Sunday, December 5, 2010

Anyone up for an insulating party?

This is what you will look like! Except cooler.
It feels like it's been cold for so long!  I think I'm getting use to it.  It's almost time to start stuffin' the 15" wide stud walls with lots of insulation. I would like to start on the outer insulation layer, so the plumber & electrician can do rough ins on the inner wall.  Anyone up for hanging out, music cranked [provided we have power] and putting in batts of roxul mineral wool insulation between studs?  I chose to use roxul as it is something I can do myself without the messy-ness of blow-in cellulose. And I can seal all the hard to get pieces with spray foam as we go. I will provide gloves, eye protection, dust masks and food & drink! And of course, eternal gratitude and good karma.  I'm hoping we might start December 11th, thinking the framing will be complete and the house more or less closed in.

6 comments:

  1. Great choice with the Roxul! I will never go back to generic insulation after working with it last winter when renovating a kitchen in a century house out here in Waterloo. The benefits (higher R value, moisture & mould proof, fire proof, maintains its shape, not as itchy, etc.) for the slight price differential over R20 insulation - or even netting+cellulose - are worth it 10 times over. And it's made in Milton, ON. Local for me, but still Canadian made for you.

    Easiest way to cut and shape it is with an old (or used from a thrift store) bread knife. Buy a couple, they'll come in handy. Don't worry about squishing it too much (like you have to when working with insulation), it will always spring back to it's full shape. Have fun!

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  2. Good luck with the insulation. I agree with Dave's observations. About 20 years ago, I built a storage building which I insulated with rigid foam, Roxul and fiberglass. I did not drywall it, so have had an opportunty to analyze how the three variations performed over two decades. Over time, the fiberlass sagged slightly, leaving gaps. The Roxul and SM are as good as the day they were installed. When using Roxul, measuring and cutting are critical. You can compress fiberglass to fit a gap. The Roxul does not compress well.
    The January 2011 issue of Fine Homebuilding has several good articles related to insulation, energy efficiency, air sealing and tightness. Some of the info could be very useful at this stage in your project. Jim

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  3. Thanks for your thumbs up on the Roxul. I'll look up the Fine Homebuilding article! and buy a bunch of butter knives!

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  4. Don't worry, I explained the difference between butter knives and bread knives to Shafraaz
    :P

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  5. He won't be able to cut himself as badly with a butter knife!! LOL

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