100-year-old walls need an update
I’m helping out on a balloon framed old house that we economy-remodel in baby steps. The next step will be to improve the wall insulation.
Current setup:
3/4″ T&G, 2×4 studs on 24″ center filled with wood shavings (somewhat settled with a dusting of vermiculite on top (yes – asbestos)), 3/4″ plank, some form of paper, clapboard siding, fiber cement shingles (more asbestos).
What about the following approach:
Cap each wall cavity at the top from the second-floor closets.
Interior holes in each wall cavity to remove the existing wood shaving.
Dense pack cellulose.
Interior drywall.
This will be a mile away from any code requirements but probably a large improvement from the current situation.
How will moisture travel through a wall like this with dense-packed cellulose?
Any feedback or suggestions?
(Zone 6B, 7200 HDD)
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Replies
Dense packing the walls will go a long way for air sealing old balloon frame construction, it is definitely worth doing. The R value improvement over the wood chips would be pretty significant as well.
If you are re-siding, you are in cold enough climate that sealing up the sheathing with a peel and stick membrane and adding a bit of exterior insulation as well might be worth it. 2.5" of exterior rigid insulation would about half the heat loss through your walls.
Make sure you deal with your window/door flashing details as these are typically non-existent on older houses and will cause trouble with insulation.
Thanks for your comment, @Akos.
Exterior insulation will probably happen down the road when it's time to replace the fiber cement cladding. Right now I'm mainly concerned about how the cellulose insulation acts in relation to water/moisture.
Is that knob and tube I see in the pic? If it is, check this out ...
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/knob-and-tube-wiring-in-insulation