Insulation

Ceiling Insulation

May 31, 2025May 24, 2025 WolseyLeave a comment

My first impression of insulating a ceiling is that the damn insulation is so expensive! The R13, 23 inch wide insulation was $126.50 for 11 bats. I had to buy two. That was the most expensive item on my interior list of supplies. By comparison the 15 inch insulation that is 32 feet per roll was only $31.87 per roll. The funniest part was when I was trying to find a source for this, every post I found was of some other person complaining about the price. I guess I am in good company.

The good thing is I only used half the second package so I only have to buy one more for the back yard workshop shed we are planning for last summer.

My second impression is this is more of a two person job. While it likely could be done solo, it’s really hard to get the bat of insulation above you, stuffed between the joists, hope it stays, then try to staple it. That’s a lot.

My wife and I worked together. She is taller and it was easier for her too stand on a step ladder and get it started and feed it to me on my scaffolding. I waffled on buying the scaffolding but for $99 it was worth it. It will come in handy when I fix the house ceilings where the previous owner didn’t use drywall tape and the joins are all cracking.

We were careful not to impeded the soffit vents, or the ridge vent at the top, but just kept it secured to the outside of the joists. We discovered the 8′ bats of insulation got us over the ridge vent area, and down the other side. I have seen YouTube videos of people doing it every which way, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal to just do it the way we did, then patch in a short bit on the other side.

Since we had such issues with the hammer tacker and our weeny arm strength last time, we used an electric staple/nail gun. I got it on sale for half price, and it was the hero tool of the day. (None of these are affiliate links. I just liked the products.)

I thought it would be annoying dealing with a cord, but it was so much faster. My only gripe is it didn’t hold enough staples at one time. I also had to use an electric one as I am not set up for pneumatic tools.

Within two hours we had all the insulation in.

That afternoon we noticed immediately that the shed did not heat up as hot from the sun hitting the roof. That’s impressive. Insulation is so worth it.

I did come back and use some tyvek tape to tape the seems on the joined bits of insulation. We overlapped a tiny bit, and I tucked the white fiberglass in, and taped the brown paper to keep our paper barrier intact. I also taped the holes in the paper from delivery. This worked well as I could feel a small breeze in the join, and that killed that problem.

Overall, the ceiling insulation was the hardest bit for us to complete. That is likely due to our own physical limitations. It’s slow going as we can’t do much at a time, but we are getting there.

Next will bet the walls. I don’t know how much we can do in a day, but it will certainly be easier because we don’t have to reach over our heads.

Insulation Baffles

May 24, 2025 Wolsey1 Comment

My wife and I started insulating the ceiling of the shed. This was the hardest so far physically for both of us. I am not sure I could have completed it easily if she wasn’t 6’2″ tall with “monkey arms.”

I can only do a few hours of work each week. I mean, if my body was fine, I would do more, but neither my wife or I am in good enough shape that we can do much more. I miss being in my 30s and being able to do a full 8 hours of physical work without being in pain for the next day, and being in bed for the next two.

The first order of business was the ceiling baffles. We got the shed option with a ridge vent. There was a bit of a mix up on the types of venting we needed, so we had a ridge vent and a gable vent. I did not realize the gable vent was on the sides of the shed. I will actually close that in because it’s not needed. Instead I used a 2″ hole cutter on my drill and went around and drilled out 2 holes in each bay of the soffit.

*Holes in the soffit that I cut for venting.*

This was harder on my shoulder and collar bone than I would like. It’s at an angle and I no longer have the physical strength to really power through. It only took me a half hour, but it was physically a lot for me.

I don’t have pictures but I didn’t have any drop in vents for it, but I did have some left over replacement window screen, so I cut that and used some liquid nails to glue them in place. Very cheap, effective, and nobody is gonna see anyways. I will have to touch up the paint around the holes though as I had drill drift on some of them.

We opted for 2×6″ joists to fit the baffles and the insulation. My wife actually had to do the majority of the baffle work because again, I am short and it was just easier for her.

While she did that, I glued the screens in place, added puffy foam around the windows and doors, and generally did everything but put the baffles in. I did not have a handle on the expansion of the insulation “doors and windows” puffy foam, and made a mess. I will have to cut that down later.

