This article was originally published in the March/April 1999
issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting inconsistencies
may be evident in older archive content. | Back to Contents Page
| Home Energy Index | About Home Energy | Home Energy Magazine
Online March/April 1999 |Insulation is often installed over the
top of a dropped ceiling. This results in thermal by-pass
because the thermal barrier is not in full contact with the
sheetrock air barrier.| |Furred walls should be blocked and
sealed at both the top and bottom of the wall to reduce
convection in these small cavities.| |Bay windows often have
their floor open to the exterior and joined to the second story
floor system.| |Typical kitchen soffit open to assemblies above
and to an exterior wall. Each location should have had plywood
or oriented strand board (OSB) in place before the soffit was
framed.| |Kneewalls that do not have top plates often contribute
to moisture-related roof failures.| |Figure 2. Covering a hole
WRT the attic is an easier way