I own a small 1939 cape. There is no insulation in the walls. For whatever reason the home was built (1938 hurricane?) like a bomb shelter. The walls are 3/4 inch thick of dense plaster-like cement.

Question: Is blow-in insulation worth it or a waste of time? How do you know if the insulation gets blown in uniformly--or does it just build up wherever it hits wood?

you should educate yourself more on the subject and invest in the best solution for you.
Blown in cellulose is a good insulation for homes like that. They can take infared pictures to see where any voids may be if the installers screw up I suppose. find a reputable company. You'll save a lot of heating fuel by insulating your walls. I hope you have some insulation in the attic already.
Back then houses did have real thick plaster walls, they vary from place to place as well as time period or builder, but a thick plaster wall is not neccesarily a good insulated wall.

Blown in is fine. They fill each bay from the bottom and move up. My sub uses a gauge like on the oil trucks so he knows how much volume has gone into the bay. Just make sure they are doing the repair to the siding. Do it before year end and get the 1500 dollar tax credit (based on 5000 bucks spent on product, not labor).

Get a couple quotes...

Like Slip said. In addition, back then they put 2x4 fire stops between the
studs in no particular place and they will stop the insulation flow if you
don't know where they are.

depending on how large the rooms in the house are........

if it were mine... i'd re-stud it with 2 x 3's
even if it were only a room (wall) or two and do it myself-
too easy

and then use 3" Fiber glass. blown in insulation sucks IMHO
then you end up with a much thicker wall and much better insulation.

and that thick plaster has gotta be freezing cold in the winter.

having all those holes drilled to allow it to be blown in
defeat's the whole purpose i think. i was insulating all day yesterday
and i'll be insulating all day today.

i like the styrene insulation boards (comes in several thickness's )
between $15 -22 per 4 x 8 sheet... at home depot

nice thing about those is you can easily custom cut them to fit any shape
(not to mention light as a feather)

like say the single pane cellar windows when the temps go down to -20. for example

i even make them for certain windows just at night and end the heat loss thru them by allot...
especially on the north side that receives no sunshine anyway.

because ....

hearing the furnace constantly "running" will keep me awake at night otherwise
.............with no peace of mind.

Thanks guys. I don't think I'll do anything this winter. But I want to start researching ideas now. I got new windows a few years back. And three new doors this year. So my drafts should be way way down. I got piles of insulation in the attic. My walls do get cold but I'm used to it--

it is the new girlfriend who moved in awhile back (her first winter here) that has real problems with cold. Looks like I'll be burning a lot of wood in the stove and keeping the thermostat on 70. Yikes. I like seeing my breath in the morning when I'm waiting for the kettle to shout. Those days are gone.

Again thanks.

What about all the lead I got and the asbestos in the cellar? Carpenter ants, radon, squirrels, odd neighbors who drink too much and yell profanities at each other at 2 in the morning--

Does your girlFriend take you window shopping...?

I have a question for the pros:
What about the foil (radiating insulation) put over the blown attic insulation.
I've got thick attic insulation (blown cellulose) to the top of the joists. we don't use the attic, and some online research indicated for <$200 I can do my attic. supposed to help with the winter AND summer by radiating heat out in the summer and cold in winter...

John, I can give you the name of the guy that did my attic, it was pretty reasonable, and they worked efficiently, as was the plaster guy I used upstairs if you don't want to patch the holes yourself....

thoughts?

Does your girlFriend take you window shopping...?

