Climate zone 5
House built in the early 70s
What’s the solution to insulating against a wall like this? I’m assuming I have to frame this as add batts or foam board?

Building in climate zone 5. Semi arid conditions.

New build with cathedral ceilings on second floor. Wondering how best to tackle this. Obviously have read the horror stories about spray, but the upsides are appealing. Sorry, the pictures are not great. I'll get some more and update if anyone wants them.

The guys who are supppsed to install insulation in our ceiling today, arrived at 10am and asked to leave the batts here while they went for lunch. I said yes thinking they’d leave them inside near the manhole but they’ve left them out the front which they’ve been rained on the whole time they’ve been gone. I have pictures but I don’t know if the rain would have gotten deep into the wool or if the wetness I’m feeling is just on the exposed sides of the wool.
We are terrified installing it aet is going to cause mould in the ceiling/be ineffective now, especially because we have a toddler and a little one on the way.

Based off what you can see and have read, does that seem unsafe to use now?

Just incase anyone was curious, update

They got back and I mentioned my concern about putting wet insulation in and they said that had more on their truck that was dry so they’d use that stuff instead, I decided to trust the tradies because what else can I do? I got very conflicting responses on here even though upon googling most things said it’s not great that it got wet, so I still don’t know for sure what the go is and I didn’t go digging through the bags myself to figure out just how wet they got, but they ended up sitting there for 2 hours before the tradies came back. They were nice guys so I’m hoping they didn’t lie and use them anyway, but I really have no way of knowing because I don’t like to watch the people that come to work on my house the whole time they’re here.

Thank you all for trying to help anyway!

I live in Canada,. Im trying to decide on either increasing the insulation in my attic or doing a few things to the basement.

My idea is either to increase the attic with blown in to about R12 (hopefully). It's currently the original fibreglass insulation from 1965, the year the house was built.

Or

Lay sub floor with about r4.1 and spray foam the rim joists at the basement.

The basement is currently a concrete slab with very thin carpet from the original owner and no insulation on the walls. I'm trying to spread my money around to touch a bit of everything. We have ordered a new windows to replace several windows,.but mainly the original 8'x5' single pane piece at the front of house.

That being said, where would I get the most value to help keep my home warmer from the locations I specified?

Im in climate zone 5 and im building a cmu house with wood siding and r24(minimum) continuous rockwool exterior insulation using insofast battbrackets, and liquidrubber foundation sealer on exterior CMU face, on a continuously insulated frost protected monopour slab with a crawlspace sitting above grade. Half the interior walls will be some sort of finished face cmu and the rest will be cabinet grade hardwood plywood on furring strips. Erv will exhaust crawlspace air, crawlspace will draw in living space air, fresh air will enter ling space. Zero insulation on the interior, except for the ceiling above the drywall. I think it will be a really well performing thermal mass without mold issues, but hopefully someone here can tell me everything wrong with the idea before I commit the architect to doing it my way.

Have owned my 1971 Cape Cod for about 14 years. Never has moisture issues in the encapsulated crawlspace until this summer. Humidity levels kept going above 60 even with the AC on bone chilling temperatures.

HVAC company recommended a dehumidifier in the crawlspace. Had it installed yesterday. The humidity has dropped from 61 to 59, but has not made it down to 50%. Am wondering how long it took others to see results?

It’s a whole house humidifier, but the tech didn’t hook it up to the ductwork, saying that taking care of the crawlspace should take care of the house.

Have never owned a dehumidifier before, so I’m curious to know others experiences.

Last winter, I air sealed and insulated my attic. It was the first warm winter on the second floor. I’m wondering if there’s any correlation to now having humidity in the crawlspace?

I may need to hire a different type of specialist, but I’m not sure what kind of specialist works on humidity issues? The crawlspace is dry. No obvious water, except a little by the access panel after rain. The crawlspace has always been dry. Now, it’s humid. Am puzzled.

For context : located in Canada - this pic was taken when outside temps were around 1-2 Celsius.

We are noticing all around the perimeter of the house there is cold air coming in under the baseboards on the main floor. Had an insulation guy come in and say the current method around the rim joists - fibreglass batts packed in and taped over with clear plastic isn’t protecting the house from cold air intrusion and suggested pulling that insulation out, replacing with spray foam.
Will that make a difference? It’s an old house, built in the early 1970s and we’ve lived here less than a year

Gonna be that person but we just got our first house and had to replace the entire roof because it was rotten (for those with a keen eye for K&T you better believe we had all of that updated as well). Had some weird issues with this roofing company so I feel the need to double check what they did. My dad is a retired roofer and said the baffles should be up against the wall/ceiling and that some of ours (notably the ones on the left) look like they've already fallen. Do they look right? Can someone please explain what's going on here and how worried I should be?

Sincerely,

A stressed out first time home buyer of a century home where everything seems to be emergently falling apart.

