    
Amie Brockway-Metcalf
Citizen
Username: Amie
Post Number: 159
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 4, 2005 - 9:14 am: | 
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Many people have pm'ed me about my recent experience with Divine Energy Solutions and blown-in insulation, so I figured I'd do an in-depth post.
Our house is a 3-story smallish 1909 colonial, with no insulation whatsoever. We have a gas-powered one-zone furnace with old-fashioned radiators. The house was really drafty--we'd have the themostat on 72 and we'd still be freezing. We replaced some windows in the bedrooms but decided to go all out and get the insulation.
Divine quoted the house at $3500, with various levels (ie basement/attic/exterior walls). We had them do the whole thing.
They started on Monday (the Monday after the snowstorm, and they uncomplainingly shovelled all around the house). In the basement, these used that expanding foam caulk around all the nooks and crannies and stapled roll insulation to the door. None of it looks pretty, but it works. The basement is now maybe 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the house, instead of 15.
They did the exterior walls next, over the course of a couple days. They removed the shingle, drilled a 3" hole, and piped in the insulation. The insulation itself is like that grey fluff used in packing envelopes. It's made of newspaper and they assure me it's safe, which is good because it's going to be all over the lawn come the thaw. They did crack a couple of the shingles, which I expected since they're those asbestos cement shingles that crack if you look at them. They repaired them as well as could be expected with caulk.
Our third floor has an open stairwell, with two bedrooms with closets tucked into the eaves (one with no radiator) and an unfinished attic. They'd expected to do these walls by going though the attic crawlspace, but it had been walled off by aa previous owner. (Perhaps the same genius that replaced all the old plaster walls with drywall and didn't insulate?) The didn't have ladders long enough to do the third floor from the outside, so they had to do it from the inside. So the two bedrooms (which we'd been planning on painting in the next six months) now have a spackled hole every foot or so. It'll add some sanding/priming work to our paint job, but oh well. We decided not to do the 3rd floor stairwell wall, since we've already painted that.
The result is a house that's only drafty by the old windows and doors. We've had the heat on 64 and been really toasty (yesterday it was on 62!) The house traps and retains heat reaally nicely.
Cons? Well, I wish they'd had a ladder tall enough for the 1st floor. I wish we'd been forewarned about the amount of moving stuff we'd have to do. And the house was REALLY dusty for a while--the space between our kitchen walls and cabinets was leaking for a week or so, but seems to have cleared up. If I'd known then, I would have removed everything off the counters for the duration so I wouldn't have to wash all those utensils in a jug and small appliences.
But we'd do it again in a heartbeat. The house is so much cozier now (I'm in the unheated 3rd floor bedroom now, with bare feet and short sleeves, and it's only a couple degrees cooler thaan the rest of the house, even though we keep the door closed. Not sure about how it will affect out heating bills, but just the comfort facctor is worth it at this pint (and that means something,since we used our "2nd bathroom" money to do this, and we've got a toddler who'll be toilet training in a year!)
Feel free to PL me with any specifics. |
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