Walls
INSULATION
True story: You can insulate walls in 3 places.
Outside the wall. Inside the wall. In front of the wall.
None of it is "easy-peezy," but it is SO worth it!
Remember – Even if you’re having someone else do the work for you, be sure to watch the videos so you’ll know what to expect.
Review from Attic and Roof page
Insulation Primer: The Purpose of insulation is to reduce heat loss or heat gain. Some materials work better than others. The R-Value of insulation is given to the various types of insulation to tell how good they are at what they are supposed to do. The higher the R-Value, the better the insulation is at insulating. Insulation is PART of the process for insuring that a home isn’t losing or gaining too much heat. Insulation alone cannot account for cracks in the wall, ill-fitted insulation or a drafty attic, and so on.
Your Walls Primer:
A house’s walls can be insulated from the outside by adding insulated vinyl siding OVER the existing walls. It’s expensive, needs a permit, and I’m not going to devote Do It Yourself time to it. There will be more in the Contractor’s section.
A house’s walls can be insulated on the inside of the wall in one of two ways. The first is you (or someone you hire) blow-in loose fill insulation in through holes made in the wall from the outside (or inside) – or you pump foam insulation in through holes in the wall from the inside. The last resort is you go into the house, tear down the existing walls, put insulation in where it was supposed to be and replace the drywall.
But WAIT! The British (the ones who brought us tapestries on the sides of cold castle walls) are especially fond of building a wall on top of the wall on the inside of the house. I will definitely be putting info on how to do that in the Do It Yourself section!! The last video (silent) is my absolute favorite – and quite possibly one of the easier solutions!! See for yourself: “Internal Wall Insulation.”
Let’s get this straight. I’m only talking about insulating walls that have direct contact with the outside. (Some people DO insulate interior walls – but usually only for sound.) In my roughly drawn picture of a rectangular home, the bold dashed line shows which walls need to be insulated. The walls to the bedrooms in the hallway, for instance, do NOT need insulation.
Do-It-Yourself ... or with some help
Blown-In Insulation
When I first moved into my house I had the walls filled with blown-in insulation. The company came, took thermal pictures of the walls, found the studs, drilled holes in the walls and filled the spaces with a loose fill. The thing I noticed first was HOW QUIET the house seemed!! Then, as the years went by, I realized how warm and cozy or cool and calm it was! In the end, they patched the walls and painted the whole doggone house! Whaaat?! True story. If YOU were so inclined, I’m guessing you’d figure out a way to do all of the above. This shows a company blowing in insulation on the inside of the house.
Real Do It Yourself Blown-In
I’ve included this video to show that you can rent a machine to do this. When he pulls the hose from the wall, you can see it’s not the white or pick insulation of the previous video. He’s using cellulose. It’s “greener,” some say.
Slow Rise Foam Insulation
Foam insulation uses smaller holes, and like blown-in, it uses tubing to get the insulation where you want it. Since it’s slow rising, you’ll need to do the wall in “batches” to let the foam cure. An additional benefit – if you already have some batt and roll insulation in your walls, the foam will simply fill in around it.
Tearing Off Drywall
If you have the option – you tear down the existing wall to put up another one!
Insulation and Drywall
Once the wall is down, it’s time to put in the insulation and hang more drywall.
A Wall on a Wall
So, in the U.K., people sometimes build a wall on top of the wall using Thermal Boards. Watch this and see if you can think of a way to do this here in the U.S.
Warm Shell Interiors
Another U.K. do it yourself project! This one uses a Warm Shell and then finishing it with a plaster wall. I lived in an old house in Redlands with plaster walls … but it’s not a common finishing used nowadays.
Internal Wall Insulation
I didn’t have any sound with this, but honestly, this has possibilities for the wall on a wall construction. Wall mounted items were removed, floor boards and crown molding removed, studs located, new studs (2×2? 2×3?) put over drywall with LONG screws, window sill lengthened, firm insulation installed with flat nails, wires extended for new outlets, vapor barrier installed and cut, wall siding (could be drywall) installed so as not to touch the floor, window sill extension installed and caulked, wall taped (?) to floor, floor boards and crown molding reinstalled. electric outlet and heater installed, everything caulked and foamed. and done!
Contractors - Key Words
Previous
Next
Insulated Siding (over outside walls)
insulated siding …. insulated vinyl siding ….trim and rail ….. Environmental Impact Score for siding
Blown-in Insulation (sometimes Blow In Insulation)
blown-in ….. cellulose vs fiberglass ….. rough patch and final patch ….. guarantee on patch
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Blown-in Insulation – Foam
retro foam …. retrofit foam …. slow rise foam …. retro filling …. existing vertical wall …. fire retardant ….. anti microbial
Wall on Wall Insulation
thermal boards …… thermal laminate boards (in U.S.) …..hemp insulation (Kentucky) ……. rock wool insulation ….. natural fiber insulation …. hemp flax panels
Previous
Next
The truth is : my friends and family who are familiar with construction have NEVER heard of this idea. So, if you found an adventurous wall contractor, you could direct them to my site and let them see the “Internal Wall Insulation” video and they’d probably “get” what to do.
The reason I included the natural fiber insulation is because you’d need a thinner insulation – not a 5 inch thick or a 7 inch thick batt – but something more like the hemp insulation out of Sunstrand in Kentucky. Places like Home Depot can order it for you.