[Jagtec1]

Our home is brick/plaster construction circa around 1948 or so. I don't think there is any insulation in the walls and we have a few rooms that are significantly colder than the rest. Is there an economical way to insulate a home of this construction type? I think it would be difficult if not impossible to blow it in thru the walls, and I really don't want to have to fill 1000 holes in the plaster if drilling/filling is the only option. The attic has insulation, and we just replaced our windows, but I think it could better. Wish I would have known more about the lack of insulation before we bought this house! Any input?

Thanks

[CDJr]

Darin, if you HAFTA blow it into the walls, its usually easiest to cut out a strip all the way across the exterior walls. However, on older homes like this, the main problem isnt always from the lack of insulation. Youd probably do better by first checking and sealing around doors, windows, electrical outlets, etc, cuz thats where the cold air penetrates. Take a few of the cover plates off the electrical outlets and see if you feel any draft through them (Youd be surprised at how much they matter ). If everything is sealed well and all else seems fine, THEN Id start thinkin about cutting the walls open and insulating them. Hope this helps

[stags]

Darin, I agree with CDJr on the air infiltration. I always insist that people address this first before adding insulation, especially in walls. I know you said your attic has insulation but check to see if there are gaps or voids around lighting fixtures, chimneys, bathroom fans etc. Wire/plumbing runs can be sealed with spray foam, larger gaps can be filled with fiberglass batt. Do the same thing in your basement, garage, exterior. Seal around the switches/outlets on exterior walls and around your attic access door. Also check for drafts around exterior doors. Your attic should feel very cold in this weather. If not, you may need to add insulation there also but def. address the air infiltration first. Let me know if you need any supplies although all this stuff is available at the big box stores .

[sdbob]

You didn't say howmuch,thick insulation you ahd in the attic? I'm adding another 12" of fibreglas to mine right now. I always told are customers that energy prices will always go up,plan for better insulation.Bob

[Pearlbluebird]

Darin, there are a few options for you. The best but most expensive way would be to have Icynene foam injected into the walls. This will both seal all air leakage and have a higher R-valve in a 2x4 cavity. The plug holes are very small and won't be noticeable after.
You could just go for blown in insulation which would be suffient, but I would continue to air seal the rest of the wall after. I would call an insulation contractor for a price and method of how they are going to proceed with the work.
You will see more savings if this was done before the windows. Considering there price.

[chuckmnv]

This brings to mind a question I have. I have a newer house -- built in 03. The caulking around the windows inside is cracked and I think I can feel drafts thru them. I'd like to remove and replace it. The problem is they are vinyl and I don't want to scrape and tear up the vinyl. Any ideas how to remove it?
cm

[eric65]

Our home is brick/plaster construction circa around 1948 or so. I don't think there is any insulation in the walls and we have a few rooms that are significantly colder than the rest. Is there an economical way to insulate a home of this construction type? I think it would be difficult if not impossible to blow it in thru the walls, and I really don't want to have to fill 1000 holes in the

Jag my house is I believe similar to yours. Brick outside plaster in and a cinder block frame inside the brick where the plaster is lathe'd on. There is only a 3/4" gap between the brick and cinder block and nothing else on mine. Yours maybe the same not sure. We had a company called USA insulation from Columbus OH come and put foam between the brick and cinder block. It is non-expanding foam as it would break the wall of course to use expanding foam. They drill holes in your exterior mortar every 2 to 3 feet and start from the bottom and go up. They have a machine that blows the foam in and when they see it come out of a ajacent hole they go there and so on. After done they try and match the mortar and fill the holes and after a while it blends in.

It is costly, $4500 to $4800 to do my 2 story house I forget the exterior measurements. I also for this amount had them blow in attic insulation.

It has made a marked difference in our houses comfort level. Cant tell you about saved energy bills as its hard to compare weather and so on, but our bills are less than before. Only know our house holds the heat much better than before.

This only gives they said a r-4 insulation value. So its little but better than 0

I have before in another house we owned put 3/4 firring strips up and 3/4" styrafoam on the walls and re-drywalled over it.. Takes bit of space from your rooms but its another r-4 or better in value.. When I re-do some rooms in this house I will do the same here and figure this will add to the foam.. Cost will be great of course but what the heck when your freezing and the cost of natural gas isnt ever going down.

