How To Install Insulation | Do It Yourself

Have a question? You can contact me and I'll get you the answer. I welcome your inquiries.

Recent Questions From Our Readers:

Sharon from Northern Virginia wrote:

Hi,

I purchased a home 3 months ago. It's a townhouse built in 1987 in Northern Virginia. I discovered that there's no insulation on at least the back side of the house (fortunately I'm a middle unit). The walls appear not to be insulated at all. I'm basing this on how cold the walls are, the air coming from the sockets, and word from a neighbor who discovered this when they removed their wall (heard word of mouth). I have the same problem on every level. I don't know about the ceilings and the home inspector didn't say anything about lack of insulation in the attic. What would you recommend for an inexpensive fix to this problem? I wish I knew who built my house - I'd love to hold them responsible for this!

Sharon, the first thing to do is to find out if your walls have any insulation installed. There are several methods for determining if you have any insulation in your walls and I'll show you how.

Method 1:

You can check for existing wall insulation by locating a electrical wall plate located on a exterior wall. Turn off the circuit breaker so you don't get yourself shocked. I've been hit several times by 110 volts and believe me it doesn't feel good.... read more

Doug from Vancouver, BC wrote:

Hey Itchy,

When I get near my water heater I can feel the heat escaping from it. What's the best way to insulate a electric water heater?

Most people don't bother insulating the water heater. They should because they can save up to 9% in water heating costs. This is a do it yourself task that can be done in a small amount of time. You can find pre-fit water heater insulation blankets at your home improvement store. Also check with your utility company. Some will offer rebates and sell them to you cheap!

These guidelines are not meant to replace the manufacturers instructions if you have any. Put on some protective clothing and grab a dust mask.

1. The first thing you need to do is to cut the insulation to be fitted on top of the water heater. Make sure it fits around the pipes and tape the cuts you've made with tape... read more

Housewife in PA wrote:

Dear Itchy,

I just found out there is nothing to adhere insulation on to on our attic walls. You see we were looking to insulate our walls and floors in the attic. We noticed that a type of black paper had fallen off the gable end of house. Under the paper, there was no wood, no fiberglass or foam sheeting; nothing but vinyl siding and nails protruding through it . Which now lets us know why the siding near the top of the gable buckles so much. What can we do? How can this happen? I thought building inspectors were suppose to find shoddy work and not let builders get away with it. How do we fix the problem in the least expensive way. I am on disability and it seems our electric is going up 30% by 2010. Thanks for your information.

PS. our house is about 20 years old.

You have two issues to resolve.

Before you think about insulating the attic you must first have the structural members of your gable ends repaired. Without actually viewing your attic area it's hard to determine exactly what your up against. This could be an expensive ordeal or maybe not. I would make a visit to your local building inspectors office and have them search their records for more information regarding your home and how this passed the inspection.... read more