I'm an installation newbie. Is installing 15" fiber batts in a 14" space...

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christina

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...between joists OK? My 60 year old home has a noticeable temperature gradient in winter where your feet stay icy and above the knees is warm. I want to install insulation under the house (open crawl space, no insulation currently and original hardwood floors) and measured the space between the joists at 14". Fiberglass batting comes in 15" widths and I read several places you don't want to compress the batting too much or you will lose some of the insulating capacity. I wanted to double check before I did all this work installing the batts that slightly squeezing it into a 14" opening was OK. Can anyone advise?
 
You are only reducing it by about 6% so I wouldn't worry. This will guarantee you have no gaps which is much better than the other way around. It is the trapped air that is doing the insulating - so long as it still there some deformation is acceptable.
 
By "Compress"....They meant don't flatten the insulation,(don't forcefully push it into the walls)15' in a 14' space is better.
 
the other are telling you right but i would add in the craw space the installation that comes in plastic to keep dampness out of installation ,lowe's carry it
 
This will improve the situation so much that the minor loss in efficiency will not matter. Attempting to trim batting an inch will be a miserable task.
 
no problem. not enough compression to be worth doing it differently.
 
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