Can I add insulation to the roof of my home?

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rosencra38

rosencra38

New Member
Jun 17, 2008
63
West Michigan
I own a double wide home that is right around 10 yrs old. This is the second winter of burning full time in the Quadrafire 4300 I had installed in the living room of the home. We have a good amount of heat loss, ice cycles are terrible all the way around the house. Problem is that we have vaulted (maybe it's cathedral, I don't know) ceilings and I don't know if anyone could put any more insulation in place or not. I know I could if I planned to re-shingle the roof but I'm not going that far. Thanks in advance.
 
That's a bummer on a ten year old place. This is probably a dumb question, but is there a ceiling fan running to break up the heat stratifying at the peak of the cathedral ceiling?

I'm wondering if another layer of insulation, maybe rigid foam, could be applied on the interior ceiling.
 
Rigid foam has to be covered with drywall (it's a major fire hazard), and the ceiling probably isn't designed to hold two layers, so you'd need to tear out the existing ceiling.

You can't put insulation under shingles, unless you tear off the decking too, and that would be a major project. If you eventually put a new roof on you could tear off the shingles and put up a metal roof (metal is lighter). You could put rigid foam under the metal, using longer screws and/or furring strips.
 
BeGreen said:
That's a bummer on a ten year old place. This is probably a dumb question, but is there a ceiling fan running to break up the heat stratifying at the peak of the cathedral ceiling?

I'm wondering if another layer of insulation, maybe rigid foam, could be applied on the interior ceiling.
Click to expand...

Never a dumb question... Yes I have a ceiling fan running 24/7 at the peak.
 
pyper said:
Rigid foam has to be covered with drywall (it's a major fire hazard), and the ceiling probably isn't designed to hold two layers, so you'd need to tear out the existing ceiling.

You can't put insulation under shingles, unless you tear off the decking too, and that would be a major project. If you eventually put a new roof on you could tear off the shingles and put up a metal roof (metal is lighter). You could put rigid foam under the metal, using longer screws and/or furring strips.
Click to expand...

That's what I meant when I mentioned it. Thanks for the help.
 
There needs to be an air space between the insulation and roof sheeting with soffit vents and a ridge vent to ventilate vapor or you'll get ice dams in winter
 
rosencra38 said:
I own a double wide home that is right around 10 yrs old. This is the second winter of burning full time in the Quadrafire 4300 I had installed in the living room of the home. We have a good amount of heat loss, ice cycles are terrible all the way around the house. Problem is that we have vaulted (maybe it's cathedral, I don't know) ceilings and I don't know if anyone could put any more insulation in place or not. I know I could if I planned to re-shingle the roof but I'm not going that far. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Not sure how you'd go about doing more insulation.
You need to get yourself a snowrake, and get the snow off the roof every time it snows, starting with the first snow of the season.
I've had this problem and this year I've kept on it, with VERY FEW icicles and some small ice dams in the valleys. If you do that, there's nothing
(or little) on the roof to melt then freeze at the eaves.
The dogs go crazy every time I use it, but I'm done in just a few minutes all the way around the house.
 
Some double wides have trusses with enough space for additional insulation. If you do you can open up the gable end and dense pack the entire ceiling with cellulose. It is a very tight space in most cases with less than a foot at the peak. An pipe extension will help you reach a little farther. If you have a boca type with eave boards and facia you can remove the aluminum trim and drill holes in each cavity, fill with an extension pipe, cover or plug the holes and re-apply the trim.

Garett
 
G-rott said:
Some double wides have trusses with enough space for additional insulation. If you do you can open up the gable end and dense pack the entire ceiling with cellulose. It is a very tight space in most cases with less than a foot at the peak. An pipe extension will help you reach a little farther. If you have a boca type with eave boards and facia you can remove the aluminum trim and drill holes in each cavity, fill with an extension pipe, cover or plug the holes and re-apply the trim.

Garett
Click to expand...

+ 1 I worked on one that if you open a hole at the top of the gable end wall there is just enough room for a man to get in and blow cellulose. make sure to leave a small gap between insulation and sheeting for ventalation.
Probably not room to get to the eave to place baffles.







'
 
I'm curious about why you have ice dams and icicles. Is the insulation right against the roofing, or are the eaves blocked off w/ insulation over the wall? If you have plenty of ventilation, you should not get ice, I don't think; don't see how you could, anyway. Perhaps making sure you have good ventilation would be the first step.
 
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