Options For Insulating Older Homes

Home & Garden Blog

Many older homes are either poorly insulated or contain no insulation at all. Insulation is most efficiently installed during home construction, but there are ways to insulate an older previously built home.

Installing insulation during major renovation

In order to install traditional fiberglass installation, you must tear out the interior walls. It is most practical to do this when performing a major renovation. Tearing out walls is very labor intensive and messy, and the cost to benefit ratio of demolition in order to install insulation is too high. However, if the interior walls or electrical system need to be upgraded also, then it may be cost effective.

Blow in insulation

Fortunately, there is an alternative method of adding insulation to older homes. Blow in insulation, like that available from Early Times Home Solutions, uses a blower to fill your walls with powdered cellulose, which is an effective natural insulation source.

You must first measure the walls you wish to insulate to determine the number of square feet that you need to fill. The purchase of the cellulose insulation and the rental of the blower can be done at a local home improvement store. 

When you purchase the insulation, you will notice the letter "R" followed by a number. A higher R number means better insulating ability, but also a higher price. Buy the highest rated product that you can afford. You will save more on your heating and cooling bills, and enjoy a more comfortable home.

The blower has a large flexible hose that is used to carry the blown insulation to the walls. You will receive an attachment that will be placed inside the wall. This attachment reduces the size of the hose to a one or two inch diameter.

You will need to drill a hole to fit the end of the attachment between every wall stud near the top of each wall. If you drill them into interior walls, which may be easier to patch afterward, the dust will cover everything in your home. Drilling a series of holes in exterior walls may require difficult patchwork and expose the walls to water leaks.

The job will require two people for optimal performance. One person will insert the hose into the walls, and the other person will feed the cellulose into a hopper on the blower. Both should wear dust masks and gloves. Patching the holes is usually the most time consuming process. Clean up is also an issue, depending on which side of the walls you chose. The end result will bd worth the effort.

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23 December 2014

Double Up: Bunks Beds as a Small Room Solution

Having to place children's furniture in a small bedroom presented a problem for me. With two growing kids, I needed a dresser to accommodate both boys, as well as two beds. With two beds, desk and chair, toy chest and floor lamp, the room seemed overly crowded. My solution came with a highly functional bunk bed. Bunk beds take up minimal space. Better yet, my choice was a bunk that included a storage drawer. This compartment is used for storing the boys' small toys and other necessities. I didn't have to have a separate toy chest, so I reduced clutter which was great! When you have multiple children all in one room, you need all the help you can get!