Blinds and curtains too. Color charts and all.

lol...i was just runnin a piece of foil
to cover over some 1" styrene board
thats covering a 8' foot vent window used in summer.

thought the game was starting at 1pm doh!:wall:

i had my attic and basement insulated when i moved in to my place. i considered the wall thing, but figured it would be more of a hassel because of all the reasons mentioned in this thread. you might just notice a huge difference with just attic/ basement/ and new windows.

i also talked to a lot of older guys, who hate insulation and say that you need to let your house breath, otherwise you'll get moisture problems, and air quality issues inside your house. so you could just throw on some sweaters and hats too.

there are energy audit programs available, masssave or something like that.
The auditor should be able to tell you what to do and what your best bang for the buck is.
Typically testing consists of blower door testing, thermal imaging, heating system testing and an inspection of the house as a system.
Typically the biggest bang for the buck is cutting down on air infiltration at the top (attic) and the bottom(cellar) of the house, lots more effect and way less expensive than new windows (shhh, I just saved you a bunch of money)
Next after you airseal the attic is increasing the thermal value of the insulation in the attic. R50 in cellulose is a good starting point, but airseal and do a follow up blower door first.
Now walls as dense pak cellulose.
Then windows and doors.
The heating system is a somewhat seperate issue, but if it's over 15 years old it probably should go.
Why are windows not worth doing? A little google research on "stack effect" will help you understand this. For the most part they are in the center of the height of the house and don't have a lot of pressure on them. This does'nt mean you can leave them open, but for the most part a old single glazed window with storm is only a little worse than a new window as far as heat loss and is a small portion of the envelope. For the price of a new window you can dump alot of insulation in your attic and walls. New windows are the easiest way for a home renovator to make a good profit and they have replaced tons of good windows and not saved people much for the $$$ spent.
Don't get me started on fiberglass insulation
http://infrared-energy.com/files/SpecialReportAtticInsulationProblems.pdf

Thanks for the tips.

I have a question for the pros:
What about the foil (radiating insulation) put over the blown attic insulation.
I've got thick attic insulation (blown cellulose) to the top of the joists. we don't use the attic, and some online research indicated for <$200 I can do my attic. supposed to help with the winter AND summer by radiating heat out in the summer and cold in winter...

John, I can give you the name of the guy that did my attic, it was pretty reasonable, and they worked efficiently, as was the plaster guy I used upstairs if you don't want to patch the holes yourself....

thoughts?

Brian...
The foil will act like a vapor barrier trapping moister in the insulation. The vapor barrier always goes to the heated side of the insulation.

make sure all your Electric wires all set before , you have it done!

It is a bitch to snake wires after the fact ... 02 cents

VB

. New windows are the easiest way for a home renovator to make a good profit and they have replaced tons of good windows and not saved people much for the $$$ spent.


Pete, Given the difficulty in getting homeowners to spend on essential repairs, nevermind upgrades, I have to disagree with this piece of your statement. If the window isn't an obvious source of leak/draft, who would spend their money on replacing it? I've replaced a ton of old, leaking, rattling, non-operative windows. While I agree it is just a piece of the whole picture, a window replacement will in many cases reduce the most obvious leak in the middle of the stack. Indeed, they often are the source of the most direct pressure into the living area. Once they are correctly replaced, you then have the high/low areas which are the most vulnerable, as you have stated. (Your points are well taken in a home with no leaking windows.) And if you replace a window with a product such as an Andersen 400 series, you are also adding to both interior and exterior aethstetics, which does affect the buyer's satisfaction. Not all of us are profiting by installing a product that will not improve the client's home......

Pete, Given the difficulty in getting homeowners to spend on essential repairs, nevermind upgrades, I have to disagree with this piece of your statement. If the window isn't an obvious source of leak/draft, who would spend their money on replacing it? I've replaced a ton of old, leaking, rattling, non-operative windows. While I agree it is just a piece of the whole picture, a window replacement will in many cases reduce the most obvious leak in the middle of the stack. Indeed, they often are the source of the most direct pressure into the living area. Once they are correctly replaced, you then have the high/low areas which are the most vulnerable, as you have stated. (Your points are well taken in a home with no leaking windows.) And if you replace a window with a product such as an Andersen 400 series, you are also adding to both interior and exterior aethstetics, which does affect the buyer's satisfaction. Not all of us are profiting by installing a product that will not improve the client's home......

Well put.

Stay away the installers on TV, they are three times the price of your local contractor