Good morning everyone,
My wife and I have bought an old house built in 1935. Among other things, the top floor ceiling, which is a wooden beam ceiling, is to be insulated. There are old wooden floorboards on the attic floor. The attic will only be used as storage space and possibly occasionally for setting up a Carrera race track or model railway temporarily, but there will be no permanent use and therefore no heating.
Below the attic are a bathroom and a bedroom.
A few days ago, we had some craftsmen over who suggested that to insulate, it would be enough to lay a vapor barrier over the floorboards and then place mineral wool insulation on top. Won’t I get a mold problem below the vapor barrier (on the floorboards and beams)?
At the moment, I can’t say more about the construction of the beam ceiling since we still need to open it up.
Best regards,
Heiko
My wife and I have bought an old house built in 1935. Among other things, the top floor ceiling, which is a wooden beam ceiling, is to be insulated. There are old wooden floorboards on the attic floor. The attic will only be used as storage space and possibly occasionally for setting up a Carrera race track or model railway temporarily, but there will be no permanent use and therefore no heating.
Below the attic are a bathroom and a bedroom.
A few days ago, we had some craftsmen over who suggested that to insulate, it would be enough to lay a vapor barrier over the floorboards and then place mineral wool insulation on top. Won’t I get a mold problem below the vapor barrier (on the floorboards and beams)?
At the moment, I can’t say more about the construction of the beam ceiling since we still need to open it up.
Best regards,
Heiko
Hi Heiko,
with proper execution (correctly installed vapor barrier, sealed at all vertical sections, etc.), there should be no issues.
The dew point will then be located somewhere within the insulation layer, where condensation could potentially occur. However, since no moisture can pass through due to the vapor barrier, you won’t have any problems.
If you’re interested in the topic, try experimenting with a U-value calculator (Google). I think it’s a good way to understand the concept better.
Regards
with proper execution (correctly installed vapor barrier, sealed at all vertical sections, etc.), there should be no issues.
The dew point will then be located somewhere within the insulation layer, where condensation could potentially occur. However, since no moisture can pass through due to the vapor barrier, you won’t have any problems.
If you’re interested in the topic, try experimenting with a U-value calculator (Google). I think it’s a good way to understand the concept better.
Regards
Thank you for your quick response. This also means that I don’t have to use mineral wool, but can use rigid PUR boards above the vapor barrier instead, requiring less height accordingly.
For the exterior walls, we want to use a vapor-permeable material since the old building should manage without penetrations for a ventilation system (exceptions are the bathroom and the kitchen extractor hood).
For the exterior walls, we want to use a vapor-permeable material since the old building should manage without penetrations for a ventilation system (exceptions are the bathroom and the kitchen extractor hood).
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