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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Virginia
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    Default Funky insulation!

    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.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Oregon
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    2,365

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Virginia
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    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Fellman View Post
    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?


  4. #4
    Roger Hankey's Avatar
    Roger Hankey Guest

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

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


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
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    24

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  6. #6
    Roger Hankey's Avatar
    Roger Hankey Guest

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
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    24

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  8. #8
    Jeffrey L. Mathis's Avatar
    Jeffrey L. Mathis Guest

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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


  9. #9
    Home Energy Ed's Avatar
    Home Energy Ed Guest

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Fletcher, NC
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    28,032

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    Quote Originally Posted by Home Energy Ed View Post
    I have seen this in hundreds of 1950's constructed homes.
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  11. #11
    Steve Kassed's Avatar
    Steve Kassed Guest

    Exclamation Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    58

    Default Re: Funky insulation!

    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.


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