Cambridge Builders Website

In some of our higher end homes, we install one-half inch thick insulating foam boards on the outside of the home and behind any kneewalls in the home to provide additional insulation.  We install this over (versus instead of) the one-half inch osb (oriented strand board) sheathing because the osb sheathing is required for structural stability in our wind zone.

The reason that we do this is that there are so many areas inside the walls of the house that cannot be insulated because of the framing that is necessary.  Look at the following pictures and notice how much framing there is that prevents insulation from being installed in the wall cavity.  Notice the headers above the windows, the extra studs on both sides of the windows, the corners and more.

These areas would otherwise have almost no insulation and installing insulating board on the outside of the house greatly increases the insulation value of these areas.

Here are some pictures of a house with the insulating foam board installed.

Here, insulating foam boards are shown installed behind the knee walls in a bonus room.  Installing them here dramatically enhances the insulation value of these walls and eliminates the comfort problems that are common in many bonus rooms.