3/28/20 – A lot of people will look at these next photos and wonder what’s up with the insulation pieces. These were not installed for insulating purposes. Most codes require fire blocking. Many people do not know what that means. I didn’t until I looked into it. Back to YouTube again. Fire blocking does not prevent a fire from happening in a wall cavity. It limits the oxygen to the fire causing it to starve so it doesn’t spread. This is accomplished by blocking off the space between the back of the framing and insulation, or top plate at the top of the wall. Then, vertical fire blocking needs to be installed a maximum of every 10’.
There are many ways of doing this, but I found using Rockwool insulation to be the easiest. It cost a little more than other methods but went very quickly. Another misnomer regarding fire blocking, is that the material you use for the fire blocking does not need to be fire resistant. It’s there to block the supply of oxygen only. These photos show the fire blocking complete. Looks weird but it serves the purpose.
