How should I insulate a new room in a high humidity area?
Lisa writes from Cocoa Beach, Florida: “I am converting a covered porch to an under a/c family room. It has a flat roof with 9.5″ of space between the decking and bottom of support beams. I live in a coastal area of central Florida where the heat is intense and the humidity high. HELP! What insulation and application should I use?!” Answer: The first thing you need to do is find out what R-value your code requires in that application. You also need to find out if the code for your area requires a vapor barrier and, if so, which way it faces. High humidity areas can be very tricky when it comes to the use of a vapor barrier. This is why I don’t want to guess, but rather have you get an accurate answer from your building code official. You should be able to reach that person, or someone else who can help you, by calling the local Building Department, whether that is county, city, village or whatever.
