Insulation: Plywood has high thermal and sound insulation. This makes it a useful insulating material for flooring, ceilings, roofing, and wall cladding. Insulation offered by plywood can greatly reduce heating and cooling costs.
Is plywood insulation good for insulation?
The short answer is “no,” at least, not compared with products designed to provide insulation from cold and heat. Even so, plywood products do offer minimal R value, along with structural benefits.
One source claimed tOM: Yeah, it could because plywood’s not really much of an insulator. What you could do is you could put insulation down in the floor joist first then plywood over it and then you could add another layer of unfaced on top of that.
Can I put plywood over insulation in my attic?
Yep, that’s fine. It won’t degrade the insulation’s performance at all. You can even make a permanent walkway consisting of plywood on top of rigid foam insulation where it would penetrate the layer of blown fiberglass.
This of course begs the query “How do you insulate a plywood attic?”
Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. But if the floor is covered in plywood, you can’t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently —not even in warm climates. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.
How thick should attic plywood be?
The thickness of your attic floor solely depends on what you intend to do with it. However, the thickness of the plywood must be 3/4inch if you intend on walking on it. The thickness of your plywood which is meant for storage must be 1/2inch.
Can you put a floor in an attic with insulation?
With a floor in place, you won’t have another opportunity to add insulation in this part of the attic. An attic can be floored with 1/2″ CDX plywood, if it is being used for storage. Although thicker sub-floors are normally used for the living spaces in a home, those are usually OSB.
If your attic joists won’t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage, you can install ½-inch plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) in 4-foot-by-8-foot panels over existing 16-inch OC joists.
What is the R-value of wall insulation?
The simplest way to determine a wall’s R value is to add up the R-values for each of its components. For example, a wall with sheathing, siding, drywall, and 3-1/2” R-11 fiberglass insulation probably has an R-value of approximately 14. There’s more to the picture, though.
So, what is the R-value of plywood vs sheetrock?
When comparing the r value of plywood vs. sheetrock, it’s important to take thickness into consideration. 1/2″ gypsum board drywall has an R value of 0.45, which is 0.18 lower than 1/2″ plywood. To compute R-value, use the formula (hour x degrees F x square feet)/BTU.
This begs the query “How do you calculate the R value of plywood?”
The R-value of plywood, insulation, sheetrock, siding, and even paint can go into a total R-value calculation for a single wall. The simplest way to determine a wall’s R value is to add up the R-values for each of its components.
What size plywood do you use for attic flooring?
An attic can be floored with 1/2″ CDX plywood, if it is being used only for storage. However, the same can’t be said if you are planning on using the space as a living space. In that case, you will need to use 3/4″ thick plywood. As an alternative, 3/4” OSB can be used.
You may be thinking “How thick of plywood do you need for a door?”
If you plan on placing the plywood around the perimeter of the opening or door and using it only to store light boxes or materials, 1/2-inch -thick plywood should suffice. But there’s no real reason to use plywood thinner than 3/4 inch; the cost savings is insignificant compared to the extra support offered by the thicker material.
Although thicker sub-floors are normally used for the living spaces in a home, those are usually OSB. However, if the attic is being turned into a living space, then 3/4″ thick plywood should be used. Do you nail or screw subfloor ?