where can i get a half inch thick 4x8ft sheets of polyethylene?

[luv2liv]

Plaster? You might be opening yourself up to a real headache.

yes. plaster. what headache? i will pop a 9x9inches access panel in, wont patch it up with compound 45mins

 

[BoomerD]

Oh wow a flat roof for a house. That's not too common. That whole setup looks more like what is typical of a commercial building, even got a packaged HVAC unit going on. But yes there may still be a small attic in there, that circle is a vent. Going to guess you got metal trusses in there like you see in the ceiling of places like Walmart and they just made it into an attic, almost wondering if this is a converted commercial building. Blown insulation could be tricky to do in this case as there probably is not a lot of room to work with.

Flar roofs aren't that uncommon here. Not ideal in places that get heavy snow and rain, but still.

 

[lxskllr]

What about the lathework? Those will be left swinging in the breeze.

 

[WilliamM2]

Is that a row house / townhouse? Attached to the neighbors house on each side? Not much you can do there. Doesn't look like there is enough room for any meaningful insulation.
Mayby try window film if they are leaky.

 

[luv2liv]

Is that a row house / townhouse? Attached to the neighbors house on each side? Not much you can do there. Doesn't look like there is enough room for any meaningful insulation.
Mayby try window film if they are leaky.

row house. half of the house is attached. the other half, back of house, is not attached. so there's a mini alley between neighbors, about 4 feet wide. all bricks, so the walls are very cold too because there is no insulation between the brick and the plastic wall. this is why i am very tempted to do vinyl siding to squeeze polyiso sheets between the vinyl siding and the brick

 

[dullard]

You might be better off with window insulation kits. If your problem is caused by drafts, then the window insulation kits are the better solution as long as you get a good seal all around. A draft will just go right around a piece of foam.

I'm not sure if any are made for a 9' x 9' door though. Biggest that I could find quickly were a bit short in one direction.

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You certainly can add sheets of insulation between vinyl and brick. I did that went my neighbor's house burnt down and melted my siding on one side. It adds next to nothing to the whole repair cost to also add some insulation panels between the old wall and the new vinyl.

Don't expect too much savings with anything you try though. Old homes just don't improve as much as people think with more insulation. Unless you can solve the drafts, you are out of luck. It would be like adding more insulation to your fridge but leaving the door wide open. The insulation isn't the problem in that example.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

row house. half of the house is attached. the other half, back of house, is not attached. so there's a mini alley between neighbors, about 4 feet wide. all bricks, so the walls are very cold too because there is no insulation between the brick and the plastic wall. this is why i am very tempted to do vinyl siding to squeeze polyiso sheets between the vinyl siding and the brick

You're talking about a major job by professional contractors. Many thousands of dollars.

 

[deadlyapp]

You're talking about a major job by professional contractors. Many thousands of dollars.

Why? Vinyl siding is really quite easy to do, especially if you don't have to cut around a ton of penetrations. He could throw some foam boards up with some construction adhesive, put some furring strips in to give something for the vinyl to attach to, and then slap up the vinyl. Probably still several thousand dollars depending on the square footage (insulation isn't cheap).

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I did a one story ranch, more like one and a half. Most of it was done from the ground, but anything over 6 feet required a ladder and over 10 feet required an extension ladder. Moving and hanging 10-12' lengths of siding wasn't fun at all.

This guy's talking about 2- 3 stories with limited room between buildings. That means scaffolding or a powered lift.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Sounds like there is a lot that you do not know about this house. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to bring in some professionals for an evaluation of how to make your home more energy efficient. You might check to see if your electric or gas utilities still have programs to subsidize this kind of work. Good luck!

 

[WilliamM2]

Why? Vinyl siding is really quite easy to do, especially if you don't have to cut around a ton of penetrations. He could throw some foam boards up with some construction adhesive, put some furring strips in to give something for the vinyl to attach to, and then slap up the vinyl. Probably still several thousand dollars depending on the square footage (insulation isn't cheap).

It's not easy to attach to brick, 3 stories up. And for what, an R value of 4? Definitely not worth it.