Insulating the Door

Good day all!

Today, HZG went on a sales call to an FOP home. Supposedly, the gas bills for this newly acquired home were quite high - and the air conditioner runs non-stop. Well, the answer was a little surprising.

The attic space was not going to be used for anything but storage. The owners had previously insulated under the wood flooring - both in the main part of the attic and the kneewalls. A fairly decent job, no less. The issue was the entry leading to the attic space.

Upon opening the door, you still felt cool in the space (mid-80 degrees today). It wasn't until you got to the top of the attic that the temperature drastically switched. Why?

The walls and staircase were not insulated. Worse than that, the door was not insulated - and a LOUVERED door to boot.

Solution - dense-pack the stairway wall and steps, replace the louvered door with a solid door and add an R19 batt with 6 mil poly to the door's surface. Lastly, weatherstrip the door - yes, it must be treated as if it were to the outside, which in essence it is.