Tiny House Insulation

[@j.ericsponhauer8275]

I’m an experienced home builder, and I love the way you refer back and forth of the similarities and the differences for regular houses vs the needs in tiny homes. Good logic path!

[@Persto1208]

This channel is gold

[@TMouse-hd5jb]

7:07 I am time stamping this very literal, very true, but downright hysterically hilarious remark about spray foam. Thank you for your videos. They are extremely helpful with my endeavor. This though, deserves an Oscar!

[@troelsovergaard4115]

I subliminally TRUST this guy 😆

[@covecarpentry]

Love your videos. Ive searched and searched, havent found anything mentioning why you guys left out vapour barrier.

[@liamalepta8003]

Im in East Tennessee , my tiny is a shed to cabin, its roughly 589 sq ft. I have R13, using osb walls 7/16 and panel board, 2 inch foil foam for ceiling with shiplap wood for ceiling. With a walmart bought oil radiator and a Mr Heater blue flame, It can be 19 f in winter, its gone even lower, but it gets so warm in my cabin I have to get up and turn the heat down. Letting people know where you plan to have your tiny home look at insulation charts. I sleep like a rock when its cooler but when too warm I cant sleep.

[@inkheist]

My wife and I are big fans of what you're doing with your tiny house. We are in the process of building our own and are a little stumped when it comes to the roof. We watched another video (tiny nest) where they put the rain screen(cor-a-vent) between their metal roofing and their underlayment and then the sheathing, instead of between the sheathing and the insulation as you placed it. We were wondering what the thinking is between either method. We're in northeastern US right now, but are planning to move to the southwest. We don't want our roof to preclude us from anywhere we might want to take our house though. Thanks!

[@actuallytiny2537]

What’s important is that one side or the other of the sheathing can dry out. If you had a breathable underlayment you could go with the rain screen on top but keep in mind if you ever plan to walk up there you’re not going to be able to. Roof details in tiny houses are annoying. It’s tempting to go with the rain screen on top just to overcome the issue of common insulation thickness is not leaving vent space in any reasonably sized tiny house roof. But if you put it down on top of ice and water shield it’s not actually accomplishing anything. If you do decide to go that route you just want to be absolutely meticulous with your air ceiling because if there is any cross flow of air and moisture it will accumulate and rot the roof cavity. We have a sheet rock ceiling with no air barrier but every gap meticulously sealed so the only moisture that’s getting up there is the slow diffusive moisture which should evaporate back out the way it came and anything that gets past that it will vent out the normal roof vent solution. It’s a complicated issue and I don’t think anybody in the tiny house community has any idea what the right answer is, what we really need to do is start tearing some tiny roofs off but that’s not gonna happen for about 10 more years.

[@frankoneill9612]

Your 2" poly-iso plus 1/4" spacers is the best solution I've seen for maximizing loft height while still having some ventilation. Thanks for sharing! QUESTION: does the spacer compress the Rockwool by 1/4" then, or is the Cor-a-vent sandwiched between rafters and sheathing?

[@x-tinac1604]

Looks like you used a 2" poly-iso foam and a 3.5" Rockwool to fill the 2x6" ceiling studs? Is this to bump the R-value up from a R-23 (5.5" Rockwool) to a R-28? (R-13 poly +R-15) or do you need a rigid board to accomplish the ventilation space?

[@actuallytiny2537]

Both actually, and I’m not even sure that this is the best insulation strategy because it essentially creates a vapor seal on the top of the rock wool. I feel comfortable with it because we are meticulous about air sealing and at the same time we don’t have a vapor barrier underneath the sheet rock so the idea is that any ambient moisture that accumulates below the poly iso-can slowly diffuse back into the space but I can’t say anything definitive about it until I cut it open five years and see what it looks like. The air space on top of the poly iso-is just there too allow any moisture on the underside of the roof sheeting to vent. Tiny house roof insulation is a difficult subject, You could go up to a 2 x 8 but that takes two more inches off of your vertical height and it’s a pretty heavy roof and you would still have to create some type of baffle to create air space on top of the rock wool insulation. Another option would be a completely sealed roof filled with rigid foam or spray in foam but I haven’t gone this route yet because I can’t find any good resource that explains to me how sealed roofs work? I know that if you use a structural insulated panel as a roof somewhere cold the condensation on the backside of the roof sheeting will slowly rot out the sheeting because there’s no air space and I’m not sure how that’s any different than a sealed roof. There’s a lot of opinions out there but it’s really difficult to find any actual science on the subject.

