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Exterior Insulation Guide: Cold Climate

Everything* you need to know about adding insulation to the outside of old homes with cold bones: climate zones 5, 6, and 7
Nov. 7, 2024
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Bringing an old house up to date energy-wise can improve comfort and energy performance.

Adding insulation over the walls and roof makes a continuous thermal barrier while burning your thermal bridges.

It includes replacing the siding and roofing and detailing the windows.

Wrapping a house in foam can also cause headaches if not done thoughtfully: make sure that the air, water, and thermal barriers are working together, not against each other.

Trapping moisture in a tight house means #BugsMoldRot

  

Videos about Innie Windows

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Insulation & Air Sealing

Exterior insulation and Rainscreen Retrofit on a 1950's Cape (ptc@home, part 3)

How to install two layers of foam and Tyvek's Drainvent rainscreen over an old, lightly-insulated wall.
April 23, 2022
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Siding & Exterior Trim

Exterior Trimout Strategy for Walls (ptc@home, IV)

Installing skirtboard, corners, window trim and utility blocks over two inches of foam insulation and rainscreen mesh
April 30, 2022
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Siding & Exterior Trim

Exterior Window Trim Out on Walls With Exterior Foam Insulation (ptc@home part 5)

Window trimout is probably the trickiest part of installing exterior trim work over two inches of styrofoam
Sept. 3, 2023
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WRB & Flashing

3 Ways to Flash a Window Sill with Flashing Tape

How to install pan flashing and jamb flashing on a window opening in a wall that will be thickened with 4 inches of foam—using regular, non-stretch peel-and-stick flashing tape...
May 5, 2016

  

Videos about Outie Windows

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Insulation & Air Sealing

Superinsulated Sunroom (1): Exterior Foam Layer

A superinsulated sunroom might sound like an oxymoronic idea, but it is not. Just use triple glazed windows and thick foam over the wall framing and roof
July 11, 2016
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Superinsulated Sunroom (2): Nail Bucks for (Outie) Flanged Windows

Window banks need to line up neatly for the trim to work out. Foam walls add the extra possibility of compressing the backing. So there's that.
July 20, 2016
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Superinsulated Sunroom (3): Flashing an Outie Window

Wide tape spans the many layers of a thick wall to make an air tight and water tight seal
July 25, 2016
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Superinsulated Sunroom (4): Installing Outie Flanged Windows

Windows cannot rest on the foam, so they hang from wood bucks
Aug. 15, 2016
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Insulation & Air Sealing

SuperInsulated Sunroom (5): Outer Foam and Airsealing Tapes

Offset the joints and seal the gaps to keep air leaks out of the thick walls
Sept. 12, 2016

  

Animations about Continuous Exterior Insulation

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Insulation & Air Sealing

The ptc@home Continuous Exterior Insulation Detail

The process for installing continuous exterior insulation over 1x6 T&G sheathing with existing windows
March 28, 2023
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Exterior Insulation on the Roof and Walls (vented roof)

How to detail the foam at corners and connections when tightening the energy efficiency of an old house
Nov. 30, 2015
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Exterior Roof and Wall Insulation Retrofit (Unvented Roof)

Wrapping an old house in a blanket of insulation is a no-brainer when you're replacing the roofing and siding anyway
Dec. 10, 2020
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Exterior Roof Insulation Retrofit (Unvented Roof)

Covering the roof of an old house with a blanket of insulation makes the house more comfortable and it cuts energy use.
Oct. 15, 2015
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Roofing

Exterior Roof Insulation Retrofit (Vented Roof)

#ÜberRoof: A site-built ventilated SIP roof sandwich.
Sept. 17, 2015
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Insulation & Air Sealing

Outie Window Details for Walls with Thick Exterior Insulation

A thermal break and solid backing puts the window on the outer face of a thick wall. Now, there's room on the inside window sill for cats and bowling trophies
Oct. 10, 2016
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WRB & Flashing

Innie Window Details for Walls with Thick Exterior Insulation

Recessed into thick layers of insulation, innie windows are protected from the weather
Nov. 7, 2016

  

Why Exterior Insulation Matters

High Performance Wall
Insulation & Air Sealing

FIELD TRIP: A Peel-Away Peek at High Performance Walls

This house is superinsulated with airtight construction methods. I was delighted at the opportunity to look inside the walls but depressed at the reason why.
June 3, 2015
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Roofing

The Pen Test for Air-, Water- and Thermal-Tightness

Water and air leaks in a building shell are difficult enough to detail on simple buildings. Complex structures can cause headaches for builders, remodelers, and architects who...
Jan. 15, 2016
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Insulation & Air Sealing

How Much Heat Really Leaks Out of the Attic Hatch of an Insulated Ceiling?

Dr. Bailes does the math
Jan. 30, 2024
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Construction Phase

Window Retrofit—From the RO, Out

Down to the studs: removing the old window, along with the interior- and exterior trim, to the rough framing
Dec. 18, 2023

  

Extra Credit Homework

Dive deep, but don't forget to come up for air

*This collection of technical drawings and animations, how-to videos, articles, photos, downloads, and links may not be a complete encyclopedia on the topic, but it is a heck of a great place to begin. 

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