Forum: Insulation
May 5, 2008
soundboard vs. furring (firring) stips for ceiling
Renovation in progress.
The contractor has pretty much gutted the place - ceiling has been taken down in most of the rooms (the picture is of the inside of one of the ceilings that was left intact because it had no cracks etc.)
As you can see in the picture, there was no insulation in the ceiling - for sound reasons (every footstep, and even sometimes the cat can be heard from the upstairs apt) the contractor suggests putting insulation in since the ceiling is open in most of the rooms. Should I request any special insulation for sound? Or is it all pretty much the same.
I have researched soundproofing and I don’t believe the insulation will do much. It is designed to insulate heat not sound. To quiet footsteps and voices from upstairs I was looking into “green glue” (home theater DIY stuff) but it’s not available in stores and most people have never heard of it. So i was going to go with either Celotex soundboard or furring strips. Anyone know if one is better than the other? Or do you suggest something else.
May 3, 2008
Attic fan and insulation
I am working through the options avaialble to improve our houses energy efficiency and reduce our heating and cooling costs. We have some old fibreglass insulation between the attic floor and the top floor ceiling. However in summer the attic gets incredibly hot. I am considering installing cotton fibre insulation between the roof rafters and a solar powered attic fan, has anyone done this in their brownstone and have an opinion on the value of this investment and effort versus the energy savings.....
April 29, 2008
Hot top floor
The top floor of our attached wood frame townhouse is always at least 10 degrees hotter in the summer (feels like more than that though). It has a flat roof that slopes from front to back of the building. How does one properly insulate this sort of roof, there is hardly any space at all between the ceiling and the actual roof, and as the ceilings are very low, we do not want to lower them any further. I am assuming this is an isulation issue, my husband thinks it's a ventilation issue.
April 21, 2008
Icynene Vs Fiberglass
Has anyone had experience with Icynene insulation? I am getting complete opposite opinions from fiberglass and Icynene installers, each one completely degrading the other as an awful product
Any real experience with either one?
March 16, 2008
insulation recommendation
Our co-op is looking to insulate pipes and a window in our basement. Can anyone recommend a handyman or plumber who would give us a reasonable quote for the work?
thanks!
February 7, 2008
Crawl space insulation recommendation
There have been a few posts here recently on insulation questions. I just had my crawl space insulated by Federal Conservation (631-264-7271) and I highly recommend them. They called right back after I left a message and called me practically every day updating me as to when they could come because the weather has been so bad.
I've got a pretty standard 20' X 50' brownstone with three skylights. They cut two holes in the roof and go in from there and blow in about 12" of insulation. The roof holes are then covered and vented. Vents are necessary for moisture and heat removal from the remaining space above the insulation. It was $2000 ($2 per sq. ft.) plus $200 for the two vents. They were great and cleaned up nicely afterwards including any stray bits that blew onto my neighbors property.
They told me that the side walls of attached brownstones really can't be insulated but that the front and rear walls are deep enough and that they typically drill a few holes in the plaster and fill them with expanding foam if I wanted to do that in the future.
Highly Recommended, very professional.
January 20, 2008
What type of insulation for a Brownstone?
My house has drafty walls. It also has beautiful plasterwork on the drafty walls which I don't want to destroy.
I'm considering blown-in insulation and was wondering whether anyone has gotten this done?
My concerns with it are A) bugs - I live in a neighborhood with lots of termite problems and B) if I ever need to get any future work done in the walls (ie: electrical, plumbing) will it be difficult to access these systems?
Yes, I have caulked all windows and sealed the facade as much as possible but I think the cold air is also coming from convection within the wall cavity.
Anyone have any ideas or experience with different types of insulation? Any ideas/insight?
January 13, 2008
blown-in insulation
does anyone know how hard it is to DIY install blown-in insulation in a brownstone crawlspace? I have about 24 inches of empty space between my upstairs ceiling and my roof, and I'd like to fill it with insulation. I can access the space non-invasively from the roof hatch. Anyone with experience doing this themselves? Or is it better to use a contractor? Thanks!
December 25, 2007
Asbestos Inspection
I'm simply posting a recommendation for John Rodriguez (347-996-6148) as an asbestos inspector. John was very patient with questions and immediately available during the weekend for an inspection (I'm in the middle of a renovation in Bay Ridge).
He came out in the morning for a walk through inspection and after verifying I had no asbestos insulation, he gave me advice and tips in case I did find any asbestos during the rest of my renovation. He also took some samples of some of my insulation to test for me free of charge.
If I ended up needing any asbestos removal work done, I would have undoubtably had John do the work for me.
December 10, 2007
IT'S FRrreEEzzZZZIIiinNNgGG..
So I'm a bit lost. We recently purchased a new condo. And sleep there for the first time this past weekend. However our bedroom is freezing in comparison to all of the other rooms. we checked the heater and they are giving off the same level of heat as the other heaters throughout the place.
I suspect that the room wasnt properly insulated. My question is: How can you find out if a room was properly insulated? Would I have to hire a building inspector or poke a hole through some of the walls? any advice?
BTW (...while I'm on here):
We have two white doors that were originally installed as sliding doors for a closet. they are in pretty much brand new shape. no dinks or scuffs or anything. They measure about 28"x78".
Let me know if anyone is interested. THANKS!