Watching Paint Dry

When you think of home renovation (if you are like most people) you think pretty pictures. You know, like in those block long stalls at Borders Books, the bright and shiny magazines packed with page after page of voluptuously, jaw-droppingly, stunningly unattainable visions of domestic perfection.  And yet, an extremely important part of every beautiful renovation is unseen. It's behind the walls. Most people find this part about as interesting as (see title of this post).

So as not to bore you, I'll make this quick:  Maintaining an even, comfortable climate inside your home depends on how well the home is insulated. The better the envelope, the more stable the indoor climate.  For those readers who are information addicts, there is a remarkably painless explanation of your insulation choices in an article at GreenBuilding.com titled Insulation Choices & Strategies for Zero Energy Homes.

Fiberglass has been the standard for home insulation. Now polyurethane or cellulose foam spray is getting a lot of play--particularly when we renovate.

Oddly, foam has the same R-value (heat transfer resistance) as fiberglass. Also, it's significantly more expensive. So why are we recommending it? Because it works much, much better.  It cuts your utility bills significantly.

Foam insulation expands on contact as it is installed and, because of that, creates a tight air seal inside wall cavities. It fills in all the joints, crevices and areas where pipes and wiring pass through. So the foam performs much higher than its R-value rating due this air sealing property. Heat can't sneak around the insulation barrier on air currents as the building "breathes".

Curious about what it looks like? If you've got 40 seconds to spare, here's a quick look at a typical residential installation.