Cellulose insulation ok?

[jimbob]

I recently found out that my 30's era home has absolutely no insulation in it, just empty wall cavities. I was considering having them filled with cellulose insulation. I found a contractor who does it properly, or so it seems. He drills to holes and probes the cavities to ensure they are not blocked and fills them. My house has moisture problems which I will remedy beforehand by installing gutters and replacing the roof. Sheetrocking the walls is not an option for me.

Is cellulose insulation a good choice or are there other options I should consider. I know there are other retrofit products (like cementitious foam) but I don't think they are available in my area.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Tom The Great]

Thoughts.... well IMHO:

I like cellulose, especially since I've heard it has a more fire resistance than some fiber glasses, and better R value.

One thought comes to mind, if you have a house with 'moisture problems', I would check into expanding foam. I think the R value is higher than Cellulose, and draft/moisture resistant. Check into it, atleast if you do cellulose, you will be confident your decession was a educated one.

good luck, tell us what happens, and final comments.

tom @

[scott21230]

I would not use that cellulouse crap. It's the recycled newspaper. You certainly don't want that in your walls if you are having moisture problems. The good stuff in blown in fiberglass or foam.

[marson]

i beg to differ. if you have water getting into your wall cavities, you are going to have trouble whether you have foam, fiberglass, cellulose, metal shavings, stale cheerios, or whatever. wood rots when it's around moisture. you must deal with the moisture first.

cellulose is a widely used and proven product.

[buffalobill]

no matter what climate you live in, wet insulation does not insulate. fix the roof and gutters and downspouts and allow the rainwater to travel far away from the house. snake all rainwater traps. fix any broken traps. see:

see also: search google for insulation manufacturers.

see:

jimbob wrote:

[jimbob]

Thanks for the links. Right now I have no gutters, but I am having seamless gutters installed before I do the insulation. The roof will be done too.

[Tom The Great]

imho:

make sure your down spouts redirect water away from the house atleast

10 feet. This can be done with grading the land, very desirable, and short piping.

later,

tom @

[jimbob]

No luck finding an Airkrete installer in my area, I even called the company. Everyone around here uses cellulose. Someone told me that peeling paint often occurs when there is no insulation in the walls and that installing insulation often helps this problem. Beyond that I will install the gutters and new roof and make sure there is adequate drainage around the house. The R value of cellulose is rated at

3.4-3.7, while Airkrete is more like 3.9. This doesn't seem like a huge diffference to me.

[m Ransley]

The problem with celulose is it settles maybe 20%, there is a type of celulose instal where it goes in damp with a glue binder to not settle, foam would be the best and give a better seal and vapor barrier

[marson]

properly installed dense pack cellulose does not settle.

[Tom The Great]

I've seen the blown in 'glue' type on a tv show, the secret is there is no glue. Just a little water is added to the insulation as it exits the how, and then it sticks to everything. However, on TV it was done for new construction, and I can only imagine it clogging up if blown into sealed cavities.

I too like the foam stuff, but, once again a butt, I was told not many people use it, and finding a trained tech might be differcult.

Just thinking out loud, not a how to. :)

later,

tom @

[jimbob]

That's been my problem here. I can't find anyone who installs anything other than cellulose. The impression I'm getting is that cellulose is not bad, but there are better alternatives. That being said, cellulose seems to be the most common. I think I am going to go with cellulose but make sure that moisture and drainage problems are taken care of first.

[nowforsale]

better alternative = cotton (not carcinogenic); relatively inexpensive, generally more costly than cellulose one example

best alternative = sheeps wool (not carcinogenic); more costly than cotton or cellulose one example

[PaulD]