Alaskan Home Energy Upgrade Project

[Erich_870]

I finally installed some insulation this weekend. We cut a few panels and I got them foamed in. I also got some of the rim joist insulation in place. It's pretty tough to maneuver the foam gun to the back but there's not much that can be done about that...

Here's some pics:

Before:


After:



Erich

[Erich_870]

We had a productive 3 day weekend. We got both new doors in. A new front and new back door with proper threshold membranes and air sealing foam.

Interestingly, the back door had no insulation around the door jamb while the front door had fiberglass batt insulation stuffed in the cracks. Can you guess which one had evidence of moisture issues? Yup, the batt insulation. The water vapor would condense at the due point within the batt insulation and mold started to grow from that point out toward the outside of the house.

There was not structural damage, but it was evident. Life lesson; either insulate and seal it with foam, or don't insulate it at all.

Here's some pics.

New front door


New back door


Erich

[Daox]

Its looking great Erich. Any recent updates?

[Erich_870]

Originally Posted by Daox

Its looking great Erich. Any recent updates?

I've installed a new insulated garage door and got back down under the house and did some more foundation foaming. Nothing too glamorous. I'm hopeful that I can start hanging larger foam panels on the foundation soon. I think I have a pretty good system for that.

Insulating the rim joist bays is a total pain because my contractor foam gun just barely fits, lol.

Erich

[MN Renovator]

Originally Posted by Erich_870

I've installed a new insulated garage door and got back down under the house and did some more foundation foaming. Nothing too glamorous. I'm hopeful that I can start hanging larger foam panels on the foundation soon. I think I have a pretty good system for that.

Insulating the rim joist bays is a total pain because my contractor foam gun just barely fits, lol.

Erich

Have you tried a piece of tubing sized to have a snug fit on the nozzle of the gun? I have done this to make the cheap tube cans easier to shake and hold in the proper orientation for dispensing into tight spaces like those. Helped me a ton. I haven't used a gun though but I'm sure it would work. You can clean the tube out with acetone and reuse the tube and I've even reused disposable Great Stuff cans too but unscrewing the tube and acetone washing things when I'm done foaming has allowed me to reuse cans. The gun stuff never seemed cheaper or easier for me and I always did little bits at a time but the strategy worked for me.

Hope this helps.

[Erich_870]

Originally Posted by MN Renovator

Have you tried a piece of tubing sized to have a snug fit on the nozzle of the gun? I have done this to make the cheap tube cans easier to shake and hold in the proper orientation for dispensing into tight spaces like those. Helped me a ton. I haven't used a gun though but I'm sure it would work. You can clean the tube out with acetone and reuse the tube and I've even reused disposable Great Stuff cans too but unscrewing the tube and acetone washing things when I'm done foaming has allowed me to reuse cans. The gun stuff never seemed cheaper or easier for me and I always did little bits at a time but the strategy worked for me.

Hope this helps.

That's a great idea. I'm going to find some tubing that fits. Doing the joist bays is by far the worst part of the project!

Thanks!

Erich

[Erich_870]

I installed some more insulation this weekend. I started hanging larger sheets of foam on the smooth footing walls. I'm using some concrete inserts and then a 5" wood screw. Seems to work really well. I only need 2 per panel. One at the top into the mud sill and one in the concrete.



Here's the set up.


I finished all the foam on the north side of the house. (Except for the boards that will go down the spread footer and under the vapor barrier when I replace it.)


Erich

[Daox]

Wow, I missed this. Great progress. Can you tell any difference just working down there?

[Erich_870]

Originally Posted by Daox

Wow, I missed this. Great progress. Can you tell any difference just working down there?

Thanks! So far the average temp has gone up about 2 degrees. I think it will get warmer when the vapor barrier is taped tight and the foam is installed on the ground perimeter. The damp crawlspace dirt has the largest impact on temperature when it's not below freezing outside.

Erich

[Erich_870]

I've been working every weekend on this project and haven't stopped to take too many photos, but here are a few.

These are for the attic insulation work I did over a bedroom and the garage.

First I had to vacuum out the ~6" of cellulose insulation.


Then I taped the vapor barrier and sealed all the penetrations. I also installed new baffles and used scrap foam to cover the top of the walls where the new blown in insulation would be thin.


I need to get some finished pics.

Erich

I installed some 2x4's to make a crawl platform and help me know how much insulation to blow in.



Next I turned my attention to the garage attic. For some reason they used batt insulation so I just added to it. But first I wanted to address the lighting in the garage so I had some inexpensive T-8 lights on hand and installed them.



Here you can see the new and existing wiring along with the air sealing.


I also ran some new power cables for a 240 volt heater and a future welder. Neither are connected in the breaker box at this point.


Here's a view with the original insulation reinstalled. I have since added another R-30.


Here's the original garage light. It was a scary 200watt light bulb that was getting so hot it was discoloring the drywall around the porcelain fixture.



Here's the new garage lighting. 6 double T-8 fixtures.


Erich