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View Full Version : 1977 house with insulation that looked like coffee grounds



imported_John Smith
08-10-2008, 03:18 PM
What type of insulation is it? It sure was nasty and messy. House was in Northwest Houston if that matters.

Sorry, I didnt get any pictures of it.

John Arnold
08-10-2008, 03:26 PM
Vermiculite? Darkened by bat pee?
Clearly, I don't know.

Scott Patterson
08-10-2008, 03:48 PM
Large amounts of roach droppings?

I have seen sawdust used for insulation, but it was not dark and the home was from the 1930's.

Rick Hurst
08-10-2008, 04:45 PM
Could be the remains of a bad infestation of saber-tooth crotch crickets that made it too the attic space and died from the heat. :D

rick

wayne soper
08-10-2008, 04:55 PM
Was it bagged or loose. Maybe it was coffee and they were hiding drugs in the wall.

John Arnold
08-10-2008, 05:33 PM
And never, ever, discount the possibility of the Norwegian roof beaver.

imported_John Smith
08-11-2008, 03:17 PM
Im amazed no one (including myself) no what the stuff is. Wheres Jerry?

Jerry Peck
08-11-2008, 04:59 PM
Without a photo, all the above guesses have been as good as anything I can think of.

Gunnar Alquist
08-11-2008, 06:16 PM
Large amounts of roach droppings?


So Scott, just what is the R-value of roach droppings? :rolleyes:

Bruce Byrne
08-11-2008, 06:35 PM
If you retained a sample:

1. Carefully try to "burn" it - if the material does not burn its more than likely an expanded volcanic ore - if the material is a dark coffee color then it is "probably" pitchstone, pumice or black obsidian. All were utilized as loose fills and all are "related to perlite".

Bruce

Randy Clayton
08-24-2008, 07:11 PM
With out pics its probably rock wool? (i dont know the real name)

mark ferrell
08-25-2008, 03:43 AM
why bother if no photo

Jack Feldmann
08-25-2008, 04:09 AM
"A nod is as good as a wink to a blind man."

We might be able to tell you what kind of insulation it is from a photo.
or
We might be able to tell what kind of insulation it is from an adequate description.

Did it taste like coffee?

Ron Bibler
08-25-2008, 04:16 AM
Hey go back out to that house with your coffee pot and try to make some coffee with it! it just may be coffee.

There is a place just north of L.A. In semi valley called the knoles... sometime back in the 1930 a train jump the tracks. they had yellow and pink and blue paint in some of the rail cars along with car LIC plates.

These people that lived back in the shacks of the knoles came down and took all the paint and LIC Plates back to the shack. To them it was new siding and roofing materials. And a new paint job. in 1980 the housing boom hit that area of L.A. And the knoles was a hot spot. you could pick up a shack 50K Fix it up and sell for 200K. when i starting doing termite jobs and inspecting these old shack thats when the talk of that area and the storys of how all the odd paint and LIC Plates were uncovered.

It just may be Coffee...

Best

Ron

Bernie Caliendo
08-25-2008, 10:54 AM
I inspected an older house attic & saw this black dust type insulation between the attic floor joists. The dust appeared like small granules and very dry. No smell. There was a major interstate highway 200 feet away and further research determined it was rubber dust from vehicle tires over the years. The funniest thing was under the dust were old newspaper insulation. I cleaned one off and the front page headline read: "Nazi subs head out to the north Atlantic" circa 1939

Wayne Carlisle
09-09-2008, 08:27 AM
I think Randy is closest. I had Rock wool in my house. It has bits of steel in it that look like coffee but it also has "fluff" insulation too like the blown insulation of today.

But like others say....without pictures it could be anything. Even the nasty cockroach bat may have left his deposits!