We own a 1975 prefab that only has 4" that's right-4"thick sidewalls. There where no building codes when this prefab was made. With the freezing cold winter we have had our home set at 68 degrees is cool. We each have a blanket we cover up with when watching TV. We had a contractor out to see if he could put the pumped in foam insulation into the sidewalls. He pulled off a piece of vinyl siding, drilled a pilot hole, and said the sidewalls where packed tight with fiberglass insulation and also had a house wrap under the siding.and that there was no room for anymore insulation. 2yrs ago we replaced our roof and had a metal one installed and insulated under the metal roofing. That has made a big difference with the home staying somewhat warmer and cooler in summer. We also had the sills on the westside sealed with foam insulation. Boy that really made a difference in the kitchen. Otherwise when you opened the cupboard doors to get out a dish you almost got frost bite. Not really but it I warmed our plates in the oven before we put our food on them or it was cold in no time. But what I was wondering is-----would it help with insulating the sidewalls if we added 1/2" drywall over the existing drywall? Anyone have any suggestions? Or should we just buy snowsuits to wear in the house. Moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Have you thought about putting up exterior siding over the existing vinyl siding, instead of drywall inside the house? Some siding comes with a foam backing, which makes it more resistant to dents as well as providing insulation. The thought of re-doing every room in the house is daunting, at least to me! I know what you mean about the kitchen--we get a vicious north wind, and of course the kitchen is on the north side of the house. I used to get chilled just cooking dinner, and the cupboards felt like they were refrigerators! We had the foam insulation put in and re-caulked the windows and now I'm more comfy in the kitchen.
We are thinking of having foam insulation put in our walls and under the floorboards. They also have spray in insulation for walls. We were going to get bids this spring. What we probably need to do is have the old single pane windows upgraded too. One thing at a time, over time.
We had foam sprayed in basement sill. And had 6 new windows-made lot warmer. When we put new cement board siding-used house wrap. One of my customer -took all their blown in insulation out. They sucked it out. Foamed cut heating bill in 1/2. And another customer. Took all dry wall out-messy job-foamed. Heating bill 1/3-but they found many water leaks. That would have been rot and mold. They had just started. And if you add more drywall. The plug in will not be right things will not connect right
I don't think adding drywall over drywall will help insulate it. You need to build a stud wall and insulate between the existing wall and the new drywall. That will shrink the room size, but it will be warmer.
Hi all: Thank you for all your advice. I checked into what the R-value would be in putting another layer of drywall over the first on the inside walls. It would add very little R-value for the cost. So that idea is scrapped. Marlin we will be revisiting the insulated siding solution. We couldn't add another layer of siding to the house because the windows would have to be removed and bumped out for the flashing around them to fit properly. But the insulated siding is a very good possibility. Jewell the foam is the way to go. Having double or triple pain windows will make a big difference also. Just be sure they foam around the windows before the trim is put back on. I will be taking off the window trim this spring-if it ever gets here-and putting foam insulation around all of our 9 triple crank out windows and one patio door. A job I am not looking forward to as I know that a lot of the trim will be destroyed in the process. Koszta we will have to have the other 2 sides of the house sills sealed with the foam insulation this next year. That did make a difference. Like I said in the above post to Jewell. We have 9 triple crank out ,double pained windows in one set of windows. They are around 15 years old and all seem to be in good shape. Carolyn I had though of that idea but never checked out the cost. Will have to do some figuring to see if that would be cheaper than the insulated siding. I just wish it could all be done in one fell swoop. But $$$$ is always a consideration.
EVERYTHING is more expensive than originally planned. We are working on a gas line from the house to the greenhouse...cha ching cha ching. Kevin is off now more fittings and stuff to finish. It is never ending.
Carolyn that is for sure. We are hoping and praying that our water line down to our pole barn unthaws and that nothing breaks. It will be June before it thaws out at these temps.
If your foundation is up high. They can spray foam on outside. They come back and texture it and seal it. They also can tint foam. One of my cleaning customer is having that done. Spent lot of $$$ remodeling. And add on rooms very cold.
