Old Home With Aluminum Siding Needs Insulation

I was recently talking to a potential customer that lived in a home built in the 1930s and wanted to make his home more efficient.

Old home with aluminum siding needs insulation.

Siding and insulation have several jobs to do beyond sheathing the home and insulating it from the elements. There is no better time to add insulation to the walls of an existing home than when new siding is installed. Popular in the late forties and fifties panels of aluminum siding were also made to look like clapboards. Very effective insulation boost when using 2 thick insulation board.

You can try to repair dents and gashes. Aluminum and steel siding became popular in the 1950s and 60s as a cost effective choice to cover deteriorated wood siding. Aluminum siding does not insulate as well as other types of siding and it also does a poorer job at blocking outside noise. But this requires drilling a hole through the dent pulling it out then patching with auto body filler and applying two coats of primer paint.

Insulation must keep the area between the insulation and the walls free of insects dirt and moisture. The backside of the insulation is flat so the siding installs flush against the home s exterior wall sheathing. Metal siding section 1 overview. Siding and insulation have improved greatly but the finest siding is not good enough without proper insulation.

The insulation itself can be up to 1 25 inch thick at its thickest point but due to the stepped profile much of the insulation is thinner. 1 place l shaped flashing on the exterior sheathing of the home at the bottom edge of the. If you have aluminum siding on your home that s seen better days your options are to repair or replace it. This may seem like a massive undertaking and it is.

Both metal siding types often were manufactured with a thin lining of foam designed to increase the insulation value of the siding. The insulation is glued in place for a permanent connection. After all of that would move to the exterior walls where a dense packed cellulose product would be best for his. Only practical when you re replacing siding.

It s fire and insect proof won t rot and is easy to paint and clean. One situation where it is okay to insulate the walls is if you remove all the siding and apply a new housewrap and then go over that with a rain screen before reinstalling your old siding. The old siding will either be removed or covered up in the process making it easy to add insulation a number of ways. The other option is to purchase aluminum siding that comes with a sprayed on foam insulation backing.

Aluminum siding is hard to repair. For most of the housing market aluminum siding has been replaced by vinyl but it still covers many existing mid century homes. Also window and door frames need to be extended in a weatherproof way over the added wall thickness. For anyone living below the mason dixon line it is never worth the expense to retrofit an old house with wall insulation.

Full energy retrofits like this are expensive but it really is the only safe way. 3 ways to insulate siding and reduce home energy loss.