Here's my latest project - figuring out how much work is involved in improving the insulation in our house. Our master bedroom closet is downright cold in wintertime. This year I decided to find out why. I took apart a portion of the floor, exterior wall and a wall that faces the attic above the garage. Exterior wall:
Many more pics below the fold.
Conclusion: Even if we were to pull out all the attic insulation, seal up all the light fixture electrical boxes, spray-foam and cellulose-fill, it still wouldn't be as good as it COULD be if it were built to Passive House standards. That would require a complete retrofit, wall-widening, window upgrade and elimination of all thermal bridging (where wood joists bridge the cold side to the warm side). I put everything back together, replacing the vapour barrier and sealing it up as best as I could with tuck tape and acoustic seal. We'll decide what to do later on.
I thought this was mold, but it turned out to be paint or dye. There was some evidence of water penetration on the floor.
Taking up the floor, 5/8inch OSB:
Temp of exterior OSB: 11C. Interior walls were 9-13C range with -20 outside.
Inside temp: 17C
Another floor pic. Messy.
Evidence of mice, not surprising.
Pic of wall facing garage
Pic of space above garage. That wall is facing the backyard. Bedroom wall insulation was 6 inches of batting plus a sheet of half inch fiber board and then the sheetrock.
This is looking into the floor, to the kitchen ceiling below. There's a gap of about 8-10 inches between the ceiling insulation and the bedroom floor joists. It's cold in there.
The bedroom floor had just one batt which in most cases was sagging. I added some roxul 14R in the floor joists where I raised the floor.
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