Insulation idea

[mpeckhem]

I've been working on making my house more energy efficient. Last year I blew in a foot of insulation in the attic, the year before I replaced all of the door and windows, I've been trying to insulate every nook and cranny I can find and my house still feels cool in the winter.

My house has NO siding on it, all of the soffit needs to be replaced, which are all 24" overhangs. I have 4" exterior walls, what if I took and lined the entire outside of my house with 2x2"s and 1-1/2"x 24"x96" styrofoam insulation panels.

I know I would have to line the entire bottom edge with wood and flash it to keep bugs out of it, and all of my windows were just put in the year before last, they all have the nailing stips on the outside, so at this point they would be fairly easy to pull each one back out and bring it to the outside edge, then build deeper window jambs on the inside of the house, (which has no trim on right now). basically it would be taking my walls from 4" walls to 6" walls, then house wrap and siding. What kind of opinion do you guys (or gals) have on this,

Do you think it would be a beneficail improvement. or does anyone have any ideas for something better?

 

[Steve]

You'll need to ask this on an American Forum. Your building codes and techniques are different to ours, and there aren't many timber frame experts in the UK (except people who prefabricate sheds).

Sorry!

 

[noseall]

Adding a skin will certainly make a difference. Make sure you use vapour barrier internally and breathable membrane externally. I would be thinking in terms of 75-100mm (3-4") of rigid foam board insulation.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

What you need to be careful of is getting the ballance right between sealing your house tight and the problem caused by condensations, condensation can cause timber rot, mildew and mold.
But as this a UK bias site may be recommended to try google USA site with more experience in this type of work. I have worked on a lot of timber frame buildings in the past but the methods used and the terminology is different.

 

[Deluks]

You say your house has no siding (cladding) what does it have??

Fixing the styrofoam panels on the outside would probably help, provided you kept the insulation consistent all the way round with no weak spots, you will need to insulate the windows reveals as well.

You'll be able to fix siding directly to the styrofoam, long screws through, and into the timber battens, 2x1 would be enough.

All this assumes that the timber frame has insulation between the studwork.