Insulation Inching Toward Completion

This shot gives an idea of the jigsaw-puzzle-like result of efforts put forth by me and my friend C, as we insulated around the wiring in the loft bow wall.  For these last insulation tasks, 1" rigid polyurethane foam was used; I was not interested in cutting up little pieces of the polyiso for this application -- those fiberglass fibers in the tar paper facing are too irritating.  So this space will end up with three inches of insulation, with lower r value than the polyiso, and gaps around the wires too.  Luan facing over this area will probably allow me to get back in with spray foam if I feel it is needed later, but I will wait and see.

There are really three layers of jigsaw puzzles when this rigid foam is installed, because the wiring is not always in the same plane as the sheathing -- it was a sort of mesmerizing task, potentially ever more nit-picky with regard to filling ever smaller empty spaces, but satisfying. This is the first floor bow wall, where both 120V circuits and all the 12V wiring comes together to go through the wall into the shed, where my 120V electrical panel and 12V fuse block will be installed.

The last frontier -- the shower stall stud walls -- has to wait until the spar varnish is on and dry, so the heater can be moved and the insulation bays may be reached.  "The weather outside is frightful," to quote a popular song!  [Note:  Due to the laxness of my blog editorial deadlines, this work was actually done probably in January or February 2014.  All the painting had to be coordinated around the overnight temperatures, and then everything else coordinated around that!]

After three inches of rigid polyurethane foam were installed, it turned out there was a half inch of depth left, so...



 

I installed some reflective insulation as well.  I can't wait to get the last areas of exposed insulation covered up with luan, beadboard, and wedi board!