dirttracker18
Well-known member
So that back story is as follows:
We bought our house in serious need of repairs 3 years ago. After about 6 months of work (including building my 30 X 36)
we moved in. It is still not done but very comfortable (needs trim in some places, kitchen redo, basement is gutted, etc).
First winter I nearly sh!t when I saw how much the heat was costing. Unfortunatley our choices are electric or propane and we have the gas.
Part of the retro was to tear down a block chimney that was used with an old wood stove (would not pass inspection so was removed for insurance). The chimney was never flashed correclty causing the wall to rot out. I needed to remove the chimney to correctly fix the section of wall (and put in a double 36" garden door unit with internal blinds)
While I had that section of the metal roof off I noticed a lot of the batts were damp. Upon pulling them up the next issue was the Vapour barrier was not 6 mil but the old thin stuff and was ripped in many places. The ceiling below is a cathedral notty pine so taking it down is not an option.
I firmly believe that a big part of our heating bill is the loss through the ceiling. With damp batts and thin, ripped VB I am heating the space above my house. Now cathedral ceilings are notorious for heating issues to start with. Couple that with my issues and you have a huge heat loss zone. Did I mention the 12 inch think ice damns I had this year!! Had to go up and bust them apart as water started getting into the house when it was below freezing outside.
What I have decided is that I am going to replace the metal roof with a new one (it was origianlly NAILED down, has oblonged holes now). While the roof is off I want to have the entire roof spray foamed with closed cell foam 7 inches thick (2 X 8 joists used). This will provided much better insulating value, not be affect by moisture and replace the virtually useless VB.
The cost for the foam is estimated at $5000. We paid $4300 in propane last year to heat a 1000 sq/ft house. Ya crazy I know. I really don't think it is unreasonable to expect to save $1000 on that and I think that may be conservative. The current batts are damp so not doing much and the VB leaks all over the place.
The cost of the roof is not a big concern as it really should be replaced anyway. I will strip the old one and instal the new one myself. I wish I could do the same with the spray foam but I have not seen any DIY kits that are cost effective yet. It is a 2 / 12 roof so we are talking a little over 1100 sq/ft of foam. The old metal will be repurposed for an old shed and to build another shed
Now, any one with opinions, real life experiences or expertise that would like to comment is greatly appreciated. I really think the payback on this could be as little as 5 years and that this will be a perminent solution for us as we plan to stay here. We may even add on in the next 10 years if things go well.
We bought our house in serious need of repairs 3 years ago. After about 6 months of work (including building my 30 X 36)
we moved in. It is still not done but very comfortable (needs trim in some places, kitchen redo, basement is gutted, etc).First winter I nearly sh!t when I saw how much the heat was costing. Unfortunatley our choices are electric or propane and we have the gas.
Part of the retro was to tear down a block chimney that was used with an old wood stove (would not pass inspection so was removed for insurance). The chimney was never flashed correclty causing the wall to rot out. I needed to remove the chimney to correctly fix the section of wall (and put in a double 36" garden door unit with internal blinds)
While I had that section of the metal roof off I noticed a lot of the batts were damp. Upon pulling them up the next issue was the Vapour barrier was not 6 mil but the old thin stuff and was ripped in many places. The ceiling below is a cathedral notty pine so taking it down is not an option.
I firmly believe that a big part of our heating bill is the loss through the ceiling. With damp batts and thin, ripped VB I am heating the space above my house. Now cathedral ceilings are notorious for heating issues to start with. Couple that with my issues and you have a huge heat loss zone. Did I mention the 12 inch think ice damns I had this year!! Had to go up and bust them apart as water started getting into the house when it was below freezing outside.
What I have decided is that I am going to replace the metal roof with a new one (it was origianlly NAILED down, has oblonged holes now). While the roof is off I want to have the entire roof spray foamed with closed cell foam 7 inches thick (2 X 8 joists used). This will provided much better insulating value, not be affect by moisture and replace the virtually useless VB.
The cost for the foam is estimated at $5000. We paid $4300 in propane last year to heat a 1000 sq/ft house. Ya crazy I know. I really don't think it is unreasonable to expect to save $1000 on that and I think that may be conservative. The current batts are damp so not doing much and the VB leaks all over the place.
The cost of the roof is not a big concern as it really should be replaced anyway. I will strip the old one and instal the new one myself. I wish I could do the same with the spray foam but I have not seen any DIY kits that are cost effective yet. It is a 2 / 12 roof so we are talking a little over 1100 sq/ft of foam. The old metal will be repurposed for an old shed and to build another shed
Now, any one with opinions, real life experiences or expertise that would like to comment is greatly appreciated. I really think the payback on this could be as little as 5 years and that this will be a perminent solution for us as we plan to stay here. We may even add on in the next 10 years if things go well.
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