Alternatives To Dry Wall Attic Insulation

For diy attic insulation you ve got two choices.

Alternatives to dry wall attic insulation.

Made from tiny thin strands of glass woven together and sprayed with formaldehyde yes the same chemical used to embalm corpses it s most attractive to homeowners for its affordability. Xps is great for the attic but there are some things you need to know before getting started. Once you ve decided which type is best for you examine the material options and prices to home in on the right product. Loose fill or batt the common term for blanket insulation.

If you don t intend to finish your attic you could put the xps sheets on the floor instead. Leaving the bare insulation open to view is both ugly and impractical so you ll need an attractive covering to finish the look. There are other materials and systems that you can use to insulate your attic. If you don t have an attic however there is no alternative but climb a ladder and do it by hand before you hang the drywall.

Even if you use drywall as the base some of these other options can be installed on top of the drywall. Instead of using spray foam some builders that are looking to make greener buildings are using alternatives like cotton denim and cellulose insulation. Cotton denim insulation is made from industrial scraps in the textile industry using the leftover clothes from retailers to recycle it into insulation. Closed cell foam is a great insulator but has drawbacks too.

Now that you have the underlying structure and insulation in place you re ready to finish your basement walls. Some of these alternatives are designed for high moisture environments such as basements while others do have that inherent visual interest lacking in drywall. Both can be added to uninsulated attics or layered over existing material. One of the strongest home insulation alternatives icynene is a spray foam made out of castor oil that expands about 100 times its volume when you spray it into a wall or ceiling.

You can simply screw most plastic paneling into place and you will be able to cover up walls directly. The best option is to install fiberglass batt insulation. One that i like a lot since i built a house out of them is the structural insulated panel. Paneling or a custom finish are two of the most popular alternatives to drywall in the basement.

But there are alternatives to drywall. However it s not the best insulator for your home. Not only does it. It s a sandwich of rigid foam insulation and plywood or osb oriented strand board the flaky plywood.

In my example below i used xps right under the roof deck for a cathedral type of ceiling.