[@tarapugh2584]

Your the first I have found to use rigid foam in the riffles that's what I want to use I was told when I install I needed a gap from roof to ridge foam just like you. but I was also told to leave a gap on each side of the rafter and I see you used spray form for install and close the Chanel I think yours makes sense can you tell me for sure that I don't need a gap on sides just the top of ridge foam intall. Thanks I just am not sure Tara

[@oceanbreeze5223]

Hi... ❓ Question ❓ What if it is a garage & it's 10 x 20 ....is it possible to put pink panther wrap plastic wrap first & then rockwool? Or No?? Or would that create mold or moisture? I need to insulate my garage for warmth only, no heat with in it. It's a rental where I hang out at & do arts & crafts & dyi things. It has electric but won't hold a heater. Just a light .

[@Guy4UnderDog]

Under insulation makes for cold walls and a cold feel to the house.. I am toying with the idea of using a vacuum space for insulation. It is possible to get R50 with an inch using VIPs. (OK, Ok the acronym is Vacuum insulated panels :-) ) You might be able to have a roadable Tiny House that could comfortably winter in Alaska.

[@trianglebean3884]

Wow this is so helpful thanks

[@brandonsanderson17]

Would you still recommend using iso board in a climate that averages 10 degrees Celsius in the winter?

[@ronaldcole8889]

Do you have a preferred mineral wool insulation in terms of sustainability/quality? I see that you used Rockwool, between that and Owens Corning's ThermaFiber.

[@colonynaut1627]

You know what would be really cool. Using Vacuum Insulated Panels and VIP window for the TH loft area, the rest of the house could be conventional insulation but the loft itself could be insulated on all sides using VIP. The problem is the standard 2x4/2x6 framing in the roof would subtract off precious headspace even if the VIP panels gave you extra R value in less space. Any ideas? i.e. How to join conventional framing with something structural but thinner.

[@alejandrolimache9518]

Question: How much heat conduction occurs thru the lumber part of your roof frame? should you insulate also the wood part of your frame in order to avoid the heat/cold conduction that occurs thru that material?

[@deast7429]

What size rockwool are you using in your 4x2 walls?

[@busnorth]

When all complete. Is this going to be movable?

[@jherman89]

Did you lay the XPS directly on the outer rim of the trailer without a wood plate? Or does the wood plate rest on top of that XPS? Thanks!

[@marliflores9301]

Great informational video, but as a beginner, some of the terms/concepts that you are using go right over my head. For example, what is r-value?

[@actuallytiny2537]

Google has this to say about R-value: In the context of building and construction, the R-value is a measure of how well a two-dimensional barrier, such as a layer of insulation, a window or a complete wall or ceiling, resists the conductive flow of heat. ... R-values are additive for layers of materials, and the higher the R-value the better the performance.

[@JolieGaronne]

Another great video! So is it okay to use the 1" XPS foam directly on top of the metal panel of the trailer? Nothing in between? Also, why not using the polyiso foam for the bottom as well -not just for the roof?

[@actuallytiny2537]

The XPS is fine directly on the trailer, the issue with poly iso-is that it’s not nearly as compressible and will disintegrate overtime under pressure.

[@JolieGaronne]

@@actuallytiny2537 Thanks! That makes sense. If only the XPS wasn't so toxic!

[@x-tinac1604]

Do you think one could use a ZIP system waterproof panel on the trailer base instead of the XPS? It's on OSB or plywood and also could use their 1" insulated option with an r-3. Why did you choose to not use an OSB with the Tyvek wrap under?

[@actuallytiny2537]

I’m not familiar with the whole scope of zip products but I just wanted something completely inert down there in case any water accumulates beneath it. There wouldn’t be any structural benefit to having plywood down there so the insulation is fine.

[@Heywoodj1969]

Why are there no headers over your windows?

[@delorusclaiborne3274]

Dont underestimate the issue of moisture and condensation its worth a look if you are interested in tiny homes as moisture is your enemy here, there are solutions, just making some of you aware is all 👍

[@elmasdan]

You should link to the products you use.

[@rightawnrightawn]

Great video! I'm using your strategy to insulate my backyard office ceiling. Just curious about what thickness of plywood that you used for standoffs on the polyiso. If it was .5 inch, wouldn't that add up to a thickness of 6"? If that's the case, the batt would have to be compressed by .5 inch to fit within the rafter. Is that how you did it?

[@TC-tw5zk]

Hi I'm doing the same backyard shed conversion to office...how did your project turnout

[@rightawnrightawn]

@@TC-tw5zk Hi! Yes, I used this method on my backyard office. It worked very well. Keeps the studio warm in the winter and cool in the summer and I live in Arizona where it gets super hot!

