Insulating 2x4 Exterior Walls Before Siding

In the end the decision to install house wrap under your siding is a personal one that you should make after discussing it with your contractor.

Insulating 2x4 exterior walls before siding.

The exterior insulation also helps keep the siding all vinyl siding leaks further away from the exterior sheathing. Drill holes in the sheathing and blow insulation into the empty wall cavity before installing the new siding and. Wall insulation whenever exterior siding is removed on an. Today we cover exterior insulation and begin to install the cedar siding for the backside of the shipping container home.

How to achieve r 21 in a 2x4 wall. Blow insulation into the cavity add flat rigid insulation to the wall before the siding is installed install insulated vinyl siding. Insulation is rated in two ways r value and u value. While most insulation products are designed to fit between the cavities of 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 framing rigid foam board provides continuous insulation across the wall surface the result is a higher r value than what can be achieved using most other insulating products.

There are three primary ways to add insulation to a home when siding is installed. Insulation for 2x4 walls most wall assemblies especially those in older homes are built with two by four 2x4 studs. Add r5 insulative wall sheathing beneath the new siding. This reduces the likelihood of condensation within the wall cavity.

In most wall applications you will use r 13 or r 15 kraft faced fiberglass insulation rolls for these two by four stud walls. It may look easy to go buy some packs of rigid insulation panels down at the. Adding extra insulation to the exterior walls of an older home when renovating or remodeling is a great way of improving a home s walls thermal performance and reducing energy use while reducing heating bills carbon footprint and improving a building s comfort level. However if you re interested a residing project offers the perfect time to examine your home s weather barrier and exterior insulation and improve it if need be.

Since modern two by fours are not 4 inches the true depth of the wall cavity is 3 1 2 inches. By installing insulation on the outside of the framing it causes the location of the dew point to move to the outside of the wall assembly. Add r5 to r6 insulative wall sheathing beneath the new. Before switching to spray foam insulation tom used to use polyisocyanurate panels that way he would build a 2x4 wall insulate between the studs with batting paper face removed then cover the whole thing with foil faced panels and seal them with foil tape before putting up wall board.