Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Attic Insulation -Help

Hi, I want to insulate my attic floor and place plywood down so I can use as storage. My beams are 16 inches apart and 5 inches deep. So should I buy R-19 b/ it says its 6.5 inches wide, to fill to the top of the beam? And it comes with a brown paper on one side..do I place the paper side on top? and is that the vapor barrier?

I think the R-19 is OK, and it shouldn't matter about the brown paper since you are going to cover it with plywood on top. The plywood will also act as insulation giving you more tha R-19.

The brown paper side (vapor retarder) always goes toward the conditioned space, so in the attic it goes on the underside of the insulation. You may find these guides helpful:

CEILINGS AND ATTICS - Install Insulation and Provide Ventilation - EERE (http://paragoninspects.com/pdf/insualtion/attic/ceilingsandattics-eere.pdf)

Improving Comfort in Rooms Over Garages (Useful information for all attic insulation projects) - Dominion (http://www.dom.com/customer/efficiency/res/pdf/rooms_over_garages.pdf)



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Depending on their span the 2x6" ceiling joists may deflect enough under the the load of stored material to cause cracks in the ceiling below.

Like Michael said the brown paper always faces the area that is heated/cooled which in your case would be toward you bedrooms or whatever you have below your attic. Where do you live?? R-19 isn't that much if you live in a norther (COLDER) state or even if you live in a really hot state. I live in Pa (north Central) and I am recommended to have in the R-40's!! That is a heck of a lot of insulation. My house was built in the 40's so I blew in cellulose about 12" thick which isn't enough. That is all I could fit between the ceiling on the bedrooms and the attic floor. Where I do not have storage I have extra on top of the floor. You could always consider to insulate w/ cellulose!! It would be quicker to install and maybe even better than fiberglass. That is a big debate. If you have a lowes or home depot just stop in and ask questions. The bags of cellulose have how much a bag will cover and what not!! You can rent the machine right there and its very easy to do w/ 2 people. You don't have to measure and cut this stuff like fiberglass and also no stapling!! Which you probably wouldn't do that in the attic anyway. Good Luck and let us know what you decide to do and how it works out!!

thanks for the info, What im going to do is where i have storage ill use r-19 and where i dont im going to go much higher, and wont make a floor. But heres another question I have a fan upthere so in the summer times when it goes on, doesnt it pick up the fiber glass particles?