[@TC-tw5zk]

@@rightawnrightawn thanks what size did you have?

[@TC-tw5zk]

@@rightawnrightawn im here in southern CA plan on starting my project next month...10x12 it will be

[@rightawnrightawn]

@@TC-tw5zk My studio is 10 x 20.

[@RubenAL2]

Is it necessary to put a plastic vapor barrier after installing the Rockwool?

[@gigel99324]

No, it breathes

[@antonyllamocca1635]

Why you stop making more videos? Your videos are great

[@johntherat339]

Great video. In my situation, I have an unvented roof assembly, so would the hybrid approach of gap + polyiso + Rockwool work, or would I just need to use spray foam on the underside of the roof sheathing and then fill with Rockwool?

[@actuallytiny2537]

I’m really not clear on how unvented roof systems work. It seems like any space is going to accumulate moisture over time and you have to have some way for that to see about but the problem is that’s a double edge sword because that’s just letting moisture in as well. Knowing nothing about it I would probably fill the entire space with poly iso so the rockwool doesn’t fill with moisture. We could actually have this issue ourselves which is why we are so careful about air sealing the sheet rock interior. What I don’t understand about unvented roof systems is how you prevent them from having the exact same problem that structural insulated panel roofs have in cold climates where are the roof sheeting slowly gains moisture and rots. And unvented assembly seems a lot simpler in a tiny house so if you can find any good resources that explains how this stuff works please let me know.

[@johntherat339]

@@actuallytiny2537 Hey there, thanks for the response. I've spent countless hours researching this and found a couple of good articles about the "best" way to insulate an unvented attic. The number one option is to do 3" or 4" of closed-cell spray foam under the roof deck and call it a day. What I actually ended up doing was putting a 1" layer of polyiso under the roof deck and then filled in the gaps with canned spray foam to get my 'air-impermeable' layer. I then furred out the bottom of the rafters 1" and put in the Rockwool batts. I ended up finding out how to do this by searching 'How to insulate an unvented cathedral roof ceiling.' I'm in Climate Zone 2/3 so didn't need a lot of extra space to achieve what I wanted to do. Here's the link I used to make sure it was up to code. www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cn_unvented_attic_assemblies.pdf

[@gtvvds]

o kaip tu išsirinkai kurioje būtent vietoje statyti namą? Atrodo turint didelį sklypą ir nebūt pririštam prie tinklų, lavai sunku būtų apsispręsti dėl konkrečios vietos.

[@Skashoon]

Wish I could afford rock wool, so much easier and better. But my budget is very small.

[@mmmonkay]

may be worth it in the long run when it comes to heating bills, or energy use.

[@jordynlove3746]

Non toxic insulation: Sheep’s wool Denim Reflectix Hay

[@actuallytiny2537]

Insulation is such a complicated subject. For the same quantity of thermal resistance you have to consider embodied energy, cost effectiveness, carbon footprint, toxicity to the planet and the user, and most importantly scalability meaning that if we’re going to embrace a solution we need to think about the practicality of wide scale implementation. About 10 years ago I built an entire cabin out of materials that I made by hand. It was a beautifully natural structure and that took two years of my time and cost about $11,000 by the time I was done. Everything was sourced locally and many things were salvaged. My siding was live edge cedar that blew down in a storm, my windows were torn out of an old house. The frame was all timber frame and I made the lumber on a small mill. The insulation was denim and the plaster was earth plaster. Overall just an absolutely gorgeous space, but at the same time it was also horrifically thermally in efficient due to my resistance to using any type of new or toxic materials. What that means is that over the lifespan of the structure it will probably consume more embodied energy and leave a higher carbon footprint than if I had been willing to be less of a purist about materials. Obviously we should always strive to minimize our impacts but you really have to consider the overall carbon and toxic lifespan of all the materials used. Rockwool isn’t perfect, but it’s relatively cost-effective and has a reasonable embodied energy compared to fiberglass. Denim isn’t nearly the eco-friendly products that it’s made out to be and for a whole bunch of reasons that I’m not gonna go into reflectix is an actually a very good insulator at least the way that most people use it. Hey works but it only really works well in the context of Strawbale houses. Sheeps wool seems pretty cool but at least right now it’s pretty expensive!

[@OJesusX3]

Very good suggestions all of you! = D

[@adammacer]

Hands.. watch the hands.. it's all about the hands..

[@seppukun208]

Needs diagrams unfortunately. This is very are hard to visualise for me especially from a metric country 😛