Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Insulating an exterior wall
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01-22-01, 08:54 PM
I own an 81 year old house. It has no insulation in the exterior walls and after this years natural gas prices, I want to insulate. Doing it from the inside seems to be the best way. I also have plaster lath walls in O.K. shape. I beleive my choices are as follows:
1. Blow in celluose...But I have no vapor barrior...is this a problem...could I apply a barrior over the plaster lath then apply Drywall?
2. Inject some type of Foam product...Don't think the county will let me.
3. Gut the walls, insulate with fiberglass, apply vapor barrior and drywall..
Any other choices?
Help
1. Blow in celluose...But I have no vapor barrior...is this a problem...could I apply a barrior over the plaster lath then apply Drywall?
2. Inject some type of Foam product...Don't think the county will let me.
3. Gut the walls, insulate with fiberglass, apply vapor barrior and drywall..
Any other choices?
Help
lefty
01-22-01, 11:33 PM
I would go with option 1. Option 3 would be extremely messy and a lot of unnecessary work and expense if you aren't planning on removing the lathe and plaster and sheetrocking for any other reason than insulating. Option 2, if the County won't let you, that says it all. I doubt that you would be able to tell how good the foam is really dispersing anyway. Hire a competent contractor who has blown a lot of walls and has the proper equipment to do so. He can do it from the inside or out. That will mostly be determined by the type of siding you have and how repairable it is. He will bore holes about 1-1/2" to 2" in diameter at the top of the walls for each stud bay. Will plug the holes when he's done. You should be able to finish them to make them virtually undetectable. I wouldn't advise you to try this yourself. You don't have access to the proper equipment to blow walls, and don't have the experience necessary to get a uniform job.