house wall insulation: foam vs cellulose?

[Daniel Callahan]

1950 house - no current wall insulation. Brick ranch exterior - plaster/drywall interior. Opinions on what to use for do-it-yourselfer? Thanks - dan

[Nehmo Sergheyev]

- Daniel Callahan -

do-it-yourselfer?

- Nehmo - Assuming you have regular wood wall cavities inside of the brick wall, blown-in cellulous is easy and cheap to install. Most stores will "rent" you the blowing machine for free if you buy some cellulous.

You didn't mention anything but the walls, but of course, you also have to insulate the ceiling below the attic.

I don't have any experience with the different foams.

[Walt Conner]

We just went thru this on a 1950s brick, plastered 1 1/2 story house for one of our sons. We checked on foam, drilling thru mortar joints in brick. It was going to cost at least $3,000!! for about 1,000 sq. ft. exterior walls. Upstairs 1/2 story walls were already insulated. We drilled thru plaster from inside, 2 holes per stud space around perimeter, blew in cellulous for $175 including machine which was furnished by supplier. Actually, we used a hole saw which the plaster had eaten up by time we finished. Went well except messy as heck as you can imagine doing it from inside and of course, time consuming patching holes in walls. Nothing had been moved into the house yet and we covered floor carpet with plastic and taped it to base boards. Really made a difference.

Good luck,

Walt Conner