Thread: 1977 house with insulation that looked like coffee grounds

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.

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Vermiculite? Darkened by bat pee?
Clearly, I don't know.

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.

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.

rick

Was it bagged or loose. Maybe it was coffee and they were hiding drugs in the wall.

And never, ever, discount the possibility of the Norwegian roof beaver.

Im amazed no one (including myself) no what the stuff is. Wheres Jerry?

Without a photo, all the above guesses have been as good as anything I can think of.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Large amounts of roach droppings?

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

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

With out pics its probably rock wool? (i dont know the real name)

why bother if no photo

"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?

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

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

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!