Good Luck

[sdbob]

Reply for Chuck. If you were to call me in I would start with a razor knife and slice the chaulk close to the vinyl.Then peal the chaulk away from the window. Remove remaining with finger nail or anything that wouldn't leavea mark.I would replace with silicone chaulk.If you had the home built call the contractor back for his input.he may hhelp for his own reputation. If you do it yourself after removing the chaulk check to see if there is fibreglas insulation wrapped around the vinyl frame there should be to fill that void.If there isn't get some and install with a blade of some sort,just don't pack the insulation to tight as to warp the vinyl frame. then chaulk crack. Bob

[Bud Lyons]

Darin,
I insulated a brick home I used to own. We had no insul. in the walls. I rented an insul. blower. Then I made an adapter out of copper pipe. I used bell adapters 2" necked down to 1/2". I drilled a 7/8" hole every 16" (stayed inside the studs) all around the house towards the top of the wall. (I drilled into the mortor joints.)

I had a neighbor dump the insul. into the machine while I stuck the adapter thru the hole in the brick. You will here the cavity fill with the insul. It will even blow upwards filling the entire cavity. When the cavity is full you will here it "pop". Move onto the next hole. Every so often you have to spray the copper pipe with WD40. It makes the insul. flow better.

After it was all done I went around with a bucket of mud and filled in the holes. The house was much warmer and quieter. The ex still enjoys its warmth. lol. Call me if you want more info.

[chuckmnv]

Thanx, SDBOB. One thought just came to mind and that is to use the plastic razor blades to scrape. It'll be a fun project.
Oh, yeah, we're the second owners, so no luck with the contractor (who's now out of state anyway).
cm

["Me"]

You can also drill through the top plate in each bay if there is enough room, depends on pitch/ rafter ht. I have done this a couple of times on historic houses that could not be disturbed.

Larry

[YVEYANT]

Does your house have a crawl space? If so, the cold air could be coming from there and work its way into all the openings and up into the walls. Again, if it does have a crawl space instead of a basement, you can begin by putting insulation in between the floor boards and many often put presswood or plywood over that.
Another area to check which has not been mentioned is your pointing which is the mortar in between the bricks, that often cracks over the years letting in a nice draft. Replacing windows can help a bunch as well.
First place to look for drafts on the inside is where all plumbing comes in from. Those are the areas that bring in the draft, mice, spiders etc.. You can plug those areas with that messy spray foaming spray or steel wool.

[Jagtec1]

We replaced the windows a few months ago, helped with drafts and noise.

We do have a basement, not a crawl space. I will go up to the attic and assess the insulation there again...may have to add some. I'll try to look down at the wall cap areas to see if I could get insulation down there.

[chuckmnv]

SDBOB -
Worked on a few windows yesterday. Did use the plastic razor blades and a caulk removing tool. The real secret, tho, was using denatured alcohol to soften it up and clean up and remaining caulk after scraping. I didn't take it down to the frame; the drywall is inside the frame, no wood there. So, anyway, it's working well. Although I'd agree that the silicone caulk is best, I need to be able to paint it at some point. I'm leaning towards the siliconized acrylic. Whaddya think?
cm

[Primitive Artist]

Originally Posted by YVEYANT

Does your house have a crawl space?...First place to look for drafts on the inside is where all plumbing comes in from. Those are the areas that bring in the draft, mice, spiders etc.. You can plug those areas with that messy spray foaming spray or steel wool.

[Pearlbluebird]

A couple of days ago the my boss told me he's purchasing another thermal imaging camera for me. These are great for detecting all heat loss areas, hot spots, water damage and mould. The health care industry even uses this for detecting breast cancer.
So now I have a loaner camera to start training and get certified.
Then start using the camera in customers homes for energy audits. My boss has one job this week going up in a helicopter to shoot roof tops. Now that sounds like a fun job. Wish I was doing that one.

[Primitive Artist]

Sounds ideal for taking along on blind dates and for detecting intruders when you get back home late

[Pearlbluebird]

LOL. I'm going to play a practical joke on my wife. If I stand against the wall for 5 sec. approx. I will be able to see a ghost like heat pattern. I'm going to ask her with a serious face if anyone died in our house before we bought. Yank her chain pretty good.

[Primitive Artist]

What are you going to ask her, if you see two ghosts?

[Pearlbluebird]

I guess I should start charging room and board then.