Dining Room Wrapped in Insulation
Living Room Completed
Living Room Ceiling
Insulation Tucked Behind the Recessed Lights
Windows and 2x6's Filled with Foam
Master Bedroom Wall
I Hung Insulation Myself to Sound Proof (sort of) the Wall
Tub Wall in Bedroom 2
Insulation to Cut Down the Shower Noise
Master Bath Wall
After Insulation- Ya, it's really not green
The insulation has been completed. It only took about two days and it all looks great. Bats have been laid in every nook and cranny creating an envelope between inside air and outside air. They also sprayed foam around all the windows as well as 2x6’s that were sistered together. This will help to help reduce air infiltration. You can already feel how tight the house is.
Normally I’d be concerned about not having fresh air finding its way in but because we have forced hot air as well as air conditioning, that shouldn’t be a problem. The heating unit draws air from the outside which means that the air should be exchanged on a regular basis.
I took advantage of a lull in the work to hang insulation on the inside walls in order to reduce noise. I hung it on the Master Bedroom wall between the Living Room as well on the walls of the Master Bath and Guest bath and Laundry room. I also hung it on the wall in the bedroom that has the tub next to it. I’m hoping it will reduce the noise from the tub when showering as well as afford a level of privacy to occupants.
I looked like an alien with long sleeve shirt, ball cap, gloves and mask. But not breathing it all in or itching like a wild man made the look worth it. Hopefully the sheetrock will come in soon and we can get all the insulation covered and have interior walls. Like a normal house.
Enjoy your day.
Just a minor comment on your furnace venting assumptions and fresh air... I assume you will be getting a high efficiency furnance. Those do draw air from the outside, but not to exchange with indoor air. The air drawn from the outside is for combustion and then the exhaust is vented back outside. Mostly likely (I could be wrong), your system will not exchange the indoor and outdoor air. That is one reason these new furnaces are so efficient - they never have to heat cold air, nor do they vent conditioned air to the outside. The other benefit of a separate intake for combustion air is pressure equalization. With traditional furnaces you burn air from inside the house and then vent it through the chimney. To equalize the pressure you get drafts of incoming air from windows, doors, and other openings. That is greatly reduced with high efficiency furnaces. But to your concern with fresh air, just make sure your filter is changed on schedule and you should be fine.
ReplyDeleteMike
Excellent catch. Thank you. I knew that but in the fog of writing after work I completely botched that one up. That’s a great synopsis of how the new energy efficient HVAC systems work. I need to add that sort of thing to my blog. Thanks again,
DeleteSo do you think your rooms look bigger or smaller now that the spaces are defined?
ReplyDeleteBecause my bathroom shares a wall with my dining room I was also concerned about noise. I used green glue on the sheetrock with provides a little bit of separation between the sheetrock and studs and then used denim insulation in the cavities. It all worked very well to reduce in the room (like the toilet flushing, etc.)but did little to abate the sound of water running. I guess you can't have everything.
No doubt you’ll never have complete noise abatement, but some is better than none I guess. The denim sounds interesting. I’ll bet it was less itchy…
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