Funky insulation! - InspectionNews

Barry Lewis · #1 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 10:20 PM

Any idea as to the type of insulation and the maker of this stuff? First time I've ever seen it. Looks like sawdust wrapped in a plastic bag. House was built in 1958.

Matt Fellman · #2 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 10:55 PM

It's hard to tell from the picture. It looks like wool (likely mixed with asbestos if it's from 1958) with a tar paper-ish vapor barrier/retarder. I've seen similar stuff before. What I can't tell too well from the picture is how loose the material is.

Barry Lewis · #3 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

It's hard to tell from the picture. It looks like wool (likely mixed with asbestos if it's from 1958) with a tar paper-ish vapor barrier/retarder. I've seen similar stuff before. What I can't tell too well from the picture is how loose the material is.

Thanks Matt. You're probably right. The outside wrap looked and felt similar to vinyl while the inside resembled tar paper. The particulate inside was powdery, light and felt almost like sawdust. It appears to have come in totally encapsulated sleeves. Does that sound like the stuff you're familiar with?

Roger Hankey · #4 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 06:37 AM

The image is consistent with a coated kraft paper blanket filled with cellulosic material. Did you take a scrap and flame test it outdoors?

Ray Babcock · #5 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 11:05 AM

Years ago they used to use a type of Vermiculite which when dry is fluffy and holds air a little like blown fiberglass. When mixed with soil makes a softer type soil for planting and the vermiculite holds water well so plants don't dry out so quickly.

Roger Hankey · #6 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 12:10 PM

Ray,

Can you support your statement with any references? I've studied most of the information on vermiculite for several years and not heard of what you have described. All the vermiculite info I've seen describes the material as shiny and granular.

Thanks.

Ray Babcock · #7 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 12:19 PM

I can't say for sure, the picture is not that clear. I have nothing materials to substantiate my statement other than I have seen a type of mixture of something that resembled vermiculite and something else which may have been cellulose in some very old homes here in the southwest. Most homes of the age I have found this material in were rare, because homes of this age usually had no insulation at all.

Jeffrey L. Mathis · #8 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 01:20 PM

I'm betting on Vermiculite. Brown, kind of grainy. Would almost fool you into thinking old cellulose if you just glossed over it. Not to be snorted or otherwise ingested.

JLMathis

Home Energy Ed · #9 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 05:19 PM

I have seen this in hundreds of 1950's constructed homes. Tar paper type material on one side, Kraft paper on the other with a sawdust/cellulosic material inside. It was installed on the underside of the roof rafters. It was not much of a breathing irritant when busted open, so I doubt there was much of a fire retardant added. I never flame tested it though.

Jerry Peck · #10 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Home Energy Ed

I have seen this in hundreds of 1950's constructed homes.

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Steve Kassed · #11 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 07:33 PM

Barry,
This was very popular stuff in the "day",see it all the time in old houses in the northeast.

vermiculite/asbestos family,dist. by many companies ,IE: sears,ward,zonolite attic insul., ect,ect

key words, tremolite,zonolite,anthophylite,actinolite,crocido lite,amosite,ect.

based on where it was mined,color,application ect.

Barry Lewis · #12 (**permalink**) 10-17-2009, 06:34 AM

I'm reporting as unknown type and origin. There is only a 3 inch depth to it anyway and I'm suggesting that fiberglass be overlaid to increase heat/cool efficiency.