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faced insulation concerns in Midwest renovation

last month

The drywall is going up soon and I have concerns if this faced insulation is properly installed. It’s my understanding that the purpose of the facing is to protect the drywall from humidity/condensation touching the drywall to prevent mold. Some sections have brick exterior and other areas are frame exterior. The house is 100+ years old.
What should say or do with the GC if this is a concern?

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Comments (8)

shirlpp
last month
Did you google it or go to YouTube? I think some of that can be spray foamed.
PRO
april
Original Author
last month
This is what the contractor/workers did. I’ve researched and it doesn’t look right to me. I just wanted some input so I can address it properly with the GC.
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I recall seeing a product that was 4" of closed cell foam laminated with drywall or blueboard on the inside. This would give a much higher R value than an interior stud wall in the same space and probably lower installation cost.
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Hmm...hadn't thought about rock/mineral wool. What color is really old mineral wool? This stuff is brown- almost a old redwood color, and looks like coarse sawdust or wood splinters. I will definitely be sealing it up well- you're right about needing to do that and I bet it will help a lot. There's *no* tape on the joints in the sheetrock- guess it was built before tape and joint compound came into use. I found traces of some kind of black joint sealer in the living room when I was removing old wallpaper- guess that was also pre-tape. The wallpaper that was there when I moved in was pretty ugly- blue speckles on a white background. The room is now SW Hubbard Squash :) I had no idea what was under the most recent wallpaper- and when I started removing it, it was fun to see remnants of the earlier papers. They had removed most of it in areas, but I could still find traces of an ornate embossed red paper, and under that, an interesting one printed with trees, water, houses- looked very 20's to me. The colors were that kind of muted vegetable dye looking colors they used then. I'm enjoying the archeology of finding traces of what was originally there. Wish they had left more of it around. I'm very much looking forward to pulling up the icky gold carpet to expose oak hardwood next:) d.
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Comments (11)
As the owner of an 1887 house, I can tell you that NO ONE who is uncertified in the new standards should be working in your house. Any trade that can disturb old paint must be certified. Demolition "disturbs" the paint and falls under these new guidelines. Make sure they put up Zip Wall and turn off any air intakes into the area of the house that isn't under construction. They should be wearing booties, have sticky mats, tyvek suits, and a containment barrier up at all times. There should also be warning signs about the lead posted outside of the job site. Let me tell you what a pain it all is...and then guess what, they throw it all into the dumpster on site (contained inside trash bags). I've never see so much disposable *crap* for a task that is supposed to help the environment! Of course, I'm glad to be able to, at the end, certify my old house as LEAD SAFE. Once folks find out how much it costs to do even minor home improvements, I think that paper will be worth its weight in gold.
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mojavemaria
last month
I’ve seen better work. Unfaced batts and poly film over the wall would have been a better choice IMHO. pipes and wires should have split batts behind and in front so they fill the stud cavity which is easier to do with unfaced. The unfilled cavities bother me more than the kraft paper but then we live in an area that doesn't need a vapor barrier.
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
last month
This is perfectly average fiberglass insulation installation- their task was to put fiberglass everywhere and they did. Unfortunately most won’t work to spec. When it is overly compressed you don’t get the listed R value, you certainly aren’t getting the consistent vapor barrier. Typically in renovation I spec spray foam for this reason, it fills irregular cavities completely.
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last month
last modified: last month
Agree this would have been a good opportunity to upgrade the performance of the home by using spray foam insulation--albeit in a limited area.
sktn77a
last month
Sloppy job, especially in those 4-5" gaps where the paper has been crammed in. I would ask the contractor to redo those sections and anything where there's air instead of insulation.
PRO
april
Original Author
last month
Thank you. I needed some confidence before my approach to the contractor with this issue.
I’m not a pro (obviously) but it seems logical that it’s not properly installed.
3onthetree
last month
When you choose faced insulation as your vapor retarder, it will not be perfect. Vapor retarder (note I used the proper term "retarder" rather than common term "barrier" to emphasize my point) is not perfection - think if you used a poly film over unfaced insulation - and all the holes from staples and drywall screws. In a 100 year old house you are probably not doing a blower door test, and will never have an airtight house. So typically material selections match the budget and project, and you will not have problems if the paper does not fully cover some studs here and there.

The compression as Hallett pointed out is not good, but I do see this new Kitchen wall is a furred out wall inside of the old exterior wall, so there may be other insulation in the outer wythe. The bigger concern is the EMT to the recessed light is too close to the edge of the joist. Hi Chicagoland resident.

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