After framing went up at the back of the house and house infrastructure elements were installed, insulation activities began. As indicated in posts during the demolition stage, our old house had absolutely no insulation. Seriously:
- https://wolfestreetproject.com/2012/02/10/kitchen-demolition/
- https://wolfestreetproject.com/2012/02/12/original-sleep…-porch-exposed/
With the renovation, we’re properly insulating all of the exterior walls that are framed. We can’t do anything about the front of the house or the eastern wall north of the framed area, since these walls are solid brick. The west side is a party wall, so no need to insulate there.
We’re installing three types of insulation:
- Isynine (foam) insulation below the roof deck, at the joist ends, and below the kitchen door overhang. Foam insulation’s got the best insulation qualities, but is also several times the cost of batting, so we use this on the most critical areas.
- Batting insulation between the studs on the vertical walls on the first and second floors
- Cellulose insulation in the ceiling joists between the first and second floors and between framing on several interior walls. This has nothing to do with insulation against the weather and everything to do about sound attenuation.
This post shows the aftermath of isynine insulation application.
The insulation sub did a great job. Below shows the foam insulation in the roof deck over the master bedroom looking southwest. The roof is directly above the rafters at the south of the house due to the roof slope, so the foam will occupy the entire area between the drywall that will be installed on the ceiling and the roof):
Looking east:
As we look north on the second floor, the foam begins to adhere to the roof above the rafters, since the roof deck is sloping up.
Insulation around the stairwell skylight:
And, in the guest bedroom, looking west, where it has completely covered the in-line fan units described in this post, as well as the accompanying video:
And looking east:
We’ve also installed foam insulation in the joists below the overhang in back that was created by the master bedroom bumpout:
Next up: batt insulation installation blog publication.
WolfeStreetProject 
mom
May 19, 2012 at 8:01 pm
What, pray tell, is a ‘party wall’? Did I miss something?
Kevin
May 20, 2012 at 8:58 am
Hey, Sandy,
Based on a recent City of Alexandria ordinance, all parties on Wolfe Street must now be held on the west side of a residence, as close to the exterior wall as is practicable. Hence, “party wall.”
Based on recent draconinan city rules (like the one that prohibited replacing our front windows), that explanation wouldn’t be surprising.
However, as the omniscient Wikipedia notes, “A Party wall (occasionally parti-wall) is a dividing partition between two adjoining buildings (or units) that is shared by the tenants of each residence or business. The wall is sometimes constructed over the center of the property line dividing two terraced flats or row houses so that one half of the wall is on each property.”
Property line down the party wall – we’ve dealt with issues in that area, too . . .