*Puff foam overextending and making a mess!*

As a side note we used a hammer tacker for this. It was the only device I had with staples short enough not to punch through the roof sheathing. It worked all right, but 1) it took a hot minute for me to figure out how to load it, and 2) asking two unfit people to use this device was hilariously hard. It was really hard at an angle, above our heads, to swing with enough force to make it work. I followed my wife with a hammer when needed to sink the stables.

In all, we got it in, and feel really good about it. We were careful to not put the baffles down too low, so that would flow from the soffit vents up along the roof to the sheathing.

I think, for two half broken Middle Ages people, we did a pretty good job. I am super proud of my wife, as she doesn’t normally do house fix it stuff, but she did a great job at getting it all in.

Insulation and Roof Venting

October 12, 2023October 9, 2023 Wolsey2 Comments

This last month we had to upgrades to the house related to insulation and heat issues.

Over the last winter our house could not maintain heat. The floors were icy, and the heat cycled on every ten minutes. At one point during an ice storm it felt like the heat was running constantly for 24 hours straight. It was just that cold and the heater could not keep up.

We were recommended Boulton Insulation from our home inspectors, and we had them come. The inspector (Kevin) was honest, and really fair in his assessment. He was also super knowledgeable about heat pumps which is on our home list. He said it would be an easy job to put the insulation under the house.

If I was 20 years younger, or didn’t have my disability, I’d have done it myself, but I just can’t anymore.

Our quote came in at approximately $1200, after a power company rebate. That is less than the iPad I was eyeballing. Sold!

They scheduled us and had it done in a week. It was a one day job, and the next morning we noticed an immediate difference. The floors were warm. We could walk barefoot. As the mornings are getting colder, we have only turned the heat on for ten minutes in the morning and our tiny house just heats up and stays heated. If we cook or run the dishwasher we don’t even need it.

Best of all, my wife is comfortable. That is worth a lot to me.

Roof Venting

The second issue we had was the house roof was done by the previous owners, and while it’s a fairly good job, there is literally no venting in it. Like none! The blown in insulation in the attic is five star good according to Kevin from Boulton, but the lack of venting means it heats up in there, and just cooks us in the house.

On a sunny day you can literally feel the heat in the ceiling start drifting down and making the house hot. In the most recent sunny day, it was 74F, and the house was 85F just because of this with windows open. On a really hot day, our air conditioners struggled to fight it.

Kevin at Boulton gave me a recommendation for Patrick at Sound Roof Care, and I got a quote. Like Kevin, Patrick was fair, and gave me a reasonable bit of information that mirrored my own experience and research. Basically, I was risking mold and reducing the life of my shingles because I had no venting.

The quote to add venting along the entire roof was approximately $2700. That’s great, because I went up there to seal some nails and the roof cap on the recommendation of the home inspectors report, and I hate doing that. Even if my body was able, nope! There is no fucking way.

I helped my father roof two homes when I was a kid, just being up there and nailing down shingles. I don’t remember having an issue. Now, I apparently am not okay with doing this at all.

So as far as I am concerned $2700 is a fair price. We got scheduled and they were pretty quick at finishing the job.

*Super heroes adding roof venting to my roof.*

I probably won’t know for sure how this feels until it’s warm again next summer. I do know it’s a good preventative measure to make sure my roof lasts and I don’t end up with a moldy attic crawlspace.

I do know, it can’t hurt, and I can’t wait to see how a hot sunny day is in my home now.

A Transgender Aside

My wife and I are both trans, with my wife being visibly transgender. Part of hiring people in during the current political climate is fraught with concern that people might refuse to work with us, or treat us terrible for being transgender. Since my wife is the visible one, that will fall on her. She takes more than enough abuse when we go out, that bringing it home to her isn’t something I want to do.

I have to say these were concerns we had when we looked for professionals to work on our house. Yet, both Kevin from Boulton (and the office staff when we went in the pay it off) and Patrick from Sound, were kind and respectful.

If you have never had to consider this, it might seem strange to worry that someone you are paying may not want to work with you. It happens though. It might seem like a low bar to have to be happy someone treats you with respect, but we’ve had companies in recent years refuse our business. Not everyone takes a cake lawsuit to the Supreme Court. Some of us just go somewhere else and put our money in small businesses that are not staffed with bigots.

I can say these two companies were fantastic, and respectful, and safe for transgender clients as far as our experiences go. I am so happy we chose them, and will definitely be recommending them to everyone that asked now.