Insulating an old home

[keithshotrodshop]

It's that time of year again in which the wife gets on my rear about insulating the house. We live in an early 1800's farmhouse with balloon framing and absolutely no insulation. The entire home is approx 4,500 sq feet. My new heating bill on natural gas with the budget plan is $487.00 a month year round.

Two years ago I rented an insulation blower from Home Depot, and did one room of my home that has 3 outside walls. That room is now the warmest in the home. However, I blew the insulation in from the inside, which required drilling approx 200 holes in the walls which needed to be patched when done. Insulation also ended up everywhere, and cleanup was a nightmare.

My next attempt (if I should try blown in insulation again) would be to do it from the outside of the home instead, and re-side the home when done, thus no repair or mess on the inside.

I have heard the argument against blown in insulation that over the years it will settle, and thus I'll have air gaps in the walls at the tops. Anyone seen proof to back this up?

Lastly, there is a company called retro-foam that fills the walls with foam. There pricing is supposedly fair, however I haven't found much information on their process. My only fear with them is that they will miss areas.

Any thoughts?

[phittie1100]

Years ago my parents used a blown-in foam system - their home was much newer (mid-'50's) but only had 1" insulation in the cavities. The system used back then has since been discontinued due to formeldahyde concerns, but it made a ton of difference. The few times we had to crack into walls for any purpose we found almost no areas that had been missed. I would assume it's like any other service - who you hire will probably make a big difference.

[Renegade II]

Our place is 112 Years old. We just pulled all of our walls out and rewired, etc... These guys are coming in Dec to spray the place. Talked to owners of homes that had this and closed cell put in, seems most had less issues with this stuff. No off gassing / shrinkage problems.

http://www.icynene.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKaNZgiQEg

[kb8ymf]

I have heard the argument against blown in insulation that over the years it will settle, and thus I'll have air gaps in the walls at the tops. Anyone seen proof to back this up?

When I built my house almost 20 years ago I had it spray in
cellulose (ground up newspaper). Recenty I had to do some work in a high corner of one of the rooms. I pulled the drywall off and the insulation was still tight in the corners. I also pulled some drywall off in the ceiling (vaulted) and it was still tightly packed without any apparent settling.
Remember too, there are different types of spray in insulation. Some may have settling concerns but my cellulose did not.
jim-kb8ymf

[WhiteRhino]

Keith,
I don't know why you are concerned. Just put on your wet suit & waddle around the house.:lmao:

[keithshotrodshop]

Our place is 112 Years old. We just pulled all of our walls out and rewired, etc... These guys are coming in Dec to spray the place. Talked to owners of homes that had this and closed cell put in, seems most had less issues with this stuff. No off gassing / shrinkage problems.

http://www.icynene.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKaNZgiQEg


I've seen this that type, and like it, but I'm not ripping my walls out. However in the video there is a guy spraying it into rafters. Wouldn't that make the shingles warp from heat in a year or two? Unless they have a metal roof?

[keithshotrodshop]

Keith,
I don't know why you are concerned. Just put on your wet suit & waddle around the house.:lmao:

:idea:

[Renegade II]

I've seen this that type, and like it, but I'm not ripping my walls out. However in the video there is a guy spraying it into rafters. Wouldn't that make the shingles warp from heat in a year or two? Unless they have a metal roof?

They can inject it into existing walls. We just did the tear out cause were doing wiring, insulation, radiant heat, geo-thermal etc... all within the year. No problems with shingles or truss rot because it fills all the cavities and doesn't allow frost/damp air infiltration to gather in open pockets, unlike the hardening type spray stuff that can expand/contract depending on the temp. Saw them use it a few times on 'This Old House' and looked into it further.

[joe_jeep]

i did blow in insulation in high school a little for a company. it was real easy. we did 2 rows of holes one row in the middle of the wall. one row at the top. hole was about 1 inch round. fill the bottom till the machine would quit pumping. fill the hole, then go to the top row. one hole between each wall stud. we did it from the out side. we would pull of one row of siding then replace it. if it was brick we would drill mostly between the bricks into the mortar. all government work for hud.

we did fill a persons living room about waist deep one time though:thumb:

they had a large hole in the wall we were not informed of.
they didnt think it was very funny?:lmao:

[oz97tj]

only you Joe...

[keithshotrodshop]

Well, I called Retro-Foam, and they are sending out a guy to quote me on Tues morning. Supposedly they only have to remove one row of siding around the middle of the home, and then can replace it when done. Being that I don't have as much as I'd like right now for new siding, I'm thinking this might be the way to go. I'll let you guys know what he says.

If money wasn't an object, I would tear out the walls and start fresh. I've managed to already re-wire most of the home without doing that though. The downstairs is all plaster, and in good shape. Upstairs is new drywall over old plaster and is in good shape with exception of one bedroom. I like the idea of the foam from the outside for the simplicity. Then, when I do re-side the house, I'm going to screw the thickest foamboard (2 inch plus) I can find all over the home, then lag screw plywood over that, and lastly re-side. One of my neighbors did that, and his heating bill is approx $60 year round on the budget plan.

[oz97tj]

Why put the plywood over the foam sheet? We used to put foam on houses all the time and then just use longer nails for the siding right through the foam. The only real pain is if there isn't plywood underneath, but still all you have to do is measure for the studs and then snap some chalk lines on the foam.

[jeepfreak81]

I know a couple people that have done the retro-foam thing at my ski patrol, they liked it. They said it was kind of funny because it is a sound insulator too, the house they said was eerily quiet now.

[keithshotrodshop]

Why put the plywood over the foam sheet? We used to put foam on houses all the time and then just use longer nails for the siding right through the foam. The only real pain is if there isn't plywood underneath, but still all you have to do is measure for the studs and then snap some chalk lines on the foam.


I plan on doing this because of the thickness of foam I will be using. I also plan on using cement board siding, which requires less than 1/2 inch of foam underneath it due to the stiffness of the material. In fact, the cement board manufacturers won't even warranty the siding if there is more than 1/2 inch of foam directly under it. If I was going with vinol, which I'm not, I probably could get away without the plywood.

[keithshotrodshop]

I know a couple people that have done the retro-foam thing at my ski patrol, they liked it. They said it was kind of funny because it is a sound insulator too, the house they said was eerily quiet now.

I've heard that before, and that's fine with me. A neighbor on one side fires up his Harley every morning around 4:30. My neighbor to the other side loves running his quad with no muffler, and the crazy lady across the street vacuums her lawn (you read right) 3-4 times a week with a shop vac. And my neighbor to the back is an elementary school playground.

[T-way]

You need to post up a video of that crazy old bat vacuuming her lawn with the shop vac!!

:eek2:

[jeepfreak81]

You need to post up a video of that crazy old bat vacuuming her lawn with the shop vac!!

:eek2:
X eleventybillion :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

[keithshotrodshop]

You need to post up a video of that crazy old bat vacuuming her lawn with the shop vac!!

:eek2:
I'll try to get one!

[Troll53]

Why put the plywood over the foam sheet?
Believe it or not, the plywood will also add to the overall r-value.