Insulate Exterior Concrete Block Wall

Adding extra insulation to the exterior walls of an older home when renovating or remodeling is a great way of improving a home s walls thermal performance and reducing energy use while reducing heating bills carbon footprint and improving a building s comfort level.

Insulate exterior concrete block wall.

Before insulating coat the exterior of the walls with fluid applied water control and air control layers. As long as at least half the continuous insulation is on the exterior r15 is fine. If you intend to live in the room the best way to insulate the block wall is to build the wall out with furring strips and then insulate between them. How to insulate an exterior face of a concrete block wall preparation.

This places the thermal mass inside the insulation layer. Your only option is to cover the inside of the exterior walls with a continuous layer of insulation as though you were insulating a basement wall. Consult your local building authority before having eifs applied to the exterior of your house or building. That is why insulating your basements walls is necessary especially when you live in areas that have very cold climate.

And there is no effective way to fill the voids in an existing concrete block wall. To hit irc code min on a mass wall such as cmu in vt zone 6 takes r15 or 4 of continuous rock wool which could be trapped behind exterior grade 1 5 steel studs to hang the siding onto. In your climate zone zone 5 code requires you to insulate concrete block and other mass walls to at least r 13 if all of the insulation is on the exterior. It may look easy to go buy some packs of rigid insulation panels down at the local hardware store and screw them to your walls but unless you understand how your existing walls are built and how they work in terms of keeping.

Basement walls made out of concrete stone concrete bloc and other masonry foundation materials have very minimal insulating properties and cause approximately 20 of heat loss in a home. As the federal energy star program and international energy conservation code continue to push the envelope for effectively insulating exterior walls against thermal loss to boost a home s energy efficiency builders of block walls are being forced to adjust their practices to comply with the more stringent standards. The process is similar to framing a standard. In these walls continuous exterior insulation envelopes the masonry minimizing the effect of thermal bridges.

In fact your walls will absorb up to 95 less moisture than an untreated wall. This can be done with pretty much any rigid insulation.