Foil Faced Rigid Insulation Vs Unfaced

As john clark correctly notes your wall must have a water resistive barrier wrb.

Foil faced rigid insulation vs unfaced.

Faced insulation products not only use paper they can also use aluminum foil vinyl and even aluminum paper. Unfaced insulation is a type of fiberglass batt insulation which is normally used over existing insulation. Foil faced polyiso is easy to tape. His method employs zip system sheathing for structure and air sealing 2 in.

The upside is you save money by not having to pay to add your own vapor barrier. It s required by code. From a green building perspective as dana dorsett correctly notes either eps or polyiso is preferable to xps. There are many types of insulation that are unfaced such as spray foam and loose fill fiberglass.

It is important not to mix them nor use the wrong faced insulation product for each task. Foil faced foam for exterior insulation and a felt paper weather resistive barrier behind a rain screen. Mostly paper faced insulation is the best choice for neophytes in insulation installations. Faced insulation is a little but not a lot more expensive than unfaced simply because of the extra material it includes.

Kinds of insulation that don t involve facing of any sort include spray foam blown in insulation and rigid foam boards. When to use paper faced. Choosing the right thickness of exterior foam rigid foam must be thick enough to prevent condensation on the roof sheathing. Unlike faced insulation unfaced insulation lacks a vapor barrier or retarder meaning it does not provide moisture control but it s more economical than its faced counterpart.

When it s batts or rolls of unfaced insulation it s meant to be used to add r rating values but should be installed behind the faced insulation. Faced insulation has a vapor barrier or a vapor retarder the facing that helps prevent moisture from moving from one space to another.