Measure Many Times Before Cutting

[kevin_standlee]

Fernley House is not insulated sufficiently to suit us. In particular, there is no under-floor insulation, and especially on the un-carpeted floor in the bedroom, it is very obvious how cold it is under the house. Lisa wants to get insulation and staple it under the floor. Today, we went over to Lowe's and had a look at what's on hand. We now have a bit better idea of what we'll need. Before actually buying anything, though, Lisa will need to kit up (coveralls, face mask, eye protection) and go down under the house again to measure the beams and find out which size of insulation rolls will fit best. We probably will then get one roll to test for ease of installation before taking the plunge to buy enough to insulate the rest.

Lisa has looked in the attic and is relieved to see that there is insulation up there. However, we might go get more and put another layer above the first one. It's not Manitoba-like cold here, or even Massachusetts, but it still gets cold enough that insulation looks like it would be a good investment in a house that was originally built by the Central Pacific railroad to house its workers and thus wasn't especially interested in things like insulation.

Comments

[radar]

I need to do the same thing. I have a root cellar/semi-open sub basement that had insulation at one point, but was regrettably not saved when the floor support structure was brought up to earthquake code just before I moved in, in 2009. It's literally just a plank of plywood/plastic and the laminate floor between me and froze toes.

[kevin_standlee]

We continue to study options. Looks like for where we live we'll need the heavier R-25 to R-30 insulation, but that should be okay.

[garyomaha]

Your life in Fernley has been an education for me. Before I started reading your stories, I just assumed that "desert living" was always hot and dry. How wrong I was!

[kevin_standlee]

Exactly! Dry, yes (most of the time). Hot, not always. Indeed, one of the things that makes it livable in the summer is that it usually cools off at night so that you can push the heat out of the house. I still find summer the worst part of the year, however, and am glad that I'm typically away for several of the weeks of it, as I will be this year.