Can I Insulate My Older Brick Home

Insulation Tips for Older Brick Homes

Many fine older houses are made of brick. They’re stately, imposing, and often in nice old neighborhoods with mature trees and a storied history. Additionally, people often think that since brick is so much easier to care for than wooden siding, brick homes are a better idea than a home of a similar age, made of wood.

With regards to home maintenance, they may be right. But they tend to overlook one important factor– brick homes have their own challenges.

It doesn’t take a homeowner long to notice that brick holds the heat in the summer, and the cold in the winter. It can often be quite drafty, and often rooms take in an impenetrable chill.

That’s when homeowners start to worry. Is it even possible to insulate a brick home?

The Walls Might Not Be Your Problem

Although it might seem obvious that a cold room is caused by poorly insulated walls, it is not usually the case. Even if it were, insulating walls is a very disruptive task; expensive, time-consuming and messy. There are better places to start.

We usually recommend starting with sealing the top plate of the walls. You see, each room is like a sheetrock (or plaster and lathe) box, supported on the frame of the house and rooms. Unless extra steps have been taken, air can often move freely between the walls and the space above and below them.

Sealing Attics and Crawl Spaces

The air in attics and crawl spaces is unconditioned, and if it is able to circulate within the walls, however well or poorly insulated they are, it will affect the temperature of the living space within the walls significantly.

By getting up into the attic and sealing up the entire floor of the attic, you solve one very major problem: the updraft effect. The air venting out of the attic was pulling air from the whole house, from the crawlspace, to the living areas, and right out the top. Putting a stop to that will help your heating bill immensely. Since you’re up there, thickly insulating the attic floor to modern standards will help ‘heat transference’. Even if the air is no longer circulating freely, the warm air of your living area will be cooled by the cold attic floor, reducing the efficiency of your heating. A thick layer of insulation will prevent that issue.

Likewise, sealing the crawlspace will prevent your home from pulling cold out of the ground.

If you have questions about the best way to seal your house, Style Roofing can help. Give us a call to find out more.

About Style Roofing

Style Roofing is a family-owned roofing company founded in 1992. With 20 years of experience and over 5,000 happy customers, Style Roofing maintains their commitment to service and excellence by using only the best products and the most skilled tradesmen. For more information, visit them at https://styleroofing.com or call Call 703-754-9906 today!