Question about insulating my home...

[IndyCubby]

This is quite off topic from teardrops...

We had a major hail storm back on Good Friday this past spring and I am finally getting around to having my aluminum siding and roof replaced. I have a two-story home built in 1918. Currently, there is aluminum siding over insul-brick over the original clapboard siding.

Since the house is not insulated (except for the insu-brick), I was thinking about blowing in cellulous insulation before the new siding goes up. I have heard conflicting views on whether or not it is a good idea to blow insulation on a sided house because of the possibility of moisture problems. There are lots of houses here in my area where it has been done for years and I have never heard of any problems. I have original windows that have been repaired, but the house is not air tight by any means.

Can anyone offer some advice as to whether they believe this is a good move? I don't plan to be here in the house for more than a few more years and I figured that it would be a good selling point when I eventually sell. Also, Indiana has a tax break for energy-saving improvements. Between that and heating cost savings, I could probably pay for it in a year or two.

What do you think? Do any of you have experience with this?

[Podunkfla]

IndyCubby... I have used blown in cellulose insulation in the walls of every old house I have redone (30+). I learned early on that it does settle over time a bit. So... the cure for that is to blow it in then pack it down some. Most of the houses I've done with it had wood siding or cedar shingles; so, I just remove the top board or row of shingles and under the windows. Then blow it in the stud bays. I made a simple packing tool with a 12 foot length of 1/2" PVC pipe with a wood board that will fit loosly in the stud bay attached on then end. The pipe is flexible enough it will fit in the wall easily. I just tamp it down, then blow in some more insulation till I get it full again. Basicly, I am forcing all the "settling" in advance this way. It probably uses about 20% more insulation this way, but it also makes sure you have no voids. This method also is a good way to find any blocking, electrical boxes, etc that may get in the way of filling the walls. I have had an engineer friend check a couple of the bigger houses I did with his infrared imaging camera before and after insulation. You can spot any voids or thermal leaks easily on his computer screen, and fix them. He also can give me an "R" factor reading before and after with it. Packing down does not reduce the cellulose's insulating ability at all... In most cases it slightly increases it. Of course I didn't invent this method... About 20 something years ago I read about a 1700's church up north somewhere that had done this with great success based on the advise of an engineer. You may be able to find it with a Google search? Of course I also use it in attics too. I have about 16 to 18 inches of cellulose in my attic in my 1896 house I'm living in. That is about twice what is recomended in my part of Florida. My electric bill is about half what most of my neighbors is in the summer. So that was a good $500. investment 13 years ago. Hope this helps some.

friend ~ Brick

[Jiminsav]

I used cellulose in the attic of my Tear..it's sloppy but it works..*s*

[IndyCubby]

IndyCubby... I have used blown in cellulose insulation in the walls of every old house I have redone (30+). I learned early on that it does settle over time a bit. So... the cure for that is to blow it in then pack it down some. Most of the houses I've done with it had wood siding or cedar shingles; so, I just remove the top board or row of shingles and under the windows. Then blow it in the stud bays. I made a simple packing tool with a 12 foot length of 1/2" PVC pipe with a wood board that will fit loosly in the stud bay attached on then end. The pipe is flexible enough it will fit in the wall easily. I just tamp it down, then blow in some more insulation till I get it full again. Basicly, I am forcing all the "settling" in advance this way. It probably uses about 20% more insulation this way, but it also makes sure you have no voids. This method also is a good way to find any blocking, electrical boxes, etc that may get in the way of filling the walls. I have had an engineer friend check a couple of the bigger houses I did with his infrared imaging camera before and after insulation. You can spot any voids or thermal leaks easily on his computer screen, and fix them. He also can give me an "R" factor reading before and after with it. Packing down does not reduce the cellulose's insulating ability at all... In most cases it slightly increases it. Of course I didn't invent this method... About 20 something years ago I read about a 1700's church up north somewhere that had done this with great success based on the advise of an engineer. You may be able to find it with a Google search? Of course I also use it in attics too. I have about 16 to 18 inches of cellulose in my attic in my 1896 house I'm living in. That is about twice what is recomended in my part of Florida. My electric bill is about half what most of my neighbors is in the summer. So that was a good $500. investment 13 years ago. Hope this helps some.

friend ~ Brick

Thanks for the info. That is helpful to know.

Since I have this Insul-brick siding under the aluminum, I will probably be drilling holes with a hole saw to blow the insulation in. I don't know that I'll have a way to pack it down in this particular case. That is a good idea, though.

[wolfix]

I was in the home improvement business for 25 years. And siding was one of our main products. Cellulose insulation is about the only way you can go affordably.
Here is the way we did it....After you have the house stripped of the aluminum siding, drill your holes at the top of the stud spacings... Then go about a foot from the bottom and drill holes. Blow the insulation in the bottom holes first until you cannot blow any more in. Then go to the top and do it there.
We used duct tape to cover the holes since we were siding over the holes anyway.


Then to get added insulation put insulation board under the new siding..... The route we went with this when insulation was a issue was to use 1/2' foam board.
Now you used the term "isul-brick." I am not familiar with what you are talking about. I think I know, but that is a term not used in my area. But I would consider removing the insul-brick also.
The 1/4 foam used by many contractors behind siding ..The fan fold stuff, adds very little insualtion value. It acts as more of a buffer to allow the new siding to lay flat.

The cost of using 1/2" foam is going to be more then the 1/4". . Maybe more then just the cost of the foam. If the windows are to be wrapped with trim coil, then sometimes the window brickmold needs to be built out. This adds to the cost.

I am assuming that you are doing all the work? Remember that the aluminum siding you remove has value as scrap metal if it is aluminum....

Also remember to check inside th ehouse when blowing the insulation..... I have had the insulation blow directly through the inside wall s into the home thru electrical outlets...... Messy.......

Feel free to contact me with any other questions......

[IndyCubby]

Thanks!

I don't know if this Insul-brick was a regional material or what. Basically, it is a fiber board kind of product (that apparently sometimes contains asbesdos) and has an asphalt layer on top that looks like brick. People used to slap it on their wood clapboard houses thinking that it made it look like a brick house. I guess it has a decent insulation value for what it is. It's probably about 1/2" to 3/4" thick. I think it was "the thing" before aluminum siding came along. I don't think I want to bother with taking it all off just because there is so much of it and there won't really be any benefit to doing so. It will just get covered up anyway.

The issue that I have with the stuff is that back when they put all this aluminum siding on houses, they would overlap the window casings to make it look "more modern". This is an old craftsman style house that has big wide 4" moldings around the windows and doors and it is all hidden because of the way it was sided. The Insul-brick brings the surface of the house underneath up to the level of the window moldings, so they just sided over it. Silly. I'm hoping to correct that when we re-side.

Thanks for the tips for where to drill holes. That is very helpful!

[Esteban]

I insulated my house over 20 years ago with blown in cellulose insulation. My house has balloon framing (no top plate in the walls) so I was able to blow insulation down into the walls from the attic. My winter gas bill went down considerably. The house no longer felt cold and drafty in winter and it stays cooler in summer, too.

About 10 years ago I opened up some walls while building an addition to the house. The blown in insulation hadn't settled. It filled every nook and cranny in the opened walls. One downside to cellulose insulation was that it made a dusty mess when I removed some of it during the later remodel.