What type of Insulation can I use on the exterior of my home?

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Scott Muller
Updated: Aug. 3, 2020

I have an old home, circa 1920’s, I’m currently renovating in Saskatchewan, Canada. I want to add insulation on the exterior of the home. The house is currently covered with an old concrete type stucco that may be original?

I was thinking a “bubble wrap” type product, strapping then siding. I’m second guessing myself now as that’s a vapour barrier and may cause issues down road. There seems to be so much conflicting information out there it becomes very hard to make a decision. Love your work on the site and thanks in advance for any information.

Cheers, 

Scott 

Responses (5)

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Scott Muller 4 years ago
Mike Reynolds 4 years ago

Hey Scott, I'm glad some of those videos are of value!  I would use the strapping to fasten it, Rockwool boards won't hold so well with just screws. If you watched that siding install video you'll see we did two layers of it but the principle is the same. In a perfect world you would have the Comfortboard then weather barrier both attached with the strapping.  Dont forget to overlap and tape the weather barrier.

You need to make sure the bottom course of Comfortboard stays in place and supports the others, so it would need some screws if it isn't resting on something like ours is in that video, but the upper courses of Comfortboard won't need a lot of screws before siding. Screws cost money and they do act as a thermal bridge, it's not the end of the world but don't overload it with them for no reason. A certain amount of perforations in the weather barrier are unavoidable, but if you put any gaping holes in it be sure to tape them up to prevent air leakage. Glad to be of help.