Radiant Barrier?

This appears to be a sort of foil radiant barrier in the attic of a 1949 house. 90% of it has crumbled and fell to the attic floor. My thoughts are that it trapped moisture because there are no vented soffits and no ridge vent, yet moisture levels in the attic were not excessive.

Does anyone know if this stuff is, in fact, a radiant barrier, and if so, is it really a defect since it’s not required, and because most of it is crumbled to the attic floor?

1142 Lyndale Ave 109.JPG

Since 90% of it is now laying on the floor, it is no longer serving it’s intended purpose, so… defect.

Or, the alternative is that 10% of it jumped up off the floor and stuck to the attic ceiling!

:wink:

haha…very true, and sounds like my line of thinking, Jeffrey!

I won’t recommend it be re-installed at all, unless they put a ridge vent in to let the hot air escape, and Since the shingles need replacing, it would be a great time to do it.

They sure did it the hard way!
I would probably say something to the effect of, radiant barrier was not installed properly as evidenced by the fact most of it is no longer present!

Was there anything inside of that foil?

Old, poorly-installed radiant barrier has failed and should be removed. Replaced at the owner’s discretion. Lack of rafter bay ventilation will void shingle warranty

Those old forms of radiant barrier were foil faced sisal paper. That stuff just doesn’t last very long . Makes for good packing tape though!