Looking good there! I have been so sick but not to sick to take a peek and say Bravo! I love the looks of that greenhouse. Great job. I also like the idea someone gave about using plastic to make a barrier! By the way, I found that a ceramic heater cost's a lot less than the one you are using:-) Even one of those infared heaters now being sold would cost you less money on the electric bill and you can set it to go off at certain temps. Thank God those frigid temps are gone for a while, right!? Mike

This is a project my dad I did the latter part of last winter. I had already gutted the kichen, it wasn't salvagable, and discovered pipes not really in the wall, but between the old plaster and drywall that a PO did (plumber said definately a diy project and done incorrectly). Before any plumbing was rerouted to not be in the wall, is when my dad and I blew in insulation. You could tell the 1 corner in the kitchen had insulation, but that was it. We were fairly confident there was no other insulation except some in the attic. We blew in cellulose. We did it from the inside by measuring over from a corner about 8". He then used a 1" hole bit. This is where my dad got creative :) He had me find an old wire hanger and he first straightened it out and then made a bend in it. He put it in the hole he had drilled out and went over to where he found the stud. Then he measured how far over to get more accurate for the next hole, measuring to try to be 16" apart. He made holes all around in each room on the outside walls and below windows. At Menard's, when you buy cellulose, you're given a days free rent of the blower. We spent one day drilling holes and the next day filling them. We started on the first floor...only to discover that we have a balloon structure and some of the cellulose came out underneath the baseboards upstairs (the quarter round had been removed long before us). We could have just made the holes upstairs, but live and learn. We did the upstairs the next week, using a blower the carpenter I'd hired had. The kitchen and 1/2 bath were different since I'd gutted them. In those 2 rooms, I used the roll insulation. Both were sooo easy to do and who knows how much it saved us by not hiring the job done. I can also say that the heating bill was virtually cut in half after blowing in the insulation. The holes were easy to fill with plaster when we were done, either the carpenter or myself did those. Tony's way was easier than mine. He already had plaster made up for another room he was working on and took a bag, filled it, cut a small hole in the bottom and squeezed out the plaster into the hole. Then it was up to me to sand them down (they tended to expand out). I was just using a putty knife and trying to get it in the hole. If you're not sure where the water pipe is, (is it between the interior and exterior towards the back, or more towards the inside) I'm not sure this would work for your pipe because of the reasons stated above. But it sure would work for the rest of the house!

I totally disagree about having to drain the pipes. Open all the sink cabinet doors and use space heaters. Find out if the weather is going to be clear as well as cold. If the sun is shining, your home will gain heat during the day through the windows. You also already have a warm thermal mass if the house was warm when the furnace quit and you have a basement. Your basement may not feel warm to you, but it is a far distance from freezing. It will help keep the pipes from freezing during these four days. If the weather is going to be cloudy or windy, the single digits are going to last well into the daytime, or the pipes are close to walls that are not well-insulated, then provide space heating nearby or get heat wrap for the pipes. You could also go to Lowe's or HD and get the foam insulation tubes that are split and fit right over the pipes. Unless your furnace was a hot water system that also provided your hot water, you also have the heat of the water heater to keep at east the hot lines and the fixtures and drains warm. We all should probably insulate those hot pipes, anyhow. Kerosene heaters give me the willies, I hear too much about people being asphyxiated by not venting them properly. I think electric is safer. Either way, someone has to stay home if you are running space heaters.

What is the exterior siding? My first inclination is to remove the batt and use the cellulose insulation. If you can remove the siding and reapply, you could add a external WRB onto the outside of the property. I would be surprised that there is no vapor barrier on the outside of the wall. There should also be a water/vapor barrier from the tile to the insulation or interior cavity. You may want to try this question on the remodeling forum. Good luck!