When Nathan was framing last summer and fall, the focus was on getting us dried and closed in- he just framed up the extior bearing wals with 2x6s, sheathed them with OSB, caulked the joints, put on the "stucco wrap" and stood up the walls...
Over the winter now, Nathan has been framing up the other non-load-bearing walls, partitions, and the "double-wall" assembly for the exterior wall insulation. That double wall is an additional 2x4 wall framed up with 2" of space between it and the 2x6 exterior wall. All told, the wall thickness is like double 2x6's- both layers packed full with R-21 Batt insulation... R-42 when we are done...
Walls framed up on floor...
Stand walls up in place...
Secure walls in place...
When we get back outside in the spring/summer of 2012, we'll add rigid insulation befor we put on stucco and siding- that will help improve our air-tightess and get us up over R-50!
We got the first layer of insulation put in early this winter, so working inside really hasn't been bad at all. A little bit of electric heat and the occasional blast from a gas construction heater, and it's easy to work, even in the coldest of days!
Nathan had a local spray foam installer take care of the deep floor joists under our roof deck. If we ever get a leak in the roof deck membrane, the foam allows water to move directly through it so we could have some chance of locating the leak and repairing it. Batt insulation there could allow water to wick down and drip a long way from the original leak, necessitating a much more involved repair. It also should be an improvement in our air-tight-ness!
The spray foam goes on like paint....
...but then expands like CRAZY!
More to come...
