NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/misc/consumer/house/14703

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 1.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!utcsri!torn!nott!cunews!revcan!ecicrl!clewis
From: [e-mail] (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Blown-In Insulation & Vapor Barriers
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 17 Nov 92 06:14:27 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Distribution: na
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 23

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Isidro Castineyra) writes:
>A neighbour of mine had his house insulated by blowing cellulose into
>the exterior walls. He swears by the process, and his house does feel
>much tighter than mine (the houses are almost identical).  I have
>heard that because it is almost impossible to install a vapor barrier,
>the insulation can trap humidity inside the walls. This could damage
>the structure in the long run. What is the net-wisdom on this?

This is somewhat true, though, the effect won't be particularly
drastic except in the walls of the house where there's lots of
moisture (ie: bathrooms) and low winter temperatures.  It's *much*
more of a problem in ceilings.  There are vapor barrier paints,
and vinyl wall paper may also act as a vapor barrier which can alleviate
this problem.  Existing oil-based paint of any type is probably
good enough in most situations, latex is a little more porous.

If the ventilation is good, moisture won't be a problem.  But if there's
lots of ventilation in the walls, you're not insulating very well
either.
--
Chris Lewis; [e-mail]; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
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