Insulate Attic Bonus Room

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.

Insulate attic bonus room.

By scott gibson december 2 2013. So after we seal up the insulated air barrier for the bonus room knee wall we install a thick blanket of cellulose insulation around the duct. When finishing a room above is garage it s important to get the insulation details right. Cellulose can be either a loose fill or blown in insulation in this application.

Insulating the roof of a bonus room a homeowner faces a familiar problem. A bonus room isn t such a bonus when it lacks insulation. Inappropriate mixture or application can result in suboptimal insulating results and hazardous fumes. Often attic bonus rooms such as my own are above unheated garage or storage space.

The airflow in the ducts suffers from friction losses and the air loses heat to the cold attic space as it makes its way to the room. To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes. You could opt for spray foam fiberglass or cellulose. By utilizing spray foam directly to the underside of the floor sheathing cold floors can be minimized.

Depending on the room s exact location commonly in an attic or basement and sometimes over the garage there s likely some insulation. Turning an uninsulated space over the garage into a comfortable office. Spray foam insulation creates an air seal that will keep you from losing treated air through the ceiling. Now if your bonus room has an attic your options are a little different.

The problem with many kneewalls is that they have fiberglass batt insulation with nothing covering them on the attic side as shown in the photo below. Yes i know radiant barrier r value is controversial. This insulation should only be installed by trained professionals. The solar guard goes over the insulation on the attic side.

In the photo at left the kneewall is the short wall with the door in it. Spray foam provides an air tight thermal boundary between your bonus room and the unconditioned air space in your attic. Most codes require a specified minimum amount of headroom and it s tough to meet this requirement when insulating a finished attic especially since most.