Well the farmhouse turned pink overnight! Yes……Pink! So I thought that was great fun that the insulation is a very bright pink! Who designed it that color anyway? Was it a working man that loves cotton candy? Or a cute working woman who loves to throw a little color in her life for excitement? I don’t know….but I love it! It is called a fiberglass blown in blanket with an R-24 value. A blanket for your walls! The first process is to cover the wall with a fine, thin clear fabric lining. You can see it in the pictures. Then they have a machine that that has a very, very long hose that then shoots it into the top of the wall between the framing through a small hole in the fabric. It is a fast process. It’s a lot of climbing up and down a ladder for the installer!
The second type of insulation we used in some parts of the house is fiberglass bat insulation. We used this in places like the garage and the middle wall between the living room and the family room. These come in long rolls that fit right in between the studs. They too are pink with an R-24 value. We insulated the wall between the living room and family room for sound proofing purposes. The TV wall in the family was also insulated for sound purposes because behind it are the three bunk beds in the grandkids room. The walls around the garage storages rooms were insulated for weather purposes. This will help these storage rooms stay cooler in the summer when the garage are opened and closed frequently.
The last type of insulation we used was a polyurethane spray-in expanding foam. This stuff is white but it is so much more exciting than vanilla!! It’s like adding whip cream to your hot fudge sundae! We decided to go with this after some good suggestions from our electrician, who spends his days in hot attic spaces, and some research with the insulation company. The key to this type of insulation is that it can be sprayed 5 inches thick onto the under side of the roof. It then expands through every crack and crevice to seal all those tough spots that would be left unsealed with other kinds of insulation. As you can see from the pictures it forms a solid layer of insulation from the cold and heat. For us in Arizona the heat is what we battle with the most. If you have insulation laying down on the ceiling top you still have all the space in the attic that generates heat. The inside of the house can be kept at 76 degrees but the attic can reach heights over 120 degrees! This makes it more difficult on your HVAC system. The air conditioning ducts run through the attic then into the house. So it has to travel through all that hot air first! We will not have to deal with those issues having the foam spray! The air in the attic will be a more temperate 80-85 degrees, which will in turn give you a much more efficient AC system and ultimately keep all those little spots that the hot Arizona air creeps into your house from! We were so excited to use this and think it will give us a energy efficient Arizona home!
I know that insulation doesn’t seem to be exciting but it is so important in the efficienty of your home. My mantra to the sub contractors with the insulation and HVAC systems was “I don’t want to be hot in the summer!” I think they will be keeping me cool in my pink cotton candy and whip cream house!
Thanks for stopping by Sweet Flower Home! Come back soon!
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