Vaulted Ceiling Insulation Delema – GreenBuildingAdvisor

Hello,

 I have a Home in Northern Ontario (Zone 7 I think) that was built in 1963 and has a bunch of Vaulted Ceilings. As the house was built in the 60’s you can imaging the insulation standard were not super great. We are very prone to ice damming and keeping a comfortable temperature is pretty much impossible (especially in the bedrooms above the garage). Last winter we started getting water spots in the living room (right side of the house) along the wall and this winter some more have formed. This is very likely because of ice damming and likely means the roof is going to need to get done very soon.

 As we are looking at a potential roofing job I wanted to try and re-insulate the ceilings from above. I had a few roofers come take a look and some wouldn’t even quote me because it is a 12-2 pitch so allegedly, they may not be able to warranty a normal shingle. The Rafters are 2×8 and right now I know that there is maybe 4 inches of paper back insulation in the rafter bays as there are 2 “normal” attic spaces where I can see parts of the vaulted ceiling rafters. I know that spray foam would be the 100% best option here but as always, I wanted to see if we have any more economical options to improve what is already there. I’m hoping to get some opinions and thought on how some “experts” may deal with this.  

 One of the biggest things stopping us from just going all out is that this is not our forever home and spending 50K on an insulation and roofing job just would not make sense as we would NEVER recoup that cost, not to mention we really can’t afford it. I have included some pictures and notes to try and best explain and show how the house is laid out. I am assuming that the rafters above the garage bedrooms are vented from the soffit to the 2 Attic Spaces. I am also assuming that the rafters running from the front to back of the house are vented from soffit to soffit.

 Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have Attached a PDF with pictures and descriptions 

Thank Again!