Q&A: A Forum for Green Building Experts and Beginners

Hello,

I so wanted an energy efficient home. I specified that when we began the remodel. All of the new windows are energy efficient, as are all of the appliances, and I am thankful for that.

But to my disgust, the insulation that I requested for my remodel was not installed and the walls are up. My home is a penthouse in a 1970s brick building in Barcelona. It is on the 9th floor, and has no common walls. 3 sides (north, east and south) are fully exposed. The west wall is partially exposed and has minimal protection because about 75% of it faces an light well.

I have a weirdly designed house.

The attic in the lean-to addition has 2x6 joists (actual 2x6 - old wood). The joists sit directly on top of the wall framing for the ouside wall, and extend outward from there. They're notched to sit flat on the outside wall header. - there's less room for insulation there, as teh joists are no longer the full six inches.

There was never any room for both insulation and ventilation, so we have a 'hot roof'. It was created using three sheets of XPS foam sandwhiched together, and sealed with copious amounts of canned sprayfoam.

Hi, I am building my first house, what a project that has turned out to be but that's for another day. Anyways, our great room has scissor trusses for a nice pitched ceiling. I would like to have at least 24" of insulation to keep things nice and toasty in the winter. There is a 4' overhang outside on either end. I nailed a 24" high plywood leaving a vent space above where the red is on the layout. My question is what material and how to go about it. To use the high density cellulose is has to be contained by some mesh? Any input appreciated.

I'm looking at building a small free standing deck, perhaps 200 square feet or so. It'll be pretty low to the ground, less than 30 inches for sure. It seems to be widespread practice now to put rubber flashing on top of the beams, joists, and on joist ends, to protect the tops and hanger joint from water.