Opinions on how to insulate 2x2 vaulted ceilings

aftonarrow · Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:45 pm

Hi,i live in a 14 x 60 giles Kentuckian.It has flat ceilings everywhere but kitchen and living room.The vaulted ceilings in the living room and kitchen are 2 x 2 with old inefficient red fiberglass insulation.The vapor barrier if you can call it that has the same consistency of bread plastic of a mil value of negative 5.I can hear everything just like im outside.I told my wife we should tear it all out and go with rigid foil faced foam with 6 mil over that.Or something more drastic with tearing out and 2 x 4 frame with ridge pole.Something has to be done.Foam to me is the only way with insulating a 1 1/2 space.Thoughts???

Greg · Tue Dec 22, 2015 8:23 pm

The best (and most expensive) would be to have someone come in and spray foam it. Rigid foam has good insulation properties, but ANY gaps you will lose what you gained and then some.

You could do a roof over with insulation also.

Greg

ponch37300 · Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:45 pm

What part of the country are you located in? What is your roof material? And what exactly do you mean when you are saying 2x2?

Like Greg said foam might be a good option. But you need someone to come in and do it for you. Might not be too bad if everything is ready for them. Foam also acts as a vapor barrier so no separate barrier is needed. Insulating "attics" there are a lot of things to consider. Including ventilation, cold space, where the vapor barrier is in relation to the insulation, etc.

aftonarrow · Fri Dec 25, 2015 10:51 am

Im in TN.I have a 2 by 2 vaulted ceiling trusses in my kitchen and living room.We had ungodly light bills last year from the polar vortex.I have furnace heat but in process of getting a heat pump.No matter what you have if it goes out as quick as it goes in.Whats the point.The only economical heating to me is wood,but wife is scared to death of it.Our singlewide warms up fast but it don't last.I timed our furnace one night on a 18 to 20 degree night.It came on every 9 minutes.That was set at 68 too.Which id say a lot of people on here realize the problem with condensation and R factor of fiberglass going down when wet.That to me is the number one problem with metal on metal homes.I replaced ours in the walls with r13.The only insulation looked like it was matted and stuck to the metal.It was because of the insulation getting wet and then drying out.Im insulating a 1 1/2 space,so Greg id say closed cell spray foam is the only way to go.My other idea was putting rigid between the trusses,then more foam laid horizontally,then furring strips over that for sheet rock.What do you think Greg,would that work?that should be a lot cheaper than spray foam.I can get foam board very reasonable here.

ponch37300 · Fri Dec 25, 2015 11:54 am

aftonarrow wrote:Im in TN.I have a 2 by 2 vaulted ceiling trusses in my kitchen and living room.We had ungodly light bills last year from the polar vortex.I have furnace heat but in process of getting a heat pump.No matter what you have if it goes out as quick as it goes in.Whats the point.The only economical heating to me is wood,but wife is scared to death of it.Our singlewide warms up fast but it don't last.I timed our furnace one night on a 18 to 20 degree night.It came on every 9 minutes.That was set at 68 too.Which id say a lot of people on here realize the problem with condensation and R factor of fiberglass going down when wet.That to me is the number one problem with metal on metal homes.I replaced ours in the walls with r13.The only insulation looked like it was matted and stuck to the metal.It was because of the insulation getting wet and then drying out.Im insulating a 1 1/2 space,so Greg id say closed cell spray foam is the only way to go.My other idea was putting rigid between the trusses,then more foam laid horizontally,then furring strips over that for sheet rock.What do you think Greg,would that work?that should be a lot cheaper than spray foam.I can get foam board very reasonable here.

To be honest every nine minutes isn't that bad from my experiences. I live in a single wide with 2x6 walls and blown in ceiling insulation and dual pane insulated windows and ours runs about the same. I think it's just the design limitations on mobile homes.

How is your skirting and belly material and insulation? This is one area that can let a lot of drafts in.

Can you post a picture of your trusses. If I'm getting what you're saying you just have 2x2s running from your walls to the ridge? And the roof right on top of these 2x2s and drywall on the other side of the 2x2s?

How important are the vaulted ceilings to you? If you don't mind flat you could frame them like the rest of your house with flat ceilings and get more insulating room.