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View Full Version : Whats this insulation


Marc M
12-20-2012, 09:42 AM
Never seen it...Felt like wool.
Scott Patterson
12-20-2012, 10:26 AM
Never seen it...Felt like wool.

Looks like old cellulose (ground up newspaper) insulation, but then it does not feel like wool. You might have rockwool insulation with some vermiculite mixed in with it. Were those whitish specks shiny?

How old was the house?
Gunnar Alquist
12-20-2012, 04:53 PM
Hey Marc,

Did it itch when you rolled around in it? Looks like rock wool or fiberglass.
Marc M
12-20-2012, 11:30 PM
Hey Marc,

Did it itch when you rolled around in it? Looks like rock wool or fiberglass.

Lol.., no but it tasted like crap.
Rich Goeken
12-21-2012, 05:25 AM
Never seen it...Felt like wool.
Mark, how old was the house? had to be at least 100 years old. Some of the older homes in some areas had a lot of sawdust available and they used that for insulation. A very small R factor though.
WAYNE ALLEN
12-21-2012, 07:37 AM
We found the same "stuff" in our home in SD, only it was encased in tarred kraft paper. The label on the paper called it "Balsam Wool". We'd never seen it before or since. W.D.Allen
Lon Henderson
12-21-2012, 08:10 AM
Funny the regional differences. I often see this, although I've never thought to taste it.:)

It is just a kind of cellulose. I can't remember right now what it's actually called. If it's what I believe it is, I've been told that it'll burn like kindling in a house fire, but there isn't any formal recommendation to replace it. Because it was installed back when energy was relatively cheaper and conservation wasn't much of a concern, it's usually only an inch or so thick. So, I note minimal and inadequate insulation.
Gunnar Alquist
12-21-2012, 09:00 AM
Marc,

Looks like we have a consensus. It's some form of insulation. :D
Mike Bauer
12-21-2012, 09:23 AM
I see it alot in the homes that were built in the 1950,s and 60's. It does appear to have some paper products in it. i wouldn't venture a guess on the r-value. I always thought of it as one of the first attemts at blown in insulation and that they were trying to develop something that could be blown in.
John Klima
12-21-2012, 01:44 PM
I agree with Wayne. It definitely looks like balsam wool.