Discovered that the attic access hatch isn’t insulated, which honestly isn’t surprising given when it was built. No ladder system. I’m working on cutting up some foam boards to glue to the backside. Hopefully it will reduce how much is radiated through this barrier.
That’s exactly what I’m finishing today. That foam board works pretty good and is super easy to work with. Also make sure the air seal is good. I used foam tape where the hatch rests against the frame.
When I crawled up in the attic, I found where the previous owner got halfway done and just gave up. There’s still 4-5 unopened rolls of insulation just setting in the corner.
I don’t judge the previous owner, I’ve worked with insulation before.
If it was just that one thing, I wouldn’t either. But I’m impressed with their half-assing ability. Last year I was mounting an outside mini-split unit and found where when they turned a porch into a bedroom, they didn’t bother building an external wall. They put up studs, drywall on the inside, nothing but foamboard and vinyl siding on the outside.
Lol. I dealt with this last year. Panes of glass just set in the walls. When we ripped it out, the studs and floorboards were rotten through. Thankfully the home inspector warned us to not use that room AT All until we fixed it or tore it down.
We’ve been here a year and a half now, and we’re just about through all the “needs” and into the “wants”.
Especially if the space is cramped and humid. That area can really roast you fast during the summer!
We don’t have a truck so I bought narrow R-7.5 boards which happen to be a good fit width-wise by cutting them in half. They didn’t have enough of those, sadly, so I had to resort to a kit similar to this which has a lower R-value. I’m using some construction adhesive to get them to stick together. The foam may not fit tight against the 2x8” walls but it should significantly reduce thermal conductivity.
At the very least, I’ll be putting adhesive rubber sealing strips along the opening to block air.