Insulating

[ajr]

I am going to get my house insulated, aprox 2600 sq ft blown in densepack fiberglass (you know drill and fill)and the box sill down aprox 4 ft in my basement sprayfoamed w/ closed cell insulation, and my crawl space sprayed box sill and 3 courses down. aprox 600 sq ft.Just got a quote for $2800, I know this will help my heat loss imensely.Seems like a good deal to me what do you guys think.
My house 100 year old 2 story farm house.

 

[Guswhit]

Can't beat proper insulation! After seeing some newer techniques the last couple of years(around here) first hand, If you can't afford spray foam everywhere, my next option would be dense pack cellulose. I haven't seen the fiberglass done this way however, but was under the impression that fibeglass was not supposed to be packed to be efficient. Things change, I'm sure. Getting back to the cellulose, I have first hand seen this in homes and pole barns with remarkable success, it even helps control outside noises from penetrating. In one instance, a contractor built a new home near a railroad track and the results for the noise reduction are outstanding. IMO. All insulation if properly installed will definately help. I am wondering just what you are getting for spray foam R factor. The total price seems low. Closed cell spray foam is going for $1.00/sq. ft. per inch around me from 4-5 differant reputable installers. Just check that out before proceeding to make sure you are going to get the R factor you want.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Do it.

38' X 50' two story farm house with full basement with no insulation anywhere, 36' X 50' attached garage(fully insulated) with radiant floor heat and domestic water heated as well = close to 30 cord of wood burnt the first year.

Next year: Same 36' X 50' with 10 inches in first floor, 8 inches on second floor, 12 - 16 inches blown in attic, new windows, house wrap and new siding:36' X 50' attached garage(fully insulated) with radiant floor heat and domestic water heated as well = 13 cord average use for 8 years now.

You do the cost/labor savings.

 

[ajr]

It is for sure closed cell on the box sill around 3" on the basement walls 1.5". He is reputible i know of atleast 5 jobs he has done for family and friends. He said the densepack fiberglass is supposed to be higher r value and almost the same air infiltration value with no settling and way less mess. Doing it from the inside due to the fact of exterior siding material and i just painted last year. I know cart before the horse.

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[zogger]

I am going to get my house insulated, aprox 2600 sq ft blown in densepack fiberglass (you know drill and fill)and the box sill down aprox 4 ft in my basement sprayfoamed w/ closed cell insulation, and my crawl space sprayed box sill and 3 courses down. aprox 600 sq ft.Just got a quote for $2800, I know this will help my heat loss imensely.Seems like a good deal to me what do you guys think.
My house 100 year old 2 story farm house.

Heck ya! Good for you! Insulation has the best ROI when it comes to heating and cooling..

 

[rmount]

Can't beat insulation! Our 1200+ sq ft 1900's farmhouse went through 6-8 cord/winter when my wife's uncle was here. After we bought it we gutted to the studs (we saved what little we could, but it was time), 4"+ high density spray foam everywhere - walls, roof, cellar walls. We now use just under 2 and a half cord.

Edit: Just checked my records, it was medium density spray foam, R6.6/in

 

[ajr]

Im hoping it will help with the overall feeling warmer and less wood usage also. He says the box sill is about a 20% loss i dont know but it sounds good to me fix it.

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[Hddnis]

Dense pack fiberglass is decent insulation. Spray in or dense pack cellulose will insulate better than the fiberglass and be quieter, but in your application it may not make enough difference to matter. I own a small insulation business and I try to sell people on the cellulose, it is what I would use in my home, but not everyone likes it and so we do plenty of fiberglass too. The blown/sprayed in fiberglass is far better than batts; we only install batts in special applications anymore as they are an inferior way to insulate. Of course in the OP’s situation batts aren’t an option anyway.



Mr. HE

 

[pickwood]

As a builder-it sounds like a fair price. I would recommend the attic area be insulated above code-I did the same thing to our house in South Bend, IN and went from a 180k furnace to a 90k furnace and makes the house almost soundproof.

 

[haveawoody]

Great idea to have your place insulated.
Less work, less wood, more heat all in one go has to be a good thing.

Just make sure when they blow insulation in your attic they don't block up all the soffets.
Had to go up in my attic for a day with a shop vac to clear mine back out.

I was lucky that the bulk of my house was decent insulation, the attic was poor insulation.
Just having the attic done though worked out to about 1/2 the wood usage for the same heating.

Since you are getting everything insulated i think you will be 1/2 or even less wood needed.

 

[upsnake]

Dense pack fiberglass is decent insulation. Spray in or dense pack cellulose will insulate better than the fiberglass and be quieter, but in your application it may not make enough difference to matter. I own a small insulation business and I try to sell people on the cellulose, it is what I would use in my home, but not everyone likes it and so we do plenty of fiberglass too. The blown/sprayed in fiberglass is far better than batts; we only install batts in special applications anymore as they are an inferior way to insulate. Of course in the OP’s situation batts aren’t an option anyway.



