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The walls are physically cold to the touch, and judging by the non-existent attic insulation, I'm guessing the previous homeowner skimped on insulation here too.
Is there a method/machine that can inject insulation which will then expand behind the drywall, between the studs with only a small, easily spackled and painted hole for each section?
Really don't feel like removing the drywall to lay in traditional insulation!
Seems like something like I'm describing should exist by 2010 heh.
Yes, there are companies that spray in insulation. You will need to check in your local yellow pages under insulation to see if there is someone in your area that does that type.
Can it be done- yes. At what price?
And depending on the insulating material you could possibly spend more (a lot more) than if you just rip down the d/wall, batt, and rehang board. D/wall is relatively cheap compared to methods of "lest evasive".
Back in 1983 I had a company come in and spray insulation in each stud bay and it cost me nothing. There was a state rebate that covered the whole thing. I only had a bunch of 1" holes to patch.
There is mixed thoughts on ceiling insulation. In winter and summer cold goes down heat goes up. Unless you use the basement daily I would leave it has is. Get a small heater for the basement and use when down there.
You could just install a extra layer of drywall over the existing in the basement. Two layers will give some insulation value.
You could just install a extra layer of drywall over the existing in the basement. Two layers will give some insulation value.
We did this in our kitchen but it wasn't enough so we sprang for the blown in insulation. Not sure I would do that for the basement though. We're going to replace the drywall and put rigid insulation and then fiberglass down there. Spray foam insulation would probably be okay too.
I think that if you blow cellulose in the walls (which is usually what they use) that you might just end up with mold issues because there is no vapor barrier or sealant between the foundation and the insulation. But maybe someone with more knowledge on that can confirm or deny this as I'm certainly no expert.
Previous posters are 100% correct, costs and other issues make any retrofit a bad option...
I had an older house that was built with very poor insulation. I got the place crazy cheap as the buildings aroundnit were also in poor condition. I investigated having insulation added but since there was no vapor barrier allmthe legitmate insulation contractors recommended against blown in cellouse or fiberglass. I also learned that ther is huge risk in trying to have the expanding spray form insulation -- as it is sticky it gan form bridges between the outside wall and the finished and finished drywall. As those bridges expand and cure they can male the wall lumpy or even bulge into electrical junction boxes.
You can almost certainly rip out the drywall yourself, instals vapor barrier, insulate with cheap batts of fiberglass and hire a crew to drywall for far less than any retrofit would cost. You can get much more complete coverage too.
An insulation contractor came, I discovered my house is made of cinder blocks (not wood frame). He said there was something he could still blow in, but its not as good as it is with a wood frame house.
Still waiting on the estimate, as it stands now I'm thinking of replacing some of the worse off windows. I'm aware it may be cheaper just to run space heaters too. Will wait until all numbers are in, then decide whats cheapest.
The walls are physically cold to the touch, and judging by the non-existent attic insulation, I'm guessing the previous homeowner skimped on insulation here too.
Is there a method/machine that can inject insulation which will then expand behind the drywall, between the studs with only a small, easily spackled and painted hole for each section?
Really don't feel like removing the drywall to lay in traditional insulation!
Seems like something like I'm describing should exist by 2010 heh.
Don't know what part of the country you are in or the type of soil around your foundation. Would it be more feasable to insulate the exterior of the foundation by digging down below the frost-line in your region and using a product like this?
I had this done for the exterior of my unfinished concrete block foundation (a.k.a. cinder block) while the basement walls were being re-water proofed and the drain tiles replaced. It has made a difference in the year round consistency of the basement temps. FWIW, the frost line in my area is at 3'.5"; so, I insulated down from the basement ceiling floor joists and on below grade 4'.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 01-03-2011 at 01:08 PM..
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Previous posters are 100% correct, costs and other issues make any retrofit a bad option...
FWIW, the frost line in my area is at 3'.5"; so, I insulated down from the basement ceiling floor joists and on below grade 4'.
