How do I insulate a sloped roof over my living room? The underside of the roof is paneled with exposed rafters spaced about 24″ and 5 1/2″ deep. Roof is shingled.
GBA Editor| Posted inGeneral Questionson
House is in a wet climate that gets both hot in summer and cold in winter. So the room gets unbearably hot or cold. Looking for a reasonably priced solution .
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Replies
Loren,
Do you know whether your existing roof has any insulation? If you don't know, that's the first question that needs to be answered.
The second piece of missing information is, Where do you live? To answer your question, we need to know your climate.
It sounds like you are describing an uninunsulated sloped roof with no ceiling and exposed roof sheathing.
You have two choices:
1. Add rigid foam insulation on top of the existing roof sheathing and install new roof sheathing and roofing above the foam.
2. Add new insulation — for example, spray foam or cellulose insulation — underneath the roof sheathing. This could be done with or without providing ventilation between the insulation and the sheathing. This solution would require you to install a new ceiling below the insulation.
Your choice: do you want new roofing or a new ceiling?