No insulation in walls. Best way to fix it?
bwsct
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hello,
My house built in 1952 has only paper faced aluminum foil in the walls. I’m in climate zone 5 in CT. The house also has cedar siding in desperate need of a paint job. I’d like to live in this house for another 30 years.
Some of the walls are plaster and some sheetrock. The walls are in good condition.
What would you do to fix this?
1. Blow in dense packed cellulose
2. Blow in dense packed cellulose, replace siding w/ vinyl and add exterior insulation
3. Gut interior sheetrock and insulate with rockwool
Thanks
Brad
Replies
“[Deleted]”
If you insulate from the interior it will be hard if not impossible to insulate the areas where interior partitions intersect with the outside walls. If you're going to live there another 30 years I'd replace the siding and fix everything I could reach at the same time. I would open the walls, replace any plumbing, repair or add electric as needed, spray the walls with a long term termiticide, air seal, insulate and install the siding. Vinyl would be about my last choice, Hardi or another cementboard would be my first.
You would replace the siding and the interior plaster/sheetrock?
I also need to live in the house with wife and 2 yr old while this is happening.
Good suggestion on the exterior siding. I'll look into Hardi or cementboard. I'm not sure the cost difference.
I appreciate the advice since it helps me consider things that I haven't.
No, I wouldn't touch the interior. If you plan to do the work yourself you can do one wall at a time.
I would also look at your ROI on whatever you do. Most of the heat loss in a home goes through the roof, not the walls so you won't get as much bang for your buck there.
I think I would start by getting accurate cost estimates and then narrow down your choices.
If you remove the drywall and insulate with rockwool, you can also update your 1950’s wiring, insulate around your doors and windows, and also install a vapor barrier. It would also be the biggest mess on the inside of your home, specially removing plaster.
I have been hearing commercials on the radio for a company that will retrofit install spray foam in your walls. That could also be an option but I would have to research that more before I would consider it for my house. I think I seen something in Mike Holmes’s tv show where they did that in Canada and they found out it was highly toxic and also very ineffective ?
I would have to imagine that option #1 would be the least expensive. I’m not sure on the implications of insulating walls with blown in cellulose without a vapor barrier.
I’ve heard on the FHB podcast that old houses that have retrofit insulation installed can have problems because now the walls can’t dry out like they used to.
Some of the electrical has been updated by a previous owner. A new panel and some wiring.
The walls are only 2x4 so from what I've ready spray foam isn't a huge benefit on that depth so even if I did remove the plaster I would use something other than spray foam.
On the exterior there is tar paper under the siding which I think may act as a vapor barrier.
Spray foam's biggest advantage isnt the R value it's that it seals every crack and gap and bonds the structure together. Having a tight house trumps R value everyday.