Welcome to blog no.7, we have now finished the exterior framing of the second floor. The windows have all been installed leveled and sealed and the walls and roof have been all insulated. its amazing how just sealing and insulating warms up the space. it is amazing that the next step is drywall and finishing up the electrical. after that we can move upstairs, no more couch sleeping and well have our living room back "shrieks of excitement over here. it's also amazing to see that we are almost finish the large portion of the renovation and then its smaller faster renovations to finish.
Before we put any of the interior walls up Jerry prepared the ceiling for the blown cellulose insulation. We chose to go with Blown-in cellulose insulation because we where able to get a higher R-Value in a smaller blanket then we would have other options. Jerry wanted a blog post that focused on the process of insulating a cathedral ceiling. there was not much information showing the best way to do this. Some of the issues that we had to consider were roof type and joist size. we have a steel roof which in weather can be loud this is the main reason why spray foam was not considered as it would not allow for enough sound proofing. We also had to consider the thickness of the insulation need vs the joist size. fiberglass and blanket insulation would not work as there would not be enough space to reach the R-value needed. Cellulose Blown-in insulation was our best choice and recommended to us by professional companies. We opted to do this step ourselves to save a few thousand dollars.
first, Jerry prepped the ceiling by adding cardboard baffles, placed 2" from the roof, this allows for air flow and the evaporation of condensation. Jerry was extra lucky because he was able to get cardboard from his company that would have been thrown out otherwise. after the cardboard was placed a layer of vapour barrier was added. Jerry also added plastic strapping so that the vapour barrier wouldn't sag once the insulation was blown in and waiting for drywall. Jerry's dad and uncle Ron came up and were able to blow the insulation in the ceiling in an afternoon.
The next step for upstairs will be the drywall and electrical. Once that is up we will be able to set up upstairs. its amazing the progress that has been made from the day we moved in, we could not and would not be this far without all the help of family.
