insulation for exterior walls of brick house

Our house is brick. Our GC says he needs to build 4.5 inch walls along each exterior wall and fill them with insulation. For two floors, that’s a loss of 27 square feet of living space. Is this really what the code requires?

Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago

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Augustiner | 3 years and 3 months ago

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You should desire to live in a house that is properly insulated and comfortable all year. Of course you need to build a Sheetrock petition and put insulation behind it. That’s the least you need to do for comfort and and your energy bill.

If you want to save sqf then add insulation on the exterior. Do a moisture/air barrier, followed by roxul comfortboard, topped by aluminum cladding/siding. But that’s just me 😉 and in most situations that’s only practicable in the back of the house.
People usually do EIFS styrofoam stucco on exterior, but if you are in a row house like most ppl in Brooklyn then that is not fire safe and probably not legal anyway.

Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago

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My best guess is he’s looking to comply with energy conservation code by upping the r- value of your walls. If so, i would push back and ask directly if there are any other ways to achieve the appropriate insulation level, and even ask whether the insulation value for the existing wall has actually been calculated. It’s easier to recommend adding this cavity system with measurable insulation than to accurately calculate the r-value of the existing walls.

Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195579"

My best guess is he’s looking to comply with energy conservation code by upping the r- value of your walls. If so, i would push back and ask directly if there are any other ways to achieve the appropriate insulation level, and even ask whether the insulation value for the existing wall has actually been calculated. It’s easier to recommend adding this cavity system with measurable insulation than to accurately calculate the r-value of the existing walls.