Super-insulated? Definitely.

The trusses were filled with 10+ inches of Icynene spray foam last winter, giving the barn an airtight seal and exceeding code requirements for insulation levels. But there was still plenty of space left in the trusses to go the extra yard with insulation, so we decided to do just that.

First, I stapled up some Insulweb netting to the bottom cord of the trusses, which will contain the insulation before drywall is installed. Then I screwed a double layer of 3/8" plywood strips in place to give the segmented trusses a smooth, radiused contour for the drywall to attach to.

With the prep work done, I cleverly convinced Lisa that being in the driver's seat of an insulation blowing machine would be "fun", and we filled the trusses with Greenfiber cellulose insulation.

Lisa kept the hopper filled and I worked the receiving end of the hose- after 2 days of "fun" and about $500 in materials (less than some people's monthly heating bill in this part of the country), we had packed 1600lbs of recycled newspaper into the ceiling. This puts the R-value of the ceiling at R50 (near the bottom of the trusses) to over R100 (at the peak).