Sawdust Insulation In Attic

Any existing batt or roll insulation in the attic should have the facing against the attic drywall floor or no facing at all.

Sawdust insulation in attic.

At the bare minimum i plan to have them put more insulation in the attic. In order to increase energy efficiency i would like to re insulate the attick. Insulation experts can remove the sawdust before blowing in fluffy helpful fiberglass or cellulose insulation that provides far greater r value. There is also the problem that there is more food left in sawdust compared to paper which is pretty much pure cellulose for bugs to eat.

I have an old house with an attic that is insulated with saw dust. Attic insulation looks like kitty litter. The vapor retarder on top of or between layers of insulation can trap moisture. 1 what is the best bang for my buck ie vs r value 2 should i take out the sawdust before putting new insulation in.

To improve the comfort of the home pictured above one solution is to remove the wood chip insulation and re insulate the entire attic cavity with blown in fibreglass insulation. Does the job and easy to do. Same process they use for cellulose shredded paper insulation boric acid or borax is used for mold pest fire proofing. I have two questions.

In the original house insulation fiber is covered with hardboard so you don t breathe that fiber when you are in the attic. Granular insulation is probably vermiculite a crystalline appearing compound that insulates at about r 2 per linear inch. Right now i have the original 60 s era blown in fire retarded sawdust that is just barely covering the joists. It takes a lot of borax to do it like so much it may be cheaper to buy cellulose.

Knob and tube wiring is made of two individual wires that run through and are connected to porcelain insulators. In the addition pitch is very low there is no floor and insulation is not covered. Sawdust can smolder or burn very easily. Sawdust does have decent insulation properties as evidenced by it s use years ago for this very purpose i grew up in a mill town and whenever someone reno d a house one of the tasks was shoveling out the old sawdust from the wall cavities but the risks far outweigh the benefits.

All about wood chip insulation october 27 2014 1 01 am. Before you install insulation over the sawdust check the attic for old knob and tube wiring commonly installed from the late 1800s until the late 1950s. Commercial extruded polystyrene sheets and fiberglass insulation are expensive especially in the quantities required in solar passive homes hence the importance of local replacement materials. It s pathetic and i ve been heating cooling the outside world for quite some time r20 at best and that s generous.