probably useless information

[heehaw]

i'm going to put this on here, if you can use it, great, if not, please just ignore it: i know i have told a lot of folks to go to dougrye.com, to check out energy tips before building a house: but today i was listening to his talk show: and he mentioned some things i wanted to pass on: "according to d.rye" he has been involved in construction of over 300,000 homes, and never had a single person come back and say they wish they hadn't done what he recommended: there has never been a documented case of a home with cellulose insulation, burning down; foam insulation is great, if you have a lot of money, but if not, cellulose is just as good: the other phrase for a house that breaths, is a house that leaks, and it should be caulked until it does not leak.
i'm not saying i always agree with him, but with the cost of heating and cooling a house these days, i think his ideas are worth people building houses, to check out.
heehaw

 

[dmccarty]

HeeHaw,

I am pretty sure that cellulose insulation is treated to prevent fires. My last house had the stuff and the only "problem" I had with it is that it seem real dusty in the attic. I *** THINK *** the dust was from the insulation.

On our new house we have a blown in insulation made from fiberglass. I was curious if it would burn so I took some and tried to light it with no luck. I would like to put a bit more in the attic but I can't find this insulation at Home Depot or Lowes. It might be a special order. I am guessing that other builders suppliers might have it.

Our new house is very tight. We put in casement windows that have almost zero air leakage. Once the drywall was up I foamed between the floor and drywall to tighten up the house. I wish I had spec'ed the windows to use foam. The builder just used fiberglass. It works but foam would have been better. You just need to make sure to use the foam made for sealing windows since it won't over expand.

Insulation and sealing to prevent air leakage is cheap to do and really makes a house comfortable.

If you are building a house, I HIGHLY recommend that you buy one of Joseph Lstiburek's books. He has builders guides that provide detail drawings for different climates in the US. He is a forensic engineer and has a company called
Building Sciene Corp.

You should check out the website since it has good info about building practices.

I used some of his details on our house and it works. We heat our 2400 sf house with a single woodstove that is rated for 1,800 sf. As long as the temps stay out of the 20's they stove keeps the house in the 70s. And we have LOTS of big windows and 10 foot ceilings. Our power bill for last month was $100. A friend at work just moved into a new house that is a bit smaller than ours. He had $100 power bill plus something like $180 for gas. They have their thermstat set in the mid or low 60s. I usuall the first person in at work in the morning. I walked in one day and my coworker was already at work. I asked why and he said the cold in his house woke him up and he decided to come on in to work.

The right details on a house don't add much cost, save money, and make the house MUCH more comfortable.

Later,
Dan

 

[heehaw]

thanks for the link, i'll check it out..i bet the dust was from the cellulose: i have talked to a couple folks that do sheetrock work, and they swear they have done some remodel jobs where the cellulose was blown into the walls, and it had settled over a foot. i have blown in fiberglass in the attic, done by a contractor, i have thought about putting some cellulose over the top, but not sure i would gain enough to make it worth while: i don't think i have ever seen blown in fiberglass anywhere for a diy person??
heehaw

 

[dmccarty]

I have heard that blown insulation will settle over time. I don't know if its true or not be seems reasonable that it could. But blown insulation is so much better than batt insulation since it fills the space much more efficiently. I don't see why it would be a problem to put cellulose over fiber. I might do it in some areas of my attic where I would like to have more insulation. I woud prefer the fiberglass but I'll use whatever I can get.

Later,
Dan

 

[heehaw]

i know i sound like a broken record: but doug said on his program today, that they blow cellulose over fiberglass all the time; it is suppose to cut down on the air movement thru the insulation.
heehaw

 

[TMcD_in_MI]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have heard that blown insulation will settle over time. I don't know if its true or not be seems reasonable that it could. )</font>

I had a brand called Nu-Wool cellulose blown into my house when it was built three years ago. One of the rooms that was done is still unfinished, so the insulation and studs are just sitting there like the day it was done. With no netting or anything to hold it in place on the inside, the Nu-Wool is still right at the top of each stud bay - no settling at all. There was one section that did fall out at the top, but that wouldn't have happened with some interior wall covering on. For my money, it's pretty good stuff.

Tom

 

[heehaw]

thats good info..never heard of that type, but settle or not, if i ever build again, i will use cellulose. i had to go back and put those child proofing plugs into all of my outlets on the outside walls, because air was blowing thu so much, from what i hear, that doesn't happen with cellulose: i have 6 inch walls, with styrofoam on the outside and then board and bat siding over that, fiberglass batt insulation and a 6mil vapor barrier, and the air still blows thru the ac recepticles.
heehaw

 

[JimR]

I use to have blown in insulation in my attic before I added the second story on. Mice had tunneled through it everywhere leaving it pretty useless in my opinion. The builders laughed at all the tunnels as we bagged up the insulation to dispose of it. I now have good old blanket insulation in the attic.

 

[heehaw]

i bet that was fiberglass insulation...rodent are "not suppose" to like the cellulose...nor do bugs...another reason to use it
heehaw

 

[Rob_H]

We're in the process of re-habing an 1851 farm house. The house is a timber frame structure with no insulation - so no regular stud bays on the exterior walls, and small (1x4 or 1x6)irregular "studs" to hold the sheathing.

We don't want to disturb the exterior walls so we have been re-framing the interior walls to create a space to insulate, then using blown cellulose. This stuff is great - it fills all the little voids around the original irregular framing, insulates well, is a good sound stop and is treated and regarded as a fire stop.

It makes an unbelieveable mess when installed though - grey dust everywhere.

Rob