed when trying to remove it?