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#1
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Blown in Cellulose Insulation
I have a small ranch house, built in the 1940's, and it is freezing in the
winter. I have the attic insulated, but there isn't a bit of insulation in the walls. They are cold to the touch from the inside. Would it be worth the cost and trouble to have cellulose blown in to the walls (the house has aluminum siding)? Any ideas on the cost? The house is only 900 sq. feet, so it shouldn't be a huge job. Any ideas? Thanks. Steve |
#2
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Blown in Cellulose Insulation
Stephen Hawkins wrote:
I have a small ranch house, built in the 1940's, and it is freezing in the winter. I have the attic insulated, but there isn't a bit of insulation in the walls. They are cold to the touch from the inside. Would it be worth the cost and trouble to have cellulose blown in to the walls (the house has aluminum siding)? Any ideas on the cost? The house is only 900 sq. feet, so it shouldn't be a huge job. Any ideas? Thanks. Steve Your house is an excellent candidate for blown-in (either cellulose or fiberglass). The installers can do it all from outside by lifting sections of siding. The one potential problem is moisture condensation in the insulation. The plaster walls don't have any natural vapor barrier, allowing house moisture to pass right thru where it condenses on the cold outer surfaces. That not only defeats the insulation value but sets you up for mold problems. The vapor barrier can be added by applying paint to the walls with a low permeability rating. Vinyl wallpapers will work too. As for cost, call some local installers; only they will know what costs run in your area. Couple links to start with: http://hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/98/980508.html http://www.cellulose.org/ Do some GOOGLING Jim |
#3
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Blown in Cellulose Insulation
Speedy Jim wrote in message ... Stephen Hawkins wrote: I have a small ranch house, built in the 1940's, and it is freezing in the winter. I have the attic insulated, but there isn't a bit of insulation in the walls. They are cold to the touch from the inside. Would it be worth the cost and trouble to have cellulose blown in to the walls (the house has aluminum siding)? Any ideas on the cost? The house is only 900 sq. feet, so it shouldn't be a huge job. Any ideas? Thanks. Steve Your house is an excellent candidate for blown-in (either cellulose or fiberglass). The installers can do it all from outside by lifting sections of siding. The one potential problem is moisture condensation in the insulation. The plaster walls don't have any natural vapor barrier, allowing house moisture to pass right thru where it condenses on the cold outer surfaces. That not only defeats the insulation value but sets you up for mold problems. The vapor barrier can be added by applying paint to the walls with a low permeability rating. Vinyl wallpapers will work too. As for cost, call some local installers; only they will know what costs run in your area. Couple links to start with: http://hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/98/980508.html http://www.cellulose.org/ Do some GOOGLING Jim Cellulose is growing in popularity in this area (northern OH) and I've just had it put into a new house. In rooms with drywall already installed, it gets blown in through small holes. It's dusty going in, but fast and simple to do - took 2 days for the job for a 3000 sq.ft. house. The house has only been through part of last winter, but it was comfortable as well as remarkably quiet. We handled the vapor barrier with inside paint. TKM |
#4
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Blown in Cellulose Insulation
In article , Speedy Jim ruminated:
Your house is an excellent candidate for blown-in (either cellulose or fiberglass). The installers can do it all from outside by lifting sections of siding. The one potential problem is moisture condensation in the insulation. Most makers of cellulose do not recommend vapor barriers with dense-pack cellulose unless the external wall temperature is going to be below -15F. Seems that the dense pack already does an excellent job as a vapor barrier due to the waterproofing that is applied to it as part of the manufacturing process. -- Eric Lee Green http://www.badtux.org -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- |
#5
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Blown in Cellulose Insulation
Eric Lee Green wrote:
Most makers of cellulose do not recommend vapor barriers with dense-pack cellulose unless the external wall temperature is going to be below -15F. Seems that the dense pack already does an excellent job as a vapor barrier due to the waterproofing that is applied to it as part of the manufacturing process. Eric, can you expand on that? Do the installers do "dense-pack" with the typical blown-in-thru-small-holes kind of job? Just curious, Jim |
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