We purchased a High Ranch home almost a year ago. The house is almost 10 years old. The master bedroom and one of the childrens bedrooms are on the exterior walls facing north as well as a well travelled road. The exterior has vinyl siding. My question/issue is these two bedrooms are very cold and noisy all the time from the traffic. My thoughts are the interior walls have not been insulated sufficently. My question is it better to remove the siding and put the styrofoam insulation on the exterior under the siding or better to remove the interior drywall and re-insulate the walls. It probably also doesn'y help that the oil furnace is at the opposite end of the house and we have tried playing with the vents to compensate.
Thanks Steve Young
Answer:
When you say interior wall you don't mean a partition wall do you? I beleive you mean the interior of that exterior wall right? If this is the case it would probably be more cost effective to remove drywall and reinsulate than taking down the siding and adding polyextruded styrene on the outside and then residing. I would suggest remove the drywall and reinsulate that wall, if the wall is cold use Icynene it is a spray in place foam that has superior air sealing capabilities and at the same time help reduce midrange frquencies like traffic. It offers the same r-value as fiberglass but with the added air seal. Another option would be to insulate with Roxul insulation, it would deaden the sound but you would still lack the effective air seal. Both scenarios would still require an effective vapor barrier which is code in our climate. I would suggest Icynene as the better product. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me Sam Marrello (Comfort Insulation) 613-226-9912.
