Hello!
I have thoroughly read the threads that already exist on the subject, but since the answers seem to be "it depends," I'm asking the question based on my circumstances.
Newbie homeowner in a house from 1968, with natural ventilation. According to the building permit drawings, there is some sort of moisture barrier in the outer walls but not in the inner walls. According to those drawings, there should also be a moisture barrier in the ceiling, but I can't see that when I inspect the attic.
We have just removed the Barracuda ceiling that was on the upper floor (didn't even know what such ceilings were a month ago). It concerns perhaps 70 of the floor's 93 sqm where the ceiling has been removed. Above the Barracuda ceiling, towards the cold attic, there is first a beam structure (or whatever it's called), then an extremely loose layer of plastic, then 12 cm of insulation wool, and lastly a thin black paper with a little bit of insulation attached on the underside (wind paper?).
I think the Barracuda ceiling might have acted somewhat as a vapor barrier when it was up and that it might need to be replaced by something. But on the other hand, I've read that a vapor barrier in the "wrong place" is directly harmful. So the question is, should I install a vapor barrier before putting up the new inner ceiling?
I have thoroughly read the threads that already exist on the subject, but since the answers seem to be "it depends," I'm asking the question based on my circumstances.
Newbie homeowner in a house from 1968, with natural ventilation. According to the building permit drawings, there is some sort of moisture barrier in the outer walls but not in the inner walls. According to those drawings, there should also be a moisture barrier in the ceiling, but I can't see that when I inspect the attic.
We have just removed the Barracuda ceiling that was on the upper floor (didn't even know what such ceilings were a month ago). It concerns perhaps 70 of the floor's 93 sqm where the ceiling has been removed. Above the Barracuda ceiling, towards the cold attic, there is first a beam structure (or whatever it's called), then an extremely loose layer of plastic, then 12 cm of insulation wool, and lastly a thin black paper with a little bit of insulation attached on the underside (wind paper?).
I think the Barracuda ceiling might have acted somewhat as a vapor barrier when it was up and that it might need to be replaced by something. But on the other hand, I've read that a vapor barrier in the "wrong place" is directly harmful. So the question is, should I install a vapor barrier before putting up the new inner ceiling?
Now I've been up and looked down into the ceiling spaces in the rooms that didn't have barracuda ceilings, and there's no vapor barrier in place. But I still can't quite shake the feeling that removing a large plastic mat covering 70 sqm wouldn't change the situation.
