| It became obvious there was no insulation
in the attic of the main house and there was something seriously wrong
with the insulation in the addition. When winter came the butter in the
cupboard was harder than the butter in the frig. There was a stiff wind
coming out of various cupboards and even tho we used a number of cans of
foam to seal the obvious wind tunnels the room was still ice cold even
tho its two heating grates were belting out hot air.
The most important consideration was to stop the vertical movement of warm, moisture laden air up and out thru the attics. Actually, once the attic floor and intrusion spaces were sealed the temperature in the kitchen increased dramatically and the wind stopped whistling BEFORE the cellulose insulation was blown in. A word about the cellulose. The fire retardant and anti-fungal is boric acid. Boric acid is widely used as a preservative in wood and has a long safe track record. I was told that other types of cellulose use acidic additives that can eat up metal like nails. Some of this is what is sold at local and big chain building supplies. |
The top of the wall between the 1 story
addition and 2 story main house was open so cold air sank all the way into
the basement and probably flowed into the dropped ceiling in the kitchen.
Notice remnants of pink stuff. 
The first thing done was remove all
the pink fiberglass and start with a clean slate. It was extremely dirty
indicating a constant flow of air meaning it was useless as insulation.
Yellow bags were filled with cellulose insulation, pushed down into
spaces and foamed into place. All large spaces were sealed this way.
THE OPEN ACCESS DOOR IN THE LIBRARY