Spray-In Insulation?
I have a fully detached 3 story wood-frame victorian. there is no insulation in the walls and asbestos shingles on the outside. I am looking into hiring a company called foamdynamics to drill holes in the outside of the house and spray in foam insulation. i am also looking into putting siding over the shingles…
I have a fully detached 3 story wood-frame victorian. there is no insulation in the walls and asbestos shingles on the outside. I am looking into hiring a company called foamdynamics to drill holes in the outside of the house and spray in foam insulation. i am also looking into putting siding over the shingles for appearance -shingles are not in great shape- and to help with insulation. is there anyone that has added siding or worked with spray foam insulation and can comment on the insulating effectiveness of either? thanks in advance.
Sorry, I should have given that to you as a link… ooops
http://www.spray-insulation.co.uk/cavity%20wall%20insulation.htm
You could try injecting polyurethane foam insulation. This site has quite a bit of information about it:
http://www.spray-insulation.co.uk/cavity%20wall%20insulation.htm
but if you want to buy it you will need to look for a local supplier. You could try www. fomofoam.com
Insulation is good for saving energy, but the first place to start in energy saving measures should always be air sealing the house. If your house has many places where pipes and openings around windows and doors leak air, your heat will just be bypassing the insulation. The good thing is that air sealing can be much cheaper than insulation. Insulation contractors might also do this work. With proper air sealing and insulation you can reduce your energy bills by as much as 30-50%. Good Luck.
Jeremy Shannon, AIA
Prospect Architecture, PC
http://www.bobvilla.com/HomeAgainExtras/Nailite/Nailite.html
http://www.nailiteinternational.com/index.html
Ohh that looks great!
yes we (7 unit co-op)did the blown-in fiberglass insulation thing and it’s great. we did it from the inside as we have a brick exterior.
also – aesthetically — take a good look at all the siding alternatives. aluminium or plastic siding always reminds me of the movie “tin men” and fades due to sun in an extremely short time.
Please, please please use wood shingle or at least Nailite perfection shake (which looks a lot like woodshakes) in lieu of vinyl. Your neighbors will thank you!
original poster – thank you for the insights. i will look up and call federal conservation.
I too used Federal Conservation and had fiberglass blown in to the back of my wood frame victorian . It has made a huge difference.
Just had blown-in insulation put in to my walls as well- not spray foam but a fibrous material that settles inside the walls. Used Federal Conservation as recommended by many on this board. I only had the first floor done as that’s where the real temperature problem was- lower temperature on 1st floor caused the thermostat to run too much making other floors too warm. So far, since blowing in insulation, we have been able to keep the thermo about 5 degrees lower on average and the heat balance between floors is much better. Cost was less than I would have thought. Can’t help with siding.
Good luck.
Pk