Vapor Barrier For Attic Walls

Attic vapor barrier detail for cold climates.

Vapor barrier for attic walls.

Whether using loose fill or batts put the vapor barrier closest to the warm side of your installation where hot moist air would get in facing the house s interior in cold climates beneath floor insulation and the attic s interior in hot climates on top of floor insulation. Such a location works both as a vapor barrier as well as an air barrier and eliminates the need for an external air barrier not a easy application on a multi storried building as well as any special electrical pans and their sealing. Because it s nearly impossible to seal penetrations in the ceiling the reality is water vapor will get into the attic. I want to install insulation in my attic floor which i use for storage.

After the insulation is in place you will want to add a vapor retarder sometimes called a vapor barrier if you need one. Even though we apply vapor barriers to exterior insulated walls in cold climates it s no longer recommended for ceilings floor of the attic. Thus installing vapor barriers on wall surfaces must. I install my vapor barrier in the middle of the wall system between the two walls.

My question is should iuse a vapor barrier inthe attic floor. Without a vapor barrier in place condensation inside the walls could ruin the insulation and promote the growth of harmful mold and bacteria. This barrier is meant to keep moisture from getting to the insulation in the walls and ceilings and it is required by building codes when insulating most houses. Whether or not you need a vapor retarder hinges on three main factors.

Since this wall assembly has a vapor barrier that is also a drainage plane it is not necessary to back vent the brick veneer reservoir cladding as in figure 6 and figure 7. This wall assembly will dry from the vapor barrier inwards and will dry from the vapor barrier outwards. A vapor retarder is a material used to prevent water vapor from diffusing into the wall ceiling or floor during the cold winter. The previous owner has 1 foam insulation with a a plastic vapor barrier only on the rafters of the roof about4 from the slate roof but not on the walls of the attic.

In any case the vapor barrier must point to the warm side. Not every wall does. When a vapor barrier is on the side of a wall where the dry air is i e outside in winter or inside in summer moisture problems can occur. A vapor barrier s job is to keep water vapor in humid air from diffusing through one side of a wall and finding a cool surface inside the wall.

Moisture driven inwards out of the brick veneer will condense on the. Plastic specifically 6 mil polyethylene plastic is. Some regions don t require a vapor barrier. A vapor barrier reduces the movement of water vapor by.