Attic Bonus Room Insulation

The solar guard goes over the insulation on the attic side.

Attic bonus room insulation.

How to insulate a finished attic. Bonus rooms are often the least comfortable room in a house and the main reason is that they are the most flawed part of the building envelope especially the attic kneewalls. This allows at least half of the reflective insulation to do it s job since it requires a 1 or larger air gap on each side to be a radiant barrier and provide some r value. Depending on the room s exact location commonly in an attic or basement and sometimes over the garage there s likely some.

This insulation should only be installed by trained professionals. Yes i know radiant barrier r value is. But if you want the absolute best insulation value there is no approach to insulating a bonus room that tops spray foam insulation. Room to room temperature variations are far more influenced by duct design supply imbalance relative to room by room loads and variations in ceiling leakage and insulation uniformity than by variations in roof distance and attic temperatures.

That means insulating the attic floor only not the walls and having vents in the roof. The problem with many kneewalls is that they have fiberglass batt insulation with nothing. Since the walls would be adjacent to the attic space i wanted to make sure that i could properly. Attic bonus rooms seem to be the rage hansen pole buildings does more than a few of these and the trend seems to be increasing in popularity.

In the photo at left the kneewall is the short wall with the door in it. There are more than a few challenges when it comes to utilization of attic space for a bonus room. In an unfinished attic the goal of insulation is to keep the rooms below cool in summer and warm in winter. With this comes how to properly insulate an attic bonus room.

With a finished attic insulation must help keep the attic areas comfortable. The best way to insulate the finished room over the garage is going to be just like any other room in your house insulate the exterior walls the ceiling or attic and the floor. Best way to insulate a bonus room over a garage. The author s repair above right created a rigid air barrier that air sealed the living space protected the floor and wall insulation from air infiltration and boosted the wall.

Do you have a bonus room over your garage in your newer home. Spray foam provides an air tight thermal boundary between your bonus room and the unconditioned air space in your attic. A bonus room isn t such a bonus when it lacks insulation. Often the r value of fiberglass insulation is too low and requires the rafters to be retrofitted making foam board a better choice.

Tim healey as originally built above left the bonus room s air barrier allowed free airflow through the fiberglass insulation under the floor and in the walls.