Photos from my Attic Insulation Project from February 2006

[Energy Conservation in Housing]

Photos from my Attic Insulation Project from February 2006

See the attached PDF  (“An attic catwalk, Feb 2006”) for step-by-step descriptions of how I insulated the attic.

Photo commentaries.

Photo:  “new catwalk in attic, 6 Jan 2006.”  -- The approximate (original) insulation depth was about 6 inches.  I built the “catwalk” based on the description in the attached PDF -- “An attic catwalk, Feb 2006”

Photo:  “vented radiant barrier at ridge vent” -- At the top of the roof, I already had a ridge vent. I similarly “vented” the radiant barrier, so air could flow from the eave vents through the ridge vent, with air flowing on both sides of the radiant barrier.

Photo:  “view of attic project, nearing completion”  -- I increased the insulation thickness to about 15 inches, and added a radiant barrier to the underside of the roof rafters.

Photo:  “insulating the catwalk, right in front of the access panel” -- The final steps of the attic insulation project was covering the catwalk with unfaced insulation blankets.

Photo: “original access panel, 6 Jan 2006”   -- This was the original attic access panel.  To get into it, I had to clear out the (master bedroom) closet.  Then it opened up into a bed of nails.  I thought, “This isn’t going to work.  I need another way in.”

Photo: “new attic access panel, 6 Jan 2006”  -- I searched for a better location.  I found an area free of wires, which was closer to where I wanted to put the “Catwalk.”  This is what I set up for a new attic access panel.  Much more head clearance inside the attic.  And the entry point was just inside a bedroom.  It was much easier to get lumber, insulation, tools (and myself) inside the attic.  And it was right next to the “Catwalk.”  By the time I was done with the project, I put so much insulation on top of the original attic access panel, it is probably unable to be opened from inside the house.  Anyway, the original access panel was way too much work to use.

Photography note: In some of the pictures, you see “spots” throughout the

photo. Those are actually (insulation) dust particles floating in the attic space,

which get illuminated by the flash from the camera. It is really nasty to breathe

in the attic, and I always wore a dust mask to protect myself.

Sometimes I found my glasses fogged up using the dust mask. By using tape

along the sides of the mask (near the nose area) it kept my breath from fogging

up my glasses.