home insulation

[Harley123]

Should interior walls be insulated?

[adamsfence]

only for soundproofing. normally when I insulate homes We do master bedrooms and laundry. I did all of mine but I also own an insulation company so it was a little cheaper being I did it myself.

also if your doing for sound proof I would definatly use cellulose. it has far superior sound dampening than any other on the market.

[southern151]

Not all of mine are and, I wish they were. Not so much for energy efficiency but, for noise levels between rooms. It does make a difference.

[Harley123]

thanks guys

[eman]

At the least insulate the love shack, so you won't hear. Would y'all quit wrestling ,you're keeping me awake???

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by southern151

Not all of mine are and, I wish they were. Not so much for energy efficiency but, for noise levels between rooms. It does make a difference.

X 2...

[pan pan chuck]

And the throne room I tend to make a little noise in there, not good when we have company over.

[fishinpox]

i insulate every interior wall of the homes i build and between floors as well . just make sure all your "extra" wires ( cat5 , ect) are already run . try to think ahead because it can be somewhat tricky to fish wires in a interior wall that has insulation.

[weedeater]

I put my wires for entertainment center all in conduit incase I ever need to upgrade

[Big Flounder]

This goes to show you how much I know about building a house and I am building a house! I always thought the inside walls were insulated on every house. What is the best insulation to go with?

[adamsfence]

Originally Posted by Big Flounder

This goes to show you how much I know about building a house and I am building a house! I always thought the inside walls were insulated on every house. What is the best insulation to go with?

there are 3 levels of insulation. you have foam at the top, cellulose in the middle and batting at the bottom.

foam and cellulose are both blown in meaning you get a full seal. the R value is a little higher on foam (big jump in price though). cellulose has its selling points too though you have fire proof, repels bugs and rodents.

batting is not very good you have gaps where pipes and wires are.


Now on your attic it is the same except the foam is sprayed up top in rafters meaning you have to heat and cool your entire attic but it is a full seal. This is suppose to be the best. Its very high though. and I still have my doubts because you are doubling how much you are cooling and heating. You can't go wrong either way. just try to steer away from batting it will cost you in the long run.


also if you go cellulose direction there are different kinds make sure you hire a professional because the cheaper brands will eventually settle if not installed properly.


hope this answers your questions

[Big Flounder]

Originally Posted by adamsfence

there are 3 levels of insulation. you have foam at the top, cellulose in the middle and batting at the bottom.

foam and cellulose are both blown in meaning you get a full seal. the R value is a little higher on foam (big jump in price though). cellulose has its selling points too though you have fire proof, repels bugs and rodents.

batting is not very good you have gaps where pipes and wires are.


Now on your attic it is the same except the foam is sprayed up top in rafters meaning you have to heat and cool your entire attic but it is a full seal. This is suppose to be the best. Its very high though. and I still have my doubts because you are doubling how much you are cooling and heating. You can't go wrong either way. just try to steer away from batting it will cost you in the long run.


also if you go cellulose direction there are different kinds make sure you hire a professional because the cheaper brands will eventually settle if not installed properly.


hope this answers your questions

Yes sir. Thank you very much. I'm not sure who is doing my insulation yet. The guy framing my house is supposed to hook me up with a guy this week and I'm going to see what his recommendations are. Insulation is one of those things I do not mind spending money on. The guy framing my house built his own house and he took me over there to climb around in his attic so I could see his and he had the foam. I think my old house had the cellulose. It looked like regular insulation but sprayed. It was pink. I didn't like that because every time I went up there my allergies went crazy.

[weedeater]

337-990-1191 Chris (Williams Insulation)

Give this guy a call for prices on insulation, gutters and fireplace. I have blown fiberglass which actually feels like cotton in my new house and I went with due to having had cellulose in previous house and getting tired of fighting dust and also cellulose had settled over time. I know they probably make cellulose better now but my dad has this fiberglass in his attic which is 20yrs old and his looks like the day it was installed and he didnt have the dust issue.

[adamsfence]

Originally Posted by Big Flounder

Yes sir. Thank you very much. I'm not sure who is doing my insulation yet. The guy framing my house is supposed to hook me up with a guy this week and I'm going to see what his recommendations are. Insulation is one of those things I do not mind spending money on. The guy framing my house built his own house and he took me over there to climb around in his attic so I could see his and he had the foam. I think my old house had the cellulose. It looked like regular insulation but sprayed. It was pink. I didn't like that because every time I went up there my allergies went crazy.

the pink and white is blown fiberglass. This is good but allows a lot of airflow a lot of people get cellulose overlayed on top of this to seal off.
It breaths a lot

Originally Posted by weedeater

337-990-1191 Chris (Williams Insulation)

Give this guy a call for prices on insulation, gutters and fireplace. I have blown fiberglass which actually feels like cotton in my new house and I went with due to having had cellulose in previous house and getting tired of fighting dust and also cellulose had settled over time. I know they probably make cellulose better now but my dad has this fiberglass in his attic which is 20yrs old and his looks like the day it was installed and he didnt have the dust issue.

This is why you should have a professional install cellulose the machines from lowes/home depot do not inject water. their insulation is really dusty too. I will not blow out of my machine with it.

Our machine injects water into the cellulose while blowing it. This knocks down dust but its main function is to activate a starch inside of the insulation that prevents settling. it also activates the chemicals that make it fire retardant.

http://www.applegateinsulation.com/

this is the company we use they also sell a foam I don't have a website for it but it should be a link. There is a lot of useful info in there though on all the different insulations.


Sorry for the long answers I just have gotten asked a lot of questions while talking to contractors about using us and got tired of giving them the deer in the headlights stare so I started researching

[Harley123]

thanks for all the info very much needed

[Gerald]

When building a home.......if you have a hot water heater or A/C unit in the attic, build you a raised walkway in the attic before you put in the insulation. This way you don't have to mess up the insulation getting to them when you have to work on them.

[weedeater]

Originally Posted by Gerald

When building a home.......if you have a hot water heater or A/C unit in the attic, build you a raised walkway in the attic before you put in the insulation. This way you don't have to mess up the insulation getting to them when you have to work on them.

Calcasieu Parish requires 2' wide by 6' high clearance and I think 25' or less from attic opening to water heater if in attic....I went to war with them on their 25' or less requirement

[seeinspots]

One thing you need to add to the to do list is seal off any penetrations into the attic from romex to HVL's to the A/C vent's and can lighting.. It made a big difference in my house. No matter how good the insulation is if your blowing cold air into the attic your wasting money. I sealed all the receptacles and switches, first around the box and then with the foam insulators that go behind the plate. They sell them at Lowes or Home Depot. I changed out my old can lights with air tight's. Then went into the attic with spray foam and did all the top plates that had holes from cable to romex, then around the A/C vent's and then the HVL's. My HVL's were not vented out the house so I ducted them out the house so I don't have all that humidity blowing into the attic. Then found insulation on sale at Home Depot and put another layer over the original insulation. Got a little left to do but I'm almost finished! Hope this helps.