Attic Insulation
The attic is one of the largest sources of potential heat loss in a home and often one of the most neglected areas when it comes to insulation—especially in older homes. It’s why adequate insulation is so important―and without it, your energy bills could be significantly higher. Whether your attic will remain unfinished, be used for storage or be finished for use as living space, make sure it is properly insulated with the right amount and kind of insulation. If your attic is unfinished and you’re insulating it for the first time, you will install insulation in the floor joists. If you’re building a new home, install ceiling insulation from underneath before you put in drywall. You should use faced insulation when a vapor retarder is needed. However, only unfaced insulation should be used near chimneys and flues. You can also insulate your unfinished attic with blow-in insulation, which can be installed by a professional contractor, or you can do it yourself by renting the necessary equipment from many home centers and rental centers.

Insulating Your Baby’s Room
Sound control is especially important in a baby’s room. You’ll want to make sure the room is as quiet as possible to provide a restful atmosphere. In addition to insulation, you can make the nursery quieter by padding and carpeting the floor, using acoustical materials in the room and installing a heavy, snug-fitting door. If you’re building a new home, you can move drywall away from the studs and suspend the ceiling beneath its joists to make the room even quieter.

Basement Insulation
Proper basement insulation is important because an uninsulated basement can account for as much as 25 percent or more of a home’s total heat loss. Whether your basement will remain unfinished, be used for storage or be finished for use as living space, make sure it is properly insulated with the right amount and kind of insulation. Unframed, exterior basement walls should be insulated with blanket insulation, which can be installed horizontally or vertically. Typically, the blanket is held against the sill plate at the top of the basement wall with furring strips. In addition to the furring strips, you will need patch tape, and depending on the installation method you choose, possibly a nail gun and special fasteners for driving into concrete or cinder blocks. If you need a nail gun, be sure you become completely familiar with its operation before using it. It’s a good idea to wear a work helmet when installing basement insulation. You certainly want to avoid injuring yourself on exposed framing members such as ceiling and floor joists, exposed nails and other hazards

Bathroom Insulation
Bathrooms are among the most frequently used rooms in the house. So, not surprisingly, controlling moisture from showering, bathing and washing is a major concern when it comes to installing insulation in bathrooms. This moisture vapor in the air is transferred along with heat, which is especially common in humid environments. When moisture vapor becomes trapped in walls, mold and mildew growth can result, damaging your home and presenting a potential health concern to you and your family. You can avoid these problems by installing insulation that offers excellent moisture-control properties. To minimize the possibility of vapor collecting under the insulation, a vapor retarder is generally installed (according to local codes). Watch the video clip to learn more about the proper use of vapor retarders. Proper bathroom insulation also will help keep the room a comfortable temperature year-round.

Bedroom Insulation
Proper insulation provides the sound control necessary for keeping a bedroom the peaceful and quiet place you want it to be. No one enjoys waking up in the middle of the night shivering from cold drafts or sweating from excessive heat. Proper insulation provides thermal control so you can enjoy a full and comfortable night’s sleep year-round, regardless of the weather outside. Insulating a bedroom is like insulating most other rooms in your house. It’s a given that you will insulate the exterior walls, but to make your bedrooms as peaceful and quiet as possible, you’ll want to insulate the interior walls, too.

Crawl Space Insulation
A crawl space is an unfinished, accessible area below the first floor of a building. Remember: The main purpose of insulation is to enclose the living space in a thermal envelope. Therefore, if the space below a floor is unconditioned, either the floor or the walls below it must be insulated. There are two types of crawl spaces: vented and unvented. Vented crawl spaces open to the outside, while unvented crawl spaces are part of the basement. How and what is insulated depends on whether the space is vented or unvented. In a vented crawl space, the underfloor should be insulated—much as it is in ceilings. This may be done before or after the sub-floor has been applied. JM ComfortTherm®, Kraft-faced and unfaced insulation are all possible products to use for this application. With Kraft-faced insulation, the facing is generally against the sub-floor. In an unvented crawl space, you should insulate the perimeter walls.

Garage Insulation
The garage is an unconditioned space in your house and doesn’t need to be thoroughly insulated. However, to keep the rest of your home comfortable and energy efficient, you need to insulate the wall or walls that separate the garage from the rest of the house. This is the case whether you cover the walls with drywall or leave them unfinished. You insulate them as you would any exterior wall, with insulation that includes a vapor retarder. The best choices for this type of application include ComfortTherm, Kraft-Faced, or Unfaced with a separate vapor retarder film placed over the insulation. Before installing insulation in garage walls, clear the area inside your garage of any obstacles. Remember that JM insulation is compressed and will expand rapidly when the package is open, so you want enough open space in which to comfortably work. Kraft facing must not be left exposed ― but must be covered with gypsum board or another approved interior finish. Where an exposed application is required, use FSK-25 flame-resistant, faced insulation.

Home Office Insulation
If you run a home-based business, are a telecommuter or just take work home from the office occasionally, then you know that peace and quiet is important for a productive work environment. After all, unwanted noise can ruin your concentration, interfere with your ability to get things done and disrupt phone calls and meetings. And with computers, fax machines, phones and other equipment in use, a home office can be a source of unwanted noise throughout the house. To ensure your home office is as quiet as possible for you and everyone in your home, it’s important to insulate both the interior walls and exterior walls. You’ll want insulation that provides both good sound control and thermal control. JM has the ideal insulation products with the R-values you need for a well-insulated home office—including ComfortTherm insulation, which is poly-encapsulated for less itch and dust.

Home Theater Insulation
With the increasing sophistication of home entertainment technology, home theaters have become more popular than ever. Recreating the theater experience at home usually involves entertainment systems cranking out high-volume sound that could be unwelcome in other parts of a poorly insulated house. That’s why insulation with excellent sound-control properties can make a dramatic impact in a home theater, not only to keep noise out so you can enjoy the entertainment, but also to keep music and dialogue generated in the home theater from migrating to other rooms. Follow the instruction tips below to install insulation in your home theater’s interior and exterior walls. Don’t forget to thoroughly review the “Special Considerations” — because several of them may be applicable in your situation, especially considering the most common locations and configurations of today’s home theaters.

Kitchen Insulation
In most homes, the kitchen is frequently the hub of activity. But noisy appliances like dishwashers, food processors and garbage disposals can be a source of distraction to members of your family in other areas of the house. For this reason, sound control is a chief consideration when insulating this room. In addition, as in bathrooms, moisture control must be considered because of the steam generated by cooking and dish washing. This steam is actually moisture vapor in the air that is transferred along with heat. When moisture vapor becomes trapped in walls, mold and mildew growth can result, damaging your home and presenting a potential health concern to you and your family. JM has the insulation products you need to provide the essential sound and moisture control for your kitchen.

Laundry Room Insulation
Depending on the number of people in your household, you may be spending more time in the laundry room than you care to. And the fact that home laundry facilities are sometimes relegated to a small room in a less-than-ideal area of the house doesn’t make things any more pleasant. Therefore, to improve the environment in your laundry room, it’s important to install enough suitable insulation. Here’s what to consider when insulating your laundry room: An average dryer cycle can add significant humidity and moisture to the air. This moisture in the air is transferred along with heat and can infiltrate your walls. This can pose potential health hazards, as well as damage the walls over time. Sound control also is important for keeping the noise from your washer and dryer from migrating to other rooms. JM offers the insulation products you need to provide moisture and sound control for your laundry room.