Dacotherm Insulation

[Robert Foster]

Dacotherm Insulation...anybody know anything about it. A quick google search turned up relatively little.

It's white 1/8" diameter little pebble like loose fill stuff.

[John Kogel]

Probably expanded silicate.

Google Answers: home insulation (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/454026.html)

Pictures on this site.

www.perlite.net (http://perlite.net/)

[BARRY ADAIR]

John's right silicate
Popular Mechanics - Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=ldgDAAAAMBAJ&q=dacotherm#v=onepage&q=dacotherm&f=true)
3 cites in this issue

[Robert Foster]

Thank you.

[Debra Monte]

I have seen it also.

Those of you who may come across a very old house with a layers of craftlike paper type of insulation that is extremely settled and may be flaking, check for any print on the paper, you will most likely find that it is Kimsul, which was an insulation manufactured by Kimberly Clark way back in the 1930s & 40s. It does contain asbestos fibers. So, please be sure that whenever you enter an attic of a home, especially an older home you wear at least a protective dust particle mask.

They used it during WWII in the military for huts and barracks, since it kept out the extreme cold and heat. Kimberly Clark stopped the manufacturing of this product that came in a red faced paper and a gray faced paper (reflective), for obvious reasons (asbestos) but they do still make toilet tissue and other paper goods (without the asbestos).

kimsul insulation - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=kimsul+insulation&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EFDXT-7UFMbt6gHP9NmIAw&ved=0CHcQsAQ&biw=1002&bih=504)

[Robert Hronek]

Dacotherm Insulation...anybody know anything about it. A quick google search turned up relatively little.

It's white 1/8" diameter little pebble like loose fill stuff.

You should know it is not a good insulation material. The air moves right around the beads making it a not very effective insulation.

[Paul Bowman]

Those of you who may come across a very old house with a layers of craftlike paper type of insulation that is extremely settled and may be flaking, check for any print on the paper, you will most likely find that it is Kimsul, which was an insulation manufactured by Kimberly Clark way back in the 1930s & 40s. It does contain asbestos fibers.

Debra, can you provide a source on Kimsul and asbestos? I'm finding claims elsewhere that Kimsul contains no asbestos. Thanks.

[Paul Bowman]

Kimsul, which was an insulation manufactured by Kimberly Clark way back in the 1930s & 40s. It does contain asbestos fibers. So, please be sure that whenever you enter an attic of a home, especially an older home you wear at least a protective dust particle mask.

kimsul insulation - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=kimsul+insulation&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EFDXT-7UFMbt6gHP9NmIAw&ved=0CHcQsAQ&biw=1002&bih=504)

I just had a homeowner get a sample of Kimsul that we found in her attic lab-tested for asbestos, and the result was a negative without qualification — no asbestos found. That's only one case, of course. For all I know, some of the product was made with asbestos and some wasn't. But it would seem that it's wrong to say definitively that Kimsul has asbestos in it.

Still wise to wear a dust mask in any attic and around insulation generally, of course.