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In the first picture a bypass is created by the recessed lighting can. Also, by stapling the kraft paper facing to the sides of the ceiling joist,(wall studs), it creates a gap between the insulation and the wall board which allows air currents within the rafter/stud bays. I’m not sure if the kraft paper is useful however it’s attatched. What have I missed?
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In the first picture a bypass is created by the recessed lighting can. Also, by stapling the kraft paper facing to the sides of the ceiling joist,(wall studs), it creates a gap between the insulation and the wall board which allows air currents within the rafter/stud bays. I'm not sure if the kraft paper is useful however it's attatched. What have I missed?
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What are those little valleys between the FG and the stud for that are formed by stapling the insulation back to the unfaced surface?
*F/g in Kraft bags sucks. . . so what else is new???i Home fer lunch on a cold wiiindy day!!
*Whenever I've installed kraft-faced FG, I've stapled the "flaps" of the kraft facing directly to the "front" of the studs or rafters (i.e. the surface that the sheetrock will attach to). This allows the FG to fluff up in the entire cavity and provides a more continuous vapor barrier. Stabling the kraft-facing to the inside of the studs compresses the FG at the edges, and it's tough to get the kraft edges attached without leaving gaps where it bunches up between staples. I've seen it done both ways, but the 40yr old insulation in my walls was done the same way as in the picture, and it has not stood the test of time well.
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Pardon my new-ness (in every sense of the word). I have heard that drywall should be glued and screwed to the ceiling rafters. While I agree, stapling the fg "inside" the rafters defeats the effectiveness of insultation and provides a defective vapor barrier, doesn't the sheetrock itself act as an efficient vapor barrier?? With the fg stapled "on the bottom" of the rafters, the gluing surface is compromised. Perhaps the insulation should be blown in on top of the sheet rock so that it fills in the cavities effectively.
-michael in Iowa
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Boy, are you going to be Fred's favorite!
Rich Beckman
*No one mentioned the blocking - R7 or so. And what about the 2x's short circuiting as well.Fred - Aside from the fact that there is an 18" stretch of uninsulated bay around the light; Is it possible to still seal the fixture to provide enough of an air barrier to negate the need for a vapor barrier? Can you recommend any good reading on airtight drywall application?-Rob
*OK Fred....now that we've tried, will you give us the "true" answer to the IQ test? BTW, a few more pictures would have been helpful.
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Fred,
I'd be concerned about the moisture from the bathroom?/dryer? vents getting sucked into the gable vents. My suggestion: Get rid of the gable vents!
SteveB
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E-Vent-full-E it Vil hav such great "chimney effect" suction that thee children vil hav to vear seatbelts while watching their ten hours of TV per day, No?
Jack
*The gable ventsi arecunningly arranged. . . do I smell a designer???
*Nope. Ugly greenish color is an eyesore, and cheapo "storm windows" indicate bad insulation news to follow.
*She's rotten to the bone...no buy...Send me the bones or send them to Blue to restock.Jack
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I wouldn't buy it because I don't like it's looks. But if I had to come up with some technical reasons I could. Looking closely at the wall, I see a few things: 1)The large vent has stains on it-are they moisture related? Mold? 2) The location of the exhaust vents is probably higher than the ceiling joists. Any moisture condensing in the duct would run back to the inside or leak to the insulation. Did that cause the stains? 3) The wall has a few hulas in it-or is that a bump in your flat bed scanner? 4) Now if I'm supposed to see something reflected in the glass that's just expecting too much!
40 & near sighted, SteveB
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Geez! A guy gets here just one hour and twenty minutes after the question and it is all over. But for the record, after I read "carefully composed", I knew it was bad on the grounds that the three and two vents were NOT normal.
Rich Beckman
*You've got to get better resolution on those pictures if you expect us to pick up on some of these "hints". I've got 20/10 vision, and I can't make out enough details to make a logical guess, based upon the first picture.
*Ya. . . in the movie i The Great Escape
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Hey, how did you get a picture of my attic?
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Probably rifled your web site
*No! In the moviei The Blob!Rich Beckman
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Fred;
The whole
i picture
has me intriqued. Is that an air handler in a commercial building holding up that pile of glass? I see what appears to be a sprinkler system or is that black iron just for holding down the structure?
Back to the question. NO, not exactly, but I've seen similar cases to add to your book "1 million usages for fiberglass bats other than insulation" or "Fiberglass, Not just for insulation anymore".
How many times have you gone into a suspended ceiling to find fiberglass bats laying on top of the panels, kraft paper surface down, of course?
Maybe we can get it declared as dangerous as asbestos and banned?
Cheers; JE
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WOW!!!
I say go with an open soffit, it's going to be coming down soon anyways. Then add some of those heat tapes to keep the ice off. That'll fix it.
Too bad they didn't bother to insulate the trunk leaving the (here's the guess) unit heater/air handler. Won't all those wires have a corresponding hole from a spade bit (probably 3/4") to contend with? What was the delta-T between the attic space and the outdoors? My guess - ten degrees F
-Rob
P.S. - I notice the venting has prevented framing rot though!
*"It was "designed" to cope with" the ice in the picture. Does the "it" refer to the mystery object or to the fiberglass over the object.I'm assuming "it" refers to the fiberglass. The mystery object is the furnace, and the fiberglass is an attempt to keep the furnace from heating the attic. Rich Beckman
*Neeto - vents as scuppers.
*I definitely enjoy this thread. I would suggest however, that each new problem be it's own thread. Either way, feel free to post more if you like!Thanks,Rich Beckman
*Fred - I noticed the retrofitted vent!! Really I did. I also noticed it's installed so that it will catch wind blown snow, scoop it up into the attic and cool the furnace. Genius for sure - we just don't get it.-Rob
*OK I'll go first. A recessed light, hopefully IC rated, that is not sealed very well. Though nice try with the blown-in cels on the fg.-Rob
*Yep. Gotta be a can.Steve
*Just thinking the flex duct can't leak. It is wrapped in plastic right? Nothing to worry about there.-Rob
*I have to guess some sort of light fixture or can also. The best clue being the short piece of wire just "this side" of the object. Is that a crumpled piece of paper just to the left of the flashlight beam?Rich Beckman
*Just to be different, I'll guess a really badly installed bathroom fan.
*What happened to the First Picture? It is hard to follow the discussion without it.
*Fred,Just out of curiousity, how did you "fix" it?
*Are you referring to building a sheetrock box above & around the can? In the places where we have recessed lights, I have IC-rated fixtures, w/ a seal around the hole in the ceiling, and FG stacked loosely around it. Is there a method you would recommend instead?
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Test your insulation IQ. What's wrong with this picture?
*Its FG