Mr. HE

Hddnis - If you don't mind me asking, What do you recommend on cathedral ceilings? I ended up having to tear all the insulation (batts) and drywall down b/c condensation on the insulation was soaking through to the drywall. Right now the room is just sitting at the rafters.

OP - Sorry didn't mean to get too much off topic.

 

[haveawoody]

Hddnis,

When you took down the insulation did it have vent pannels behind the insulation?
Up against the roof venting air behind the insulation is a must or you get a rotten roof or very damp insulation.

 

[jthornton]

Hddnis - If you don't mind me asking, What do you recommend on cathedral ceilings? I ended up having to tear all the insulation (batts) and drywall down b/c condensation on the insulation was soaking through to the drywall. Right now the room is just sitting at the rafters.

OP - Sorry didn't mean to get too much off topic.

Adding on top of the 3 1/2" inches of fiberglass in the attic of my house by cross rolling 9 1/2" unfaced bats cut my fuel bill in 1/2". The walls were 6" of bats all ready. I did the same thing in my 1000 sq ft shop that adjoins my 1000 sq ft garage. I heat the shop with a tiny $250 wood stove in one corner and open the door to the garage. If the shop gets too hot I blow air from the garage into the shop.

Before adding the shop I heated the garage with a $1100 circulator and with 3 1/2" of bats in the ceiling and poor door seals I all but turned the circulator cherry red trying to keep one bay warm... now it sits idle all the time as the excess heat from the shop keeps the garage temperature nice.

Insulation, you can't have enough...

John

 

[ajr]

Hddnis,john i was talking to the insulator and he said yhey make.a finer fiberglass now than they used to so it doesnt get hung up and so on. So it will be better on r value and almost as good on air.Is that true?

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[justchecknjr]

Hddnis - If you don't mind me asking, What do you recommend on cathedral ceilings? I ended up having to tear all the insulation (batts) and drywall down b/c condensation on the insulation was soaking through to the drywall. Right now the room is just sitting at the rafters.

OP - Sorry didn't mean to get too much off topic.

Spray Foam! it's the best thing you can do. fiberglass is nothing more than a furnace filter. depending on the depth of your rafters, open cell (1/2 lb) takes more then closed cell ( 1.8 - 2.0 lb) 2lb after 2" will create a vapor barrier. 3" is 96% efficient anything over 4" is wasting your money (ima).

OP - if your getting your crawl space done i would put down at least 6 mill plastic and have it sprayed to the wall to seal, that's a big thing here in Michigan.

 

[mizzou]

I don't know if the price is right, but it's cheaper than a lot of stove installs, especially if you need a new liner or flue. No matter what fuel you're using it should allow you to use significantly less of it.

 

[upsnake]

Spray Foam! it's the best thing you can do. fiberglass is nothing more than a furnace filter. depending on the depth of your rafters, open cell (1/2 lb) takes more then closed cell ( 1.8 - 2.0 lb) 2lb after 2" will create a vapor barrier. 3" is 96% efficient anything over 4" is wasting your money (ima).

OP - if your getting your crawl space done i would put down at least 6 mill plastic and have it sprayed to the wall to seal, that's a big thing here in Michigan.

Ya i looked at closed cell and :msp_scared: it was pricing, (i was looking at DIY kits). I have a bonus room above my garage, so 24 x 24 and it was many many thousands of dollars for foam. :/

So with foam you don;'t have to actually fill the entire truss, area with foam? If after three inches you have a diminishing rate of return, (unless you just meant 3 inches of closed cell).

 

[ajr]

All sprayfoam he is going to use is closed cell.

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[Guswhit]

Hddnis - If you don't mind me asking, What do you recommend on cathedral ceilings? I ended up having to tear all the insulation (batts) and drywall down b/c condensation on the insulation was soaking through to the drywall. Right now the room is just sitting at the rafters.

OP - Sorry didn't mean to get too much off topic.

I need some more info to give you some tips. Is your roof built with trusses or is it common framed? What is the pitch inside and outside? What depth from the bottom chord to the underside of the sheeting? There are many ways to get the job done, but it appears most of your problem stems from not enough air movement. What kind and how much eave and ridge vent do you have? I actually saw one a couple of years ago that started having problems when the shingle over rolled ridge vent got plugged and would not let the roof breath correct.

 

[mbbushman]

Spray foam in a cathedral ceiling is a bad idea! Unless you put stops in to provide air flow between your roof sheathing and the spray foam. If you don't, your shingles will have a very short life due to heat buildup in summer. Dense pack cellulose is the best choice if your truss depth allows sufficient space. You'll still need insulation stops to allow air flow though.