Couple of construction questions

[Alpo]

You have a stick-built house. 2x4 frame, with siding nailed to the outside. Then they come inside and take fiberglass insulation. This is spun fiberglass glued to a paper backing. The glass goes between the studs with the paper facing into the house. The paper is used to staple the insulation to the studs, and then sheetrock or paneling is put up covering the insulation.

 

But let's suppose you have a house with no insulation. And you are replacing the exterior siding. You remove the siding, exposing the bare studs and the ugly side of the interior wall. You take fiberglass insulation, put it between the studs, with the paper facing outward, and staple it to the studs. Then you put up the new exterior siding.

 

Query - will the insulation be as efficient, since it is installed backwards, with the paper to the exterior wall instead of to the interior wall? A house down the street is replacing exterior siding and putting insulation in from the outside. Made me wonder.

 

 

Next house. This one is not so much which is better, as it is what is your preference.

 

You have decided to put a window in the bathroom. Would you use frosted glass (so the people cannot see what's going on in the bathroom) or clear glass (which will require some type of curtain or blind to keep the peepers away)?

 

Would you design the bathroom so that the window is in the toilet/lavatory area, or would you put the window in the tub/shower area?

 

My previous house had a clear glass window overlooking the toilet, but it was quite high in the wall so anyone outside trying to peek in would have had to have been close to eight feet tall. My current house has the window also overlooking the toilet, and the window is larger and closer to the floor, but the glass is pebbled. You can't see anything through it.

 

House my daughter lived in, standard 3-foot by 3-foot clear glass window overlooking the toilet. The next place she lived had a 3 foot high by 5 ft wide clear glass window in the bathtub wall. Both of these windows seemed like bad choices to me.

 

 

[Cat Brules]

Plant a tree 15-20 feet away from the window.

 

Cat Brules

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I once put a skylight in the bathroom.

 

The future-ex-missus-Hardpan asked with some alarm, "Will people in airplanes be able to look in and see us??"  

 

I also put a greenhouse window in that same bathroom, over the tub.  Looked out onto the back yard.  The combination of the two made the room much brighter and open feeling.  

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Up here in the colder climes, it is a tad different. 2x6 studs. The paper on the insulation is a vapor barrier which prevents moisture in the house from wetting the insulation and lowering its insulation value. Often there is instead a plastic that serves that purpose.

 

also outside the studs is a sheathing which is OSB. This serves to keep the studs rigid since without it a simple studded frame will flex in the wind, not good.  Outside the OSBis the siding.

 

on older housing which had no insulation, holes were made in the walls Mear the ceiling of each level and insulation was blown in between the studs.

 

before OSB, the exterior of the studs was covered with a diagonal arrangement of boards which also served as wind bracing.

[Marshal Hangtree]

Exterior siding never gets nailed directly to the studs.  There is either OSB or black wall, possibly foam sheeting or other vapor barrier, then the siding goes on over that.

[Go West]

On the question about using insulation backwards, with paper facing out. It is a vapor barrier designed to keep moisture from inside going out, so you would essentially be trapping it within the walls. Most obvious places for this would be the bathrooms and kitchen. Looks like an invitation for mold.

[bgavin]

We often hit 115 degrees during the summer here.
My south facing kitchen wall is 1960 vintage 2x4 studs.
The previous owner did that awful blown-in foam stuff... drilled holes in the stucco.. where the rain comes in.

I pulled the drywall, patched all the holes with 6x6 inch mesh backing, PL Premium to adhere the mesh to the stucco.
This gives the external stucco patch a mesh to embed in so it doesn't come loose.

Installed a radiant foil barrier, then rock wool insulation.
I wanted to do Thermax but could not find 3-inch material short of a special order.
A vapor barrier is on the inside over the rock wool, then new drywall.

Shading that south wall is worth every bit of extra effort required to do so.

[Eyesa Horg]

2 hours ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

Exterior siding never gets nailed directly to the studs.  There is either OSB or black wall, possibly foam sheeting or other vapor barrier, then the siding goes on over that.

Years ago when I was phone installer, I ran into a whole neighborhood built with no exterior siding. Just 1/2" blue board and vinyl siding. What a surprise the first time I had to drill thru for the service drop wire and went into the basement to see only blueboard. Over the years many burglaries happened there with the thugs just using a razor knife to get into the houses. They did use a "T" shaped thin metal bracket diagonally to keep the building from moving. Cheats are everywhere. Back in the 70's these were 350 thousand dollar homes.

[Ace_of_Hearts]

17 hours ago, Alpo said:

You have a stick-built house. 2x4 frame, with siding nailed to the outside. Then they come inside and take fiberglass insulation. This is spun fiberglass glued to a paper backing. The glass goes between the studs with the paper facing into the house. The paper is used to staple the insulation to the studs, and then sheetrock or paneling is put up covering the insulation.

 

But let's suppose you have a house with no insulation. And you are replacing the exterior siding. You remove the siding, exposing the bare studs and the ugly side of the interior wall. You take fiberglass insulation, put it between the studs, with the paper facing outward, and staple it to the studs. Then you put up the new exterior siding.

 

Query - will the insulation be as efficient, since it is installed backwards, with the paper to the exterior wall instead of to the interior wall? A house down the street is replacing exterior siding and putting insulation in from the outside. Made me wonder.

NO.

Paper backed insulation would be the incorrect product to use. In this case a blown in insulation (Looks similar to paper mache)is used. It is impregnated with Boric Acid to make it fire resistant/mold and bug proof.

17 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

 

Next house. This one is not so much which is better, as it is what is your preference.

 

You have decided to put a window in the bathroom. Would you use frosted glass (so the people cannot see what's going on in the bathroom) or clear glass (which will require some type of curtain or blind to keep the peepers away)?

 

Would you design the bathroom so that the window is in the toilet/lavatory area, or would you put the window in the tub/shower area?

 

My previous house had a clear glass window overlooking the toilet, but it was quite high in the wall so anyone outside trying to peek in would have had to have been close to eight feet tall. My current house has the window also overlooking the toilet, and the window is larger and closer to the floor, but the glass is pebbled. You can't see anything through it.

 

House my daughter lived in, standard 3-foot by 3-foot clear glass window overlooking the toilet. The next place she lived had a 3 foot high by 5 ft wide clear glass window in the bathtub wall. Both of these windows seemed like bad choices to me.

 

 

 

[Assassin]

You can buy unfaced insulation, without the paper barrier.

 

Even an obscure glass allows one to see the outline of a person in the room. Curtains or blinds are recommended.

I don't have neighbors for miles on the west side of my house, still have blinds all windows. 

[Tequila Shooter]

I had a house once with a window in the shower and it was the worst thing you could have ever had. No matter how much caulk and paint you put on it there would always be a leak. When I redid the bathroom I moved the tub so the window was over the toilet. Personally I like a frosted glass in a bathroom. 

[Eyesa Horg]

Ellie wasn't thrilled after I installed a skylight in our up stairs bathroom at the last house. She figured people in the small planes flying over to the local airport could see in. All was well after a buddy flew us over the house a much lower altitude. She said "Gee, that skylight is really small from up here.

[Rancho Roy]

Quote

The future-ex-missus-Hardpan asked with some alarm, "Will people in airplanes be able to look in and see us??" 

 

Drones with cameras are known to hover over bathroom skylights.....Just saying!

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

1 hour ago, Rancho Roy said:

 

Drones with cameras are known to hover over bathroom skylights.....Just saying!

Presenting a great shotgun target.