Rest the insulation between the joists with the retarder paper facing down.
Tongue and groove (T&G) paneling is applied to both walls and ceilings for those who like the feeling of wood, rather than drywall on their walls. However, if no insulation has been installed between the ceiling joists beforehand, considerable heat loss through the ceiling can occur. Short of removing all the tongue and groove from the ceiling, the subfloor from the floor above can be removed, the insulation installed, and the subfloor then reinstalled.
Instructions
1. Remove all screws holding the subfloor to the joists in the room directly above the installed ceiling tongue and groove. If necessary, first remove the room's base board by hammering a flat-headed screwdriver between the wall and baseboard, and gently prying the board from the walls.
2. Push the screwdriver into one of the seams between two sections of subfloor, gently prying up the first section out of position. Remove all other subfloor sections, temporarily storing them in another room.
3. Measure the distance between the center of one bare joist to the center of the next: the distance should be 16 inches (though older houses may have a distance of 24 inches). Contact the local city building department for the correct R value ceiling/floor insulation in your area. The R value is the thickness of the insulation. Purchase enough rolls of insulation to cover the entire floor, making sure the width corresponds with the width of the your joists (insulation rolls are available to fit 16- and 24-inch-wide cavities).
4. Unroll the sections of insulation. Each section is 8 feet long. Starting at one end of the room, push the first section of insulation into one of the cavities between the joists, making sure that the paper vapor retarder attached to one side of the insulation is . The insulation will rest on the top of the tongue and groove. Install the insulation into all cavity spaces between the joists.
5. Reposition each section of subfloor on top of the joists, and screw the sections to the joists with one screw every 12 inches (use new 2-inch wood screws). Replace the baseboard by hammering two 1 5/8-inch finishing nails through the baseboard into each wall stud. Use a center punch to hammer each nail beneath the surface of the baseboard, and fill each hole with wood filler. Sand the filler if necessary when dry, and touch up the baseboard with paint.
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