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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    so so, California
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    1,867

    Default Whats this insulation

    Never seen it...Felt like wool.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Spring Hill (Nashville), TN
    Posts
    5,851

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    Quote Originally Posted by Marc M View Post
    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?

    Scott Patterson, ACI
    Spring Hill, TN
    www.traceinspections.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    3,154

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    Hey Marc,

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

    Department of Redundancy Department
    Supreme Emperor of Hyperbole
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    so so, California
    Posts
    1,867

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    Quote Originally Posted by Gunnar Alquist View Post
    Hey Marc,

    Did it itch when you rolled around in it? Looks like rock wool or fiberglass.
    Lol.., no but it tasted like crap.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    553

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    Quote Originally Posted by Marc M View Post
    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.


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    1

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    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


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Bennett (Denver metro), Colorado
    Posts
    1,461

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    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.

    If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    3,154

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    Marc,

    Looks like we have a consensus. It's some form of insulation.

    Department of Redundancy Department
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    tennessee
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    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.


  10. #10
    John Klima's Avatar
    John Klima Guest

    Default Re: Whats this insulation

    I agree with Wayne. It definitely looks like balsam wool.


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