Spray Foam Attic Insulation - Conditioned Attic How & Why

A conditioned attic can make a huge difference in the efficiency of your house. Take a tour with me of this unvented attic on a Slab-On-Grade foundation house.

[quentinz]

Finding a builder willing to do this type of attic in a new build in central Florida is daunting. They think I'm nuts!!!

[NobleRenovation]

HI Matt, great video, we use an open cell foam in our 3rd floor "finished" walk up attics in North Carolina. Homeowner's are amazed how efficient it is..

[jacobdenemark]

Great job! Great indoor air quality products (media filter and whole home air scrubber)!

[losll]

What about soffits? How do those change?

[LookinGoodTubs]

It would be nice to see insulation reviews start to show and include just how effective cork can be. Also, cork has many benefits to the environment. Is renewable, carbon sink, water resistant, vapor permeable, is almost perfect as insulation.

[jeffreyostrom]

I have a conditioned attic…open cell spray foam in Houston. I have a 2stage HVAC house is 1800 ft.² they installed a 2 ton air conditioner which is fine but when temperatures hit 90 or above it just cannot keep up it is always running in second stage My question is, would I be able to put fiberglass blown in insulation on the attic floor without any complications? I just feel a 9° difference from my living space and my attic space the air conditioner just cannot keep up in extreme hot days. Thanks

[roberth]

Is it ok to use the attic as a return air space or should all the return air spaces have their own duct?

[AlongtheRiverLife]

So we have a coventional insulated floor attic. The temps I see each day is 117 - 120. Outside has been 99 - 101. The duct exist temp of the AC is 60. Intake in the hall is 74. We keep our thermostat on 73 in the day and 72 at night. My AC tech said he measured a 20 degree split temp over my in the attic coi. So we are loosing ~10 degrees temp in ducts.

We have 2 x 6" rafters. If that bewteen filled with closed cell srpay foam isnulation, closed off the side vents, removed our three whirlly birds, closed their holes off and the kept the current conventional insulation stays on the attic floor, what temps could I expect in the attic once closed in?

[johngeib]

Matt,
Question, as owner of an existing 2006 house built slightly above builder quality (Abilene, TX), how would you recommend I upgrade to a conditioned attic. I assume we would want to remove existing (VERY DIRTY) blown in insulation. How much insulation would you recommend. Open-cell or closed-cell or a combo. A video on how to upgrade would probably be ridiculously popular. Thank you for your input!

[kurtwind]

Matt I live in Houston and had an Open Cell application for our attic done in 2010. the insulation does wonders with keeping our home at a comfortable temperature, however we have had to put up with a noticeable stagnant air smell upstairs. It is unpleasant and a noticeable difference from downstairs area. Not a dead fish smell or anything like that just different and unappealing. And we just noticed today that as we are having our shingles replaced on our roof the dead stagnant air smell is gone??? Probably because the roof vents are open and currently being replaced. I know you are NOT suppose to have ventilation in a climatized attic space but what are your suggestions for the stagnant dead air smell. I am pretty sure when the roofers are thru the smell will return in a day or so??? Should we add a ridge vent to allow some of the air to turnover?

[davidyoung]

Hey Matt, I've foam insulated my new build, but it's so well insulated that I'm building humidity like crazy. You can see it around the window sills. Not good. I've purchased dehumidifiers to pull out the humidity. Is there a better solution than these portable units you have experience with?

[FishMontana]

Matt, Why open cell foam? I would think you would use closed cell foam? I have read that in some of these houses there is a buildup of humidity in the attic?

[fiendish]

Won't that "bake " the shingles and give them a shorter life?

[anthonyhuntsinger]

Matt, nice video. My question is what if any adjustments need to be made for the roofing composite shingle or metal? Would it also be beneficial in this situation to add a layer of RMAX over the roof sheeting?

[fputigna]

There is a lot of discussion of temperature reduction inside the attic of an unwanted attic. What about the humidity within that unvented attic? If there is no airflow, how does any humidity that gets into the attic get out? Im assuming that there are no ducts or returns within the attic. Also since there is no moving air in the attic, what are the chances of condensation to the air ducts?

[jerryrowell]

Matt, we are building a new home, and I am trying to follow your guidance by having the builder provide both an encapsulated crawl space and an unvented attic, with spray foam insulation. As we approach the end of our rough-in phase, I have discovered that one of the return air ducts has been routed above the back porch ceiling, which will mean it exits the insulated attic space then re-enters the insulated attic space. I have asked the builder to relocate the duct in question because it seems contrary to the plan for increased efficiency? Am I being too anal? Or should I hold firm in my position that the duct should be rerouted?

[mateo-]

My opencell North Texas attic is super humid in summer. All outside wall s are 2x6 with opencell as well. Would you recommend adding supply\return ducts with dampers inside the attic for this issue? Looking for most cost effective solution, I know a whole house dehumidifier would be optimal but not cheap though.. Thanks

[matthewkahrs]

I have a similar attic to this one except it's currently vented and has two gables. I'm looking to install Central Air. I would like to condition the attic for the Central Air unit to work better but do I need to cool the attic with a few vents? My overall worry is mold or musty air forming in the attic. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

[landscapeirrigation]

Thanks for the informative channel.
Quick question: Do you have any concerns with decking rot or moisture using this insulation method? If it is a concern, how do you combat it, as far as the rest of the roofs construction. I'm in the same climate as you is why am asking. Thanks in advance.

[neogx]

I was wondering if I could do it myself with those diy foam tanks that sell for 600 .