Faced Vs Unfaced Foam Board Insulation

So in an attic the paper faces downward and in a crawl space it faces upward.

Faced vs unfaced foam board insulation.

What is the right insulation for an attic. Like blanket or batt insulation foam board comes in faced and unfaced varieties. It s also considered semipermeable to water vapor so it does not create a vapor barrier. Any time you use a faced insulation the paper needs to be facing toward the living space.

It means ensuring that it s the right product for your space. Extruded polystyrene xps easily recognized by its blue green or pink color xps falls in the middle of the three types of rigid foam insulation in both cost and r value about r 5 per inch. Air migrates from warmer spaces toward colder spaces and insulation is designed to help prevent or at least slow that migration. It is needed to have more of them just like in the case of loose fill insulation and foam insulation.

Faced insulation has a vapor barrier or a vapor retarder the facing that helps prevent moisture from moving from one space to another. Insulation being unfaced doesn t mean it s a bad choice. Unfaced batt insulation is often used for beefing up the r rating with the r rating being the insulation rating scale that says how much or how effective insulation needs to be in that space. Unfaced means the insulation lacks a vapor retarder paper or plastic facing.

The same applies to faced unfaced and other kinds of insulation products. The key difference between the two is that faced insulation keeps moisture out because it has kraft paper or plastic on one side whereas unfaced only provides insulation. Faced insulation is a vapor retarder and may need to be used in your home depending on your local building codes. Unfaced insulation the type without paper is what you would use if you are adding insulation to your attic or to place between floors when living space is above and below.

There are many types of insulation that are unfaced such as spray foam and loose fill fiberglass. For insulating the walls of your crawl space most experts recommend a rigid foam board. Rigid board insulation 1 roxul insulation 1 thermafiber insulation 1 unfaced insulation 58 archives.