Hello everyone,
I have an house build in the 1960s in Quebec. I opened one of the exterior wall this weekend in search of nest ants. What I found out when opening did answer some other question though. During the winter, I have a hard time with wind draft, the walls are very cold and humid too.
My house exterior is brick. The construction is brick wall, black paper, air space, 2x4 with R12 in the stud. Nothing else. Code here now is R24.5 minimum.
Now, I'm not planning on redoing my brick anytime soon. Because of that, I cannot put a foam board behind it to increase insulation. I'm thus looking for alternative. Also, I think there's not even a 1/2in air gap between the 2x4 and the paper. There's also a window on the wall.
At first, I though I could simply remove the 2x4 wall and put a 2x6. But this would create a massive job since it's also holding the ceiling and roof.
So I though, can I just put 2x2 on "top" of the 2x4 to create a 2x6 and stuff rockwool in it? I saw there's R24 rockwool for 2x6 stud. I know 2x2 are very brittle and easy to break so maybe 2x3 which would create a 2x7 and I could put a 1in board in the cavities (although the stud won't be covered providing incomplete protection)?
Before installing the gypse, I'll also install a vapor barrier to prevent air moving inside the house. The little black tarp doesn't do much on that end.
What do you think of that plan? Better one?
Thank you!