There are two basic ways to insulate a finished attic.
How to insulate an old home attic.
The best way to insulate attic doors is to make a pillow made of insulation batting.
Attic hatch or door.
Measure first before you stick it onto the attic door with tape.
Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic.
Caulk window trim and use weatherstripping to reduce air leaks.
You should be able to see if there is insulation in the wall and possibly how thick it is.
While insulating your attic make sure to seal off areas where you will be working with old insulation caulk would be ideal for sealing off those spaces and then remove old insulation and install the new cellulose insulation.
Add foam to the edges to keep it air sealed.
Pull down stair or ladder.
Lay the batts across the ceiling joists covering the existing insulation.
One way to insulate walls of an old house is to focus on the home s exterior.
Remove the outlet cover and shine a flashlight into the crack around the outlet box.
Install siding over the insulation.
Turn off the power to the outlet.
Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door.
Inspect the exterior walls by using an electrical outlet.
If only the living space will be insulated wrap the insulation around the room s walls and ceiling and then continue along the floor of the non living space.
Use a zippered insulated tent to keep the enclosure draft free attic tent at 7 attic cover insulator 120.
Apply a house wrap vapor barrier to exterior walls.
Replace old windows with energy efficient units.
Homes built before the mid 20th century were not built with the same techniques that we use today.
In this video this old house general contractor tom silva and host kevin o connor explain how to insulate an attic.
While wearing dust mask and gloves carry r 38 batts of unfaced fiberglass insulation into the attic.
The problems with old home insulation i m not really talking about the problems with existing old home insulation but rather the topic of how and where should you add insulation to an old home.