Kraft Faced Insulation

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Velvet Elvis

Velvet Elvis

Ahh humma humma humma
Hey all...

Quick question... vapor barriers on insulation... As I understand it you do not want more than one vapor barrier, because it will hinder how effective the barrier works.

I'm drywalling a ceiling to a second story loft (have to finish this before I can do the studio drywall)... the ceiling has kraft faced insulation already installed...

So, do I need to put in a vapor barrier, or does the kraft facing suffice?

Thanks.
Velvet Elvis
 
So, do I need to put in a vapor barrier, or does the kraft facing suffice?

My studio has Johnson-Martin insulation, which is encapsulated in plastic for the purposes of minimizing the amount of fiberglass that gets out, as well as acting as a vapor barrier.

*I* think it works well.

However, if you have weird places (like a slanted cove) to shove insulation that requires you to cut down the fiberglass batts into smaller pieces, you may not have enough plastic to staple to both sides. For those small areas, I peeled off the plastic on the insulation (easy to do) and simply put vapor barrier plastic over it.

hope that helps.,
 
frederic,

Thanks... this whole thing has me confused :) I've read sites that say kraft facing is only a retardant and will eventually fail etc... I've read others that say it just fine to use.

I'm waiting to see if I get one definitive answer so that I don't ruin part of my house :)

Your usage makes perfect sense and may be what I wind up doing... not sure yet.

Thanks,
Velvet Elvis
 
The Johnson Martin insulation I used comes in 8' lengths, and essentially is in a double plastic enclosure, with the ends exposed. On the side facing the outside shell of the house, the plastic is very thin, almost see through, and a light color. The plastic facing the interior of the room is thicker, and is what is stapled to the joists.

To be honest, I installed one batt backwards but decided not to turn it around because it would rip trying to get it off the staples. Also, its much better than the paper-backed wool insulation I had originally that was stolen by the mice over the years, so while I probably could have gone after perfection, I was too lazy/in a rush to deal with it.

But to be fair, none of the insulation or paper backing I removed from my structure was wet or damp in any way. The key to this is soffit vents and a ridge vent. I don't have the latter, however I did install soffit vents in the back eave which weren't there initially, one per joist, allowing fresh air to flow in either the front eave or the back eave, and out the other. The front eave only needed two large vents rather tha one per joist, because its a crawl space. The back of the structure just has a soffit at the top edge of the dormer.

I debated cutting into the roof for a ridge vent, but decided it was going to be terribly expensive, and very easy to screw up. For 63 years there were no vents whatsoever in this part of the house, so I figured any venting I do is better than what was there. Also upon exposing the joists, studs etc, nothing was damp, wet, certainly no damage other than mice chewing marks and some carpenter ant damage, all of which has been fixed/replaced as necessary.

Had my roof ridge not been two different roof materials mating at the center, I'd have done the roof ridge vent thing. I even bought the materials and returned them. The front of the house is completely covered in slate, as is the rear, except for the studio dormer at the back, which has a fiberglass sheet roof covered in some goey substance that I have to regoo. its called "Silver seal", if i can find it.

Anyway, I appreciate you wanting to research the vapor barrier types for your studio, in your position I'd do the same thing. Thats why I shared the logic I used so you can see why I made the choices I made. Our situations are different, you're all new stuff whereas my house has been here for 63 years with zero dampness or water damage due to condensation on the insulation. I also had the old insulation rudely relocated by mice, maybe thats why it didn't rot in the joists.
 
For what it's worth,

The facing on any faced insulation is a vapor barrier by code definitions.

Due to the fact that there is a break in the vapor barrier however it is not the most effective barrier there is. (Joints leak at every ceiling joist. stud, etc.

There is no porblem though - putting a poly (plastic) vapor barrier directly over this.

It does not effect performance at all.

THE ONLY PROBLEM exists when you have multiple vapor barriers installed in different planes of the installation.

For example - 3" of insulation - barrier - covered by 6" of insulation and another barrier.

That is a bad situation which could cause problems with condensation of vapor on the barrier closest to the cold surface.

That then will wet the insulation and decrease it's insulating value.

It can also cause extensive structural damage and create a breeding ground for mold.

Rod
 
Rod,

Thanks for the reply!!

That helps quite a bit.

Velvet Elvis
 
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