Buildings

What to Replace After a Hurricane

Q: Hurricane Fran dropped two oak trees on my house, poking several holes through the roof. Water came in and soaked the insulation, causing the ceiling to collapse in several places. Water then came through to the floor, warped the oak flooring and saturated the floor insulation, causing it to fall down to the ground. Bud, the insurance adjuster, agreed that the attic and floor insulation need to be replaced, but he specified R-19 in the attic and R-11 in the floor, which is what was there before the storm. Should I go along with that, or should I install more insulation? Are there other things I should look out for?

A: Given the extent of the damage at your house, you'll have to get a building permit and have the work inspected, so you'll probably have to meet the current building code, which requires R-30 in the attic and R-19 in the floor. Even if you didn't have to meet the code, you'd be foolish not to use this opportunity to upgrade your insulation. If your SEER 7 heat pump was wiped out, you wouldn't replace it with a similar unit. You'd get at least a SEER 11 or 12 that meets today's efficiency standards.

If you hire an insulation contractor to do the job, the extra cost of going from R-19 to R-30 in the attic, or from R-11 to R-19 in the floor, is minimal compared to the benefits. The contractor is already there. Installing R-19 batts doesn't take any more labor than R-ll. If she's blowing insulation in the attic, you've already paid for all the equipment set-up, so blowing a few more inches shouldn't cost much more. And it will pay for itself within a few years.

There are definitely some other things to consider. If you are replacing recessed light fixtures, make sure to specify fixtures rated IC (Insulation Contact), so you can insulate right up to them, and over them, rather than having holes in your insulation blanket. Also, specify airtight fixtures, so that the lights aren't a major air leakage path between the house and the attic. Insulation, by itself, doesn't stop air movement. The few dollars extra you'll pay for these fixtures is well worth it, even if Bud won't cover it.

After the old insulation has been removed, take this opportunity to look for other air leakage pathways between the house and the attic. Often, these will be above interior walls and anywhere there are holes for wires, pipes, ducts, chimneys, etc. New codes require these holes to be filled with fire-rated caulks or other materials that will not only stop air, but will remain in place for a while during a fire. Check with your local inspectors about what materials they approve.

Similarly, if you're replacing floor insulation, seal up all the holes in the floor first. The biggest ones are usually under the bathrooms. This is a traditional design feature passed on by plumbers from one generation to the next, to make sure there's a good draft blowing on you when you step out of the shower, wet and naked. These can be sealed with caulks, foams, foam board, plywood, solid wood, or most anything else that will stop air. Stuffing fiberglass insulation in the holes, however, won't work.

Finally, be sure to have your duct system checked. Most ducts were not designed to withstand roof materials and eight inches of rain coming down on them, not to mention contractors cleaning up and then rebuilding the house around them. The entire process creates lots of opportunities for damage to the duct system that may not be obvious from just looking. Ask Bud to agree to pay for the duct system to be tested at the end of the construction, and to pay for repairs if needed. This whole project, after all, is about repairing holes in your house caused by the hurricane. It's reasonable to expect that any new holes created by the repair process will be fixed, too.