How To Insulate Old House By Removing The Shiplap Siding

There is no better time to add insulation to the walls of an existing home than when new siding is installed.

How to insulate old house by removing the shiplap siding.

My plan is to remove everything down to the studs i m cleaning out the old blown in insulation and in some cases fiberglass insulation that was installed backwards when the house was resided back in the 60s plus rewiring and installing new insulation. In other cases drilling holes in the walls or removing a couple courses of clapboard to blow insulation into the stud bays may work with no problems. This article hits near home for me as i m evaluating my old house reno. Adding insulation to the walls of an old house without any other precautions can result is rotting walls full of mold under certain circumstances.

I live in a 120 year old house in climate zone 4a. The old siding will either be removed or covered up in the process making it easy to add insulation a number of ways. In the 80s the home owners stuccoed the house against the clap boards without a wrb. Most of the walls have 1x8 shiplap boards installed under the plaster and lath.

Throughout most of the house the shiplap was nailed to the outside of the exterior walls and the inside was lath and plaster. In the stairwell to the basement which runs along an outside wall the shiplap is attached to the inside of the exterior wall and the outside only has the thinner wood siding.