Scott Jacobs’ 1,100-sq. ft. Cape is a perfect candidate for an energy upgrade. The 90-year-old house is gutted, and Jacobs wants to insulate it well even if his budget is not unlimited.
The house, located in Climate Zone 6, now has a 1/2-in. thick layer of rigid foam on the exterior walls. Jacobs’ plan is to insulate the house from the inside with spray polyurethane foam.
“This is my problem,” Jacobs writes in a Q&A post at GreenBuildingAdvisor. “Three companies have provided estimates now. Two say open-cell foam, 7 in. to 8 in., on the roof and 3.75 in. on the walls. One company just quoted 7 in. open-cell foam on the roof and 2 in. closed-cell foam on walls. Estimates vary between $4,500 and $5,500.”
First, Jacobs wonders, how do the 2 in. of closed-cell foam compare with 3 3/4 in. of open-cell foam? And second, for someone with not much money to spend, would installing rigid foam insulation in the rafter bays himself be a reasonable option?
That’s the topic for this month’s Q&A Spotlight. Read the entire article here. Be sure to check out the comments section. It contains some really interesting informatioin pro and con.
