Vapor Barrier Attic Floor

There s some carpets on the floor of the attic with no insulation between the attic floor and main floor.

Vapor barrier attic floor. Vapor barriers are sheets of plastic or other material placed on one side of insulation sheets. In areas with high humidity such as greenhouses rooms with spas or swimming pools and bathrooms vapor barriers are often recommended. To know if you need a vapor retarder ask yourself a few basic questions. We wanted the attic to be somewhat part of our living space i e.

Whether or not you need a vapor retarder hinges on three main factors your climate your home and the location of the wall you re insulating. Ceiling or floor during the cold winter. This barrier is meant to keep moisture from getting to the insulation in the walls and ceilings and it is required by building codes when insulating most houses. The department of energy recommends these minimum r values for unfinished unconditioned attics.

Do i need a vapor barrier. My question is should iuse a vapor barrier inthe attic floor. The previous owner has 1 foam insulation with a a plastic vapor barrier only on the rafters of the roof about4 from the slate roof but not on the walls of the attic. Begin the process of fitting a vapor barrier for attic insulation by preparing the space for the job.

In cold climates a vapor barrier is almost always needed. In any case the vapor barrier must point to the warm side. In mixed climate areas the vapor barrier is optional depending on the total design of a building. Notches holes in joists.

It s about 50 degrees in the winter. The facing on faced insulation acts as a vapor retarder. Should you put a vapor barrier in an insulated ceiling or not. I build in a cold climate where many longtime builders swear that you shouldn t put a ceiling vapor barrier in.

Most authorities recommend vapor barriers in certain situations. Avoid adding interior vapor barriers where the outer wall construction already includes a material with vapor barrier properties.