Archives: Insulation

Insulating Basement Walls

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Insulation

Best Methods For Insulating Basement Walls I’ve written several articles on insulating basement walls and evolved some of my methods over time. Basements provide for a very challenging insulation problem. Basements are a challenge because of high moisture levels and cooler temperatures. In this article I’d like to summarize some of my experience with insulating…

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Foam Board Insulation R Values

By Todd Fratzel on Insulation

Foam Board Insulation Types I’ve written several posts about how to insulation basement walls in which I promote the use of foam board insulation as the first line of defense against moisture and mold. Because of this I often get questions about which type of foam board insulation to use and what R values these…

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Preparing Metal Stud Walls For Masonry

By Todd Fratzel on Framing, Insulation

Metal Stud Walls & Masonry Recently I wrote an article, Metal Studs with Densglass Sheating and Foam Board Insulation, which showed how we framed an exterior wall with metal studs then applied Densglass Exterior Sheathing followed by a layer of foam board insulation. This was all in preparation for a final layer of exterior masonry…

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Metal Studs – DensGlass Sheathing – Foam Board

By Todd Fratzel on Framing, Insulation

Exterior Metal Stud Walls I recently wrote an article, How To Install DensGlass Exterior Sheathing On Metal Studs, which detailed the use of DensGlass Sheathing on exterior metal stud walls behind a brick veneer. Now we are installing a layer of 2-inch thick Dow Foam Board over the DensGlass sheathing prior to installing the brick…

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Blower Door Test | Energy Star Home

By Todd Fratzel on Energy Conservation, Feature Story, Insulation

Energy Star Home Over the past few months we’ve been building an an Energy Star Certified Home for a customer. This new home features some really nice energy efficient details including triple pane windows, spray-in-place cellulose insulation, high efficiency propane boiler and Energy Star certified appliances. Building an Energy Star Home involves a team effort…

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Icicles Tell Which House Has Enough Insulation

By Todd Fratzel on Insulation

I’ve been writing about ice dams and attic insulation quite a bit lately because of the weather. I’ve also pointed out that you can tell when a house doesn’t have sufficient insulation. I ran across two photos yesterday that really tell the story better than I can write it. The folks over at Bangor Bungalow…

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Recommended Insulation Levels

By Todd Fratzel on Energy Conservation, Insulation

Insulation Saves Money We’ve been having another record winter here in New Hampshire and quite a few people are asking me if they have enough insulation in their homes. The expensive cost of fuel and rough economy has forced folks to re-evaluate their current insulation levels. By making sure you have the proper levels of…

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Basement Insulation Detail

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Insulation

Basement Wall Insulation Lately I’ve been swamped with questions about insulating basement walls properly. So I’ve written this article to share with you a Basement Insulation detail that I hope will clarify some issues. Moisture Problems Before you choose an insulation method for your basement it’s important to understand the moisture problems associated with basements.…

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