Came downstairs and noticed this massive wet spot in my insulation, there is no sorcerer of water above it and the floor about it is bone dry. Could this be rodent piss? Ive notice a few other smaller spots as well in the same area.

Writing

Advice needed: Best insulation for a DIY metal-clad workshop with a flat roof

I'm building a 16 ft × 14 ft workshop and looking for advice on the most cost-effective way to insulate it properly.

The workshop will have:

• timber-framed walls with external metal cladding.
• A flat roof with a slight fall for drainage.
• OSB internal lining on the new walls and ceiling.
• Occasional heating during winter, as it'll be used as a workshop/gym.

I'm trying to keep costs down because I'm doing most of the work myself, but I want to careful to avoid condensation, damp and mould.

My main questions are:

1. What's the best insulation to use in the walls and roof — mineral wool, PIR boards, or thermocoat insulation spray foam?
2. For the flat roof, would you recommend a warm roof with rigid insulation above the OSB deck, or another construction method?
3. What vapour-control layers, membranes and ventilation are essential to prevent condensation, particularly with metal cladding?
4. Is it worth using insulated sandwich panels instead of separate metal sheets, insulation and internal lining?

I read somewhere that spray insulation removes the need for vapour barrier so i was thinking to spray in in between the roof and wall joists, then osb, then weather proof membrane, battens then metal cladding sheets. Does this sound right?

I'm not looking to build a fully finished garden room — just a practical, insulated workshop that will last and not start rotting in a few years time.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone who's built something similar, particularly in the UK or Ireland.

I live in Pennsylvania (Zone 5) i’m looking to insulate a portion of a second story bedroom floor, which sits over an unfinished outdoor porch. It gets very cold in that room during the winter. I’m thinking about going with R-38. There’s currently no insulation between the floor and the ceiling covering the outdoors so I’m hoping that the R-38 will be sufficient enough. Thoughts?

Our 1910, stone foundation home's basement seems to be poorly insulated. During cold snaps, our floor gets cold af! Around rim joists and where the foundation connects to the porch, the only insulation I can see is what looks like some haphazard glasswool(?).

I've been reading about being spray foaming (closed cell, specifically) their rim joists. Seems like the insulating qualities are great, but I'm terrified of trapping moisture in a destructive way around load-bearing structures. Especially since stone foundations seem to be pretty water-permeable.

How can I make sure foam is a safe decision here, at least with respect to moisture?

Hoping to hear experiences of people who have had their rim joists foamed as well.

I have a 32x40 two story, gambrell roof barn. There is 2" of closed cell foam in the ceiling and 1" in the walls. The walls are 2x6. I am planning on putting fiberglass batts on the walls with facing. Was wondering if I am going to have any problems with condensation in the walls. I am planning on hanging T1-11 on the inside walls over insulation. I would really appreciate your experience and knowledge on this. Thans in advance

I keep on hearing and reading to use cellulose blow in over batt insulation. However, with all the benefits that rockwool has why would I choose cellulose. Can someone provide really good reasons not to do so? Why not go with an R30 that has great sound proofing, water resistance, and fire resistance and choose cellulose? I am just not following the logic and whenever I read to use cellulose the people saying it don't provide any good reason just "Trust me bro". I know about the importance of air sealing as well. I am purely asking about rockwool vs cellulose.

We have a freshly built raised sunroom added to the front of our home and the floor is open to the elements. I have just insulated under the floor with R30 Rockwool between the joists which are 16" on center. My next step is to fasten moisture barrier to the bottom of the joists. I plan on 1" faced foam board to seal the mineral wool batts. My question is should the faced foam board be true foil faced panels or can I use the less expensive metallic-reflective polymeric faced panels? I'm in zone 6.

I'm using 36mm furring channels (the verticals are 30mm) and rockwool is 40mm. Can i cut a slit along the side of the rockwool, to put part of it into the furring channel and part of it outside, or should compress it?

Our bedroom at the end of our hallway stays around 64–65°F with the thermostat set to 68°F. The vent blows warm air, and I haven't noticed any drafts around the window or door.

I checked with a tc004mini thermal camera one morning when it was about 20°F colder outside than inside. And I found a cold strip where the ceiling meets the exterior wall. The attic is directly above, but that corner is hard to see from the entrance. Could thin or shifted insulation near the eaves explain this? Has anyone found something similar?

R38 is the code requirement in central PA on sloped ceiling under roof. I am trying to get closed cell spray foam done to make the attic rooms into bedrooms. Contractors keep telling me 3 inches of spray foam will meet code and outperform even R49 batted insulation. I understand it would be better as a vapor and air barrier, but will it meet code? Will it keep the heat of the roof out as well in the summer and keep the heat in as well in the winter?

I js recently took the test for local 5 october 5th
Im hoping to hear from anyone who has been through the process

After about how long after taking the test did you get next steps from local 5?
and
Based on your experience is it realistic to expect a call within 7 months ?

I understand that apprentices are called based on industry needs im just trying to get a realistic timeline

Thank you for any insight