roof/insulation

[snwbnny]

This is probably going to be the most ridiculous series of questions, or maybe not if someone can feel my pain . . .

I have an A frame with tongue and groove walls/ceilings. The wood shingles are nailed right into that tongue and groove so we have no insulation or even normal roof decking. We're going to replace the roof sometime in the next year. Now I'm wondering if there is any way to get my new roof (which is my walls) insulated. I do not want to lose the look of my interior by drywalling over the wood, so that leaves the exterior. Can we build onto the outside, add insulation, and then put the roof decking/paper/shingles over that? Would this all be too heavy for the roof to hold and how do we find out? And would we have a roofer do all of this? I figure I'm going to sound like a crazy lady when I call the roofer!

[KW]

We replaced our roof last year. We are in the same situation, although not in an A-Frame. Our ceiling IS our roof.

When we discussed this with our roofing contractor (in fact, we asked several people) they all said that the cost of trying to do something like you describe just will not pay for itself in energy savings.

If you find something different, please let me know! Our main room is warm in the summer and cool in the winter because of this roof. Fortunately we have other livings spaces downstairs that maintain the temp better.

K

[Wrightwood]

I can respond to this as we started out with your typical 750-800 sq ft Wrightwood A frame with a cedar shake roof. Since we could see daylight through portions of the roof it was obvious that they weren't very energy efficient.

After we added on we redid the roof and added insulation the the outside of the roof before new roofing.

We attached 2x4's over the existing the roof then placed 4'x8'x1.5" rigid, foiled backed foam insulation between the 2x4's. After all the insulation was in place we sheeted the surface with 5/8" plywood and attached to the 2x4's. Then used your typical felt and class A fiberglass shingles over the top.

One of the best improvements we ever made to the house and really not that expensive or difficult.

[snwbnny]

Woohoo! thanks. Maybe I'm not crazy afterall. When I try and explain it to my family down the hill, they look at me funny.

Should there be any concerns about the exrta roof and insulation adding too much weight, or it it pretty insignificant?

As far as cost, I guess I'll have to ask around. With some help from some friends we might try and do it ourselves, we'll see. I'm hoping the change will be a huge help in our heating and cooling since our roof is our walls. That and you can hear even a whisper through the walls!! I'm sure all our neighbors know everything about us .

[Wrightwood]

Absolutely not as there is not very much overall weight added.
In fact it always amazes me that 4x8 sheets of rigid foam weigh very little.

2x4's are actually about 1.5" thick on the 2" dimension. When you lay the 2x4's on their side it's the same thickness as the foam.

Hope the description makes sense.

[Bob C]

And for what its worth, this is what was done to my house at some point in its past, before I moved into it. It appears the old layer of shingles may have even been left on (although I'm not completely sure).. .they just framed over it, insulated, decked it, and singled over all that. Kind of a "double roof".

Insulation is the key. I don't even have any kind of air conditioning (air conditioner, swamp cooler, etc) in my place, and it rarely gets so hot that I wish I had one.

[snwbnny]

Insulation is the key. I don't even have any kind of air conditioning (air conditioner, swamp cooler, etc) in my place, and it rarely gets so hot that I wish I had one.

That's what we're hoping for! This summer it got to 95 inside the house for a few weeks. And I'm dreading the winter temps in here.

[luvithere]

I can respond to this as we started out with your typical 750-800 sq ft Wrightwood A frame with a cedar shake roof. Since we could see daylight through portions of the roof it was obvious that they weren't very energy efficient.

After we added on we redid the roof and added insulation the the outside of the roof before new roofing.

We attached 2x4's over the existing the roof then placed 4'x8'x1.5" rigid, foiled backed foam insulation between the 2x4's. After all the insulation was in place we sheeted the surface with 5/8" plywood and attached to the 2x4's. Then used your typical felt and class A fiberglass shingles over the top.

One of the best improvements we ever made to the house and really not that expensive or difficult.

My hubby use to work for an insulation company and currently works in construction and also said that the foil-lined foam would be your best bet. Could get a little expensive if you have a very large roof, but if it is a small area, it should be fairly reasonable. Good luck!