Im a DIY’er with a couple basic questions before I reinsulate.
Fist of all, I removed a few large areas of lath and plaster on my 100yr old home. The original insulation was just shredded newspaper, sandwiched between two pieces of kraft paper. Behind the insulation is black building paper which envelopes the house. It’s just like construction paper. Behind that are planks and then the stucco.
The problem is that the building paper has completely disitegrated in a few areas. How critical is it to replace the paper in these areas? I was planning on replacing the insulation with unfaced R13 fiberglass batts and a vapor barrier. If the paper does need to be replaced in the damaged areas, what should I use and how can I run it between the studs and the planks on the outside of the house?
Thanks.
Replies
Actaully here in Minnesota it's a good thing it did.. that paper is on the wrong side.. (trapping moisture rather than releasing it)
Consider instead of Fiberglas having the walls foamed better R value and some other gains. (among them stiffer,stronger, quieter walls..)
If not over stuff the walls.. use R 19 instead of R 13.. while you won't get a full R 19 rating it will be an improvement over R13
"Actaully here in Minnesota it's a good thing it did.. that paper is on the wrong side.."NO. NO, NO.Building paper (felt, tar paper) is not a vapor retarder, but a weather barrier.The weather barrier goes on the outside.It really should be contiguous on the outside of the studs. So I don't if trying to replace sections from the inside will work or not.But probably better than nothing..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
In that you have a stucco exterior--and assuming it's in good shape and that doors and windows are properly flashed and caulked--I wouldn't use the word 'critical' to describe the need to replace that felt. It is a good idea to do so, but as Bill mentioned, it's not going to be possible to put it on over the studs without ripping off the entire outside of the house--not a realistic proposition at all.
What you should do is replace the felt from the inside, and cut it to fit as well as possible. Just staple it in place though; resist the urge to seal it in with canned foam or pitch or whatever.
When the felt was applied as the house was built, it was laid horizontally and 'shingled' down the framing, so that it would repel wind to some extent but mainly shed any water that got behind the sheathing. But those unsealed horizontal joints let the wall cavity breathe out at the same time, which is important.
You will be installing the new strips of felt vertically. That means there won't be any lateral laps for trapped moisture to escape through; there will only be the seams between the edges of the felt and studs on each side of the stud bays. Don't seal those seams.
Yes, that may allow some drafts to come through, but your vapour barrier on the inside of the wall should stop those from infiltrating the heated space. More to the point, if you do seal those seams, you're likely to have rot and mould problems in that wall in a very few years.
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foolish men call Justice....
For your cliimate, the VB should be on the interior anyways. Located where the black poaper was, I am not sure if ity was good or bad.
There is FG insulation that is rated R-15 for a 2x4 wall, but your best insulation wouyld be to use sprayed in closed cell foam, ot dense pak cellulose, or BIBBs( blown in blanket system - chopped fiberglass)
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