| Author |
Message |
    
John-Michael Maas
Citizen
Username: Carroway
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 10:05 pm: | 
|
My wife and I bought a beautiful old Maplewood house that, while very charming, feels like it has tissue paper for insulation.
We were considering blown-in insulation to avoid having to rip out all of the walls.
Does anyone have any advice about how well blown-in insulation works and any good vendors in the area?
Many thanks. |
us2inFL
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 1217
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 6:18 am: |
|
older posts1
newer posts, check out my May 14, 03 post for phone numbers
more reading on the subject |
us2inFL
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 1218
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 6:24 am: |
|
oh by the way, it was 78 degrees yesterday and it's going to be in the low 80's today.
sorry, still have the first year resident gloats.
 |
Debby
Citizen
Username: Debby
Post Number: 1529
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 6:41 am: |
|
I'm having coffee by the pool |
Spqr
Citizen
Username: Spqr
Post Number: 12
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 12:02 pm: |
|
I just had insulation blown in this week. When they removed the first clapboard and drilled through the sheathing into the wall cavity, they called me over to show me what was in the wall as far as insulation goes - Nothing! If your house has not been changed since it was built, then you probably have nothing in your walls either. I used Divine Insulation and they blew cellulose into the walls. They gave me the best quote at $4100. When they came out to start the job, they discovered that the attic had good rock wool packed into the floor of the attic and another crawl space area was already well insulated, so they adjusted the price down by $1000. I like that they were honest and didn't try to tell me it needed new insulation just to keep the price up. So they did all the exterior walls, insulated another crawl space and the rim joist in the basement. They were thorough and cleaned up after the job was done. I can already tell a difference - my boiler doesn't run as often or as long as it had been just days ago and when I wake up in the morning, the upstairs is too warm with the temperature set at 65. Also, the house isn't drafty as it had been last week. Their number is 973-361-3031. The guy I dealt with was very nice, showed up when he said he was going to and I feel like he dealt fairly with me. His name is James if you decide to go with Divine Energy. |
Amie Brockway-Metcalf
Citizen
Username: Amie
Post Number: 134
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 12:19 pm: |
|
Spqr (I worked on merchandising for that video game years ago!) I'm happy to see that--Divine is starting our place in two weeks. |
daveh
Citizen
Username: Daveh
Post Number: 6
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Friday, January 14, 2005 - 4:32 pm: |
|
We also used Divine earlier this year, and were very pleased with the work. We also researched extensively before going with their product and service, I'd be happy to review those findings with you--email is helmkamp@comcast.net. |
parkah
Citizen
Username: Parkah
Post Number: 84
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 9:53 am: |
|
we are considering blown in insulation as well.... this is probably a dumb question... but how do they actually blow in the insulation?
do they remove the baseboard from every room, drill through the lathing and blow it in that way? or do they simply drill through the wall somewhere and blow in that way? my concern is that we've just refinished the walls/painted many of our rooms and i would hate to revisit that finished work with repairs.
thanks. |
us2inFL
Citizen
Username: Us2innj
Post Number: 1220
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 3:25 pm: |
|
It is generally done from the outside of the house, first by drilling a 2 inch hole, filling the wall between the studs in two places, a high spot and a low spot. This is because there is a 2 by 4 halfway up each wall as a fire break.
The hole is then sealed with a styrofoam disc and the siding is put back on. We did it before a paint job, but there is minimal damage if your home has had the exterior recently painted.
We also used Divine back in 2003. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1765
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 4:21 pm: |
|
It depends on the exterior material of the house as to whether it is done from inside or outside. For our stucco house, they had to do it from the inside and, I would assume, the same would be true for other masonry or vinyl or aluminum siding. The contractor who did ours made razor cuts in the wallpaper and lifted the resulting flaps before drilling the holes, then plugged the holes and recovered them fairly effectively. We had the job done prior to a planned rewallpapering job in our living room and dining room, so that took care of those rooms. We still haven't redone the kitchen walls but it isn't terribly noticeable in the meanwhile.
We used Flesher Home Improvements for our insulation job. |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 679
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 9:36 pm: |
|
Does it cost much more to remove the exterior siding, install blanket insulation, and replace the siding? Just curious. |
daveh
Citizen
Username: Daveh
Post Number: 7
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 7:27 am: |
|
removal of all the siding to do this job is basically the same amount of work as completely replacing the exterior of the home--the siding and the wood sheathing underneath would have to be taken off and re-installed.
the damage during the blown-in process is minimal, tho psychologically it may seem bothersome. In the worst case, you could pay a carpenter to replace the strips removed, just to feel better about it--but that may not really be warranted.
Aside from the cost, there's quite a bit written to show the blown-in cellulose to be superior fiberglass blankets--higher R value, and almost no air flow (drafts) through the walls when done properly. Also acts almost as a fire-stop, which is a great bonus if your home is of older construction. I have a bunch of references if you are interested further.
Having started with an un-insulated 110 yr old home, the $5K spent on insulation is probably the best investment I've made since I sold my lemonade stand in '72..
-dave
|
Moosa Aziz
Citizen
Username: Moosa
Post Number: 1
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 10:32 pm: |
|
I live in a 1920s colonial in Maplewood and am seriously considering insulating the house. I had Divine give me an estimate - around 8K for the whole job; all walls, basement leaks (gaps between the foundation and the structure), attic and crawlspace. Going thru these posts I have seen information on expanding foam (Iceyne). Is this supposed to be better than cellulose ? If so, any advice on contractors/pricing would be most helpful.
|
local denizen
Citizen
Username: Local_denizen
Post Number: 39
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 1:31 pm: |
|
Curious about installation. When they pull off a whole length of clapboard does the board split? And are there signs of crowbar nothing on that board and the board above it? Much putty/repair to be done afterwards? |
daveh
Citizen
Username: Daveh
Post Number: 8
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 4:43 pm: |
|
properly installed clapboard has rather large nails, with large heads--there is definitely a chance of splitting near these nails,even if care is taken. in our experience, this only happened in a couple of places while doing the entire house. replacing a board is not difficult or costly, and in most spots making small repairs with putty is all that is needed. Chances are a well-matched touch-up paint will not be noticeable when you are done. (take a sample of clapboard to paint store for exact match). Damage to cedar shake is less--arguably, zero--an individual shake can usually be cut out with a sharp knife then nailed back in place after the cellulose is blown in.
someone else asked about iso...i didn't come across any local installers. All in all, after educating myself, I lost interest in it--it seems much better suited to new construction.
-dave
|
joecool
Citizen
Username: Joecool
Post Number: 137
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 11:36 am: |
|
Is there any concern with off-gasses from the foam? We too live in a really drafty house, but I am concerned about filling my house with a chemical insulator that will give off fumes/gases? |
Adam Moskowitz
Citizen
Username: Adammosk
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 3:50 pm: |
|
I just had Flesher apply the blown in insulation in my attic. We have noticed a big difference in certain drafty spots of the house. Price was very reasonable and they were clean. They use insulation provided by applegate insulation. Here is the link for applegate to find out more info on the benefits of this type of insulation.
applegateinsulation.com |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page