Harmony reigns in the Walrett household…perhaps because we
are too tired for anything else?
You might remember from an earlier picture that during our
original demolition blitz we left in the 2nd floor ceiling
lath. And went to some pains, really, to
remove only the plaster, kind of shaving it off with a spade instead of just
knocking it all down.
So naturally this weekend we took it out. I climbed up in the attic and knocked most of it down from above to avoid being showered in soot, shingle granules, and yes, the several squirrels who had made a final resting place of our home. Not technically a code violation, but as a good-faith gesture, we addressed it. (Sorry for the bad resolution, it was a nasty business and I didn't want to stop for pics.)
I had been hoping to avoid this process because the lath was retaining
the attic insulation, which no matter how filthy was still insulation,
right? And we could just insulate on top
of it to reach our hoped-for R-45 or 50, right?
This might have been possible but several considerations
pushed us toward more especially filthy demo.
First you’ll have seen from the pix that the roof is barn-shape, called a gambrel. There are lots of ways to frame a gambrel roof and in their enthusiasm our plucky and long-dead framers chose not one but several. In several areas the roof relies on an interior wall directly under the change in pitch—kind of the “elbow” of the barn shape—to hold it up. In other areas it was intentionally self-supporting…and it other areas it was not intended to self-support but somewhere in the rich and fascinating history of renovations the two were confused, the supporting walls were removed and now we have unresolved loads and a kooky roof. With the insulation gone, nobody has to get up on a ladder and peel back fiberglass batts to be reminded which part of the house is which.
Second we’ve been angstily reflecting on the relative merits of a conditioned vs. un-conditioned attic. Since one of the renovations of the last 20 years was to install a heat-pump in the attic, our 2nd floor conditioned air, hot and cold, begins its journey battling leaks and minimally protected by R-4 fiberglass padding…in a space that just two days ago was a full 15 degrees warmer than the outside temp at 1:00 PM (90, to the ambient 75* F.) We have some siders-of-yore to thank for this, who ran the current vinyl right over the existing gable vents and then installed decorative louverts (in MO, we say loo-verrs, sorry Jess) nearby to conceal their sabotage. As a result we have an unventilated attic that in 70 degree weather effectively defrosts my Trader Joe’s burritos in less than 20 minutes.
In other words, we need to choose: fix the gable vents, seal the 2nd floor ceiling, add a short ridge vent, spray foam the ductwork, and properly insulate at the 2nd floor ceiling? Or seal at the eaves, insulate at the roofline, and add hot/cold air supply & returns to the attic? The second choice seems preferable but the air handler sits within a couple inches of the 2x4 rafters for an 8' span, meaning there would be spots where we cannot deepen the rafter cavities and pack in more insulation...stay tuned!
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