Marshmallow Everywhere

When houses were built pretty much through the 50s, insulation pretty much consisted of wall board, the outside wall and paint or wallpaper. If someone was really eco-conscience, they may have stuffed the daily newspaper into the wall. Our house actually has some lamb wool inside the walls.

Then came fiberglass insulation – the stuff of the Pink Panther. It was pretty effective but itchy as all get out.

In areas where walls are already in place but no insulation can be found, it is also possible to blow insulation into the walls. This results in walls that appear to have been attacked by a paper hole punch. But hopefully they will be much warmer and quieter.



The new generation of insulation looks like the end of the Ghostbusters movie when the Marshmallow Man is reduced to fluff all over Manhattan and can be used anywhere the walls are down to studs. In the case of our house, this is most of it. A truck backs into your driveway, giant hoses are pulled into your house and the spraying begins. Hours later, the house looks fluffy and is pretty much air tight. It is also the last step before putting up walls!!!



The final product in some cases looks like the inside of a Tudor mansion after it is scraped.


I couldn’t wait to check the place out. I showed up late on the night it was completed after dusk. There were still no windows in the upstairs, so my trusty electric torch with its 100+’ extension cord served me well.





In a few places, neither of these insulation choices presented a good option. In those areas where we did not want to remove existing walls, LeeMichael and I spent a couple of days installing rigid foam insulation. It provides a great "R" value and is certainly better than what is there now (i.e. - NOTHING).


I can’t wait until all of this insulation is covered up by wall board. But in the meantime, I can touch it without getting itchy. Pretty cool stuff.