We have timber framed walls and want to insulate them, it's very cold. Inside there is only plasterboard and outside cedar cladding. There's a product called Ecofoam and I would like to know if one of you has experience with this product. It is blown in the wall, but other than the usual cellulose stuff it does not sit down. They tell that there are no condensation problems, but that is actually the point were I am questioning the whole thing.
The price for the whole house is around 4k and this seams to be reasonable.
Here's the website:
http://www.ecofoamwallinsulation.com.au/content_common/pg-wall-insulation-services-faq.seo
Insulating existing walls
(14 posts) (9 voices)-
heftzwecke
MemberPosted Friday 22 Jul 2011 @ 8:47:45 am from IP # -
vajras
MemberCan you provide some idea of the "gap" you have between the plasterboard and the cladding?
Is it possible for you to remove or or two pieces of cladding to see how much space there is in the wall?
The problem i see is you'll have horizontal noggins between each vertical stud (gives rigidity to the studs) - these noggins will prevent anything falling down if the wall cavity is the same thickness/depth of the studs. Additionally, there will little opportunity for the insulation to go around and under the windows from the sill to the floor.
we have brick veneer and fortunately there were 'larger' (150mm) than normal gaps in our walls thus allowing the insulation to fall btw the gaps. we insulated the walls with small polystyrene cubes pumped in from the top plate and flowing down btw the inside of the brickwork and the inside of the plasterboard. These cubes went around the noggins and flowed down to the base at the bottom plate and went around and down the windows - no settling or compacting has occurred since which may happen with other types such as cellulose fibre.
Is it possible for you to remove or or two pieces of cladding to see how much space there is in the wall? This will give you an idea of the gap and then either reduce or increase your options.
Posted Tuesday 26 Jul 2011 @ 2:32:56 am from IP # -
nige
MemberI will be taking the eco-foam punt on the 8th when they come on down and start drilling the house full of holes so the foam injecting can commence.
Our place is a brick vaneer home in the Geelong region also up on stumps. Yes I am waiting on a quote for the supply of Polystyrene sheeting for the under floor area then will look at the cost factor with respects to cheap chinese roof insulation the hassel of inserting, keeping in place, body itch and other nasties.When putting the hands on the internal walls of a night time they are seriously cold so it's not rocket science to see where the heating is going. once they are finished all of the drilling it will be covered up with a good rendering.
Leigh from Eco-foam did bring some down for me to feel, try to set fire to. Yes it is fire retardent and it's feel and texture is some place interesting. When you crush it in your hands it feels like a tissue which has been left in your pocket for the day. Compressed but still with a certain softness. The uncompressed foam is very soft to the touch, light almost polystrene like in it's fragility.Now in the not so fine print...
Roughly a 25% deposit up front, rest of payment within 7 days of job completion.
Eco -foam asks that any electrical cables that are in contact with thermal insulating materials added to building cavities
be de-rated.They do require you to engage an electrician to inspect your wiring implement any neccessary changes to fuses or circuit breakers in accordence with section 3.3.4 of AS3008.1.1
The terms and conditions were fairly tame which is nice not to see some overbearing document that puts you at the mercy of the legal profession.
My local rep has been a really easy guy to do business with no stress no dramas. they reate the insulation at a R4.4 rating but do advise that for best effect double glazing etc will produce the best results.
I am also now pricing up the replacement of the two biggest windows in the house with double glazed units from the UK.
I may yet as such get a price to do every window in the whole house if the prices are good enough.
Quotes from local suppliers have caused much hillarity and I now know they get them shipped in from the UK as well then double the price.So I will keep everyone posted as things progress
TTFN
Nige
Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2011 @ 8:00:22 am from IP # -
Bullwitter
MemberI have recently insulated my kitchen by cutting out a horizontal section 1200mm wide from the Gyprock all the way round the walls - stopping about 400mm short of each corner. This enabled me to insert bats both up and down. I then bought a new sheet of Gyprock (1200mm wide) to fill up the "hole". The advantage of this method is that cornivces and almost all the electrics remain undisturbed. A couple of years ago there was an article in ReNew magazine describing this idea. The article suggested removing a strip of Gyproc just 600mm wide. I tried this, but could not get the bats to go up and down. It it wasn't till I widened the gap to 1200mm that inserting the bats became possible. Just a suggestion. Cheers.
Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2011 @ 11:53:25 am from IP # -
Saambo
Membernige said:
I am also now pricing up the replacement of the two biggest windows in the house with double glazed units from the UK.
I may yet as such get a price to do every window in the whole house if the prices are good enough.
Quotes from local suppliers have caused much hillarity and I now know they get them shipped in from the UK as well then double the price.Nige,
I'm doin a Reno early next with a significant amount of double glazing. I've considered importing the windows/doors if the price is right. An info on who in the UK you're dealing with would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Saambo
Posted Thursday 1 Sep 2011 @ 12:20:41 pm from IP # -
nige
MemberEven better I found this place in the US. http://www.seriouswindows.com/residential/insulated-windows.html
As they are in the south end of San Francisco (Bay) so close to a container port / shipping which is a bonus and even better still with the FTA signed with the US goods made in the US or other items of US origin are duty free.
All they need to do is produce a pro-forma stating as such with the heading "certificate of origin" So your only up for GST on the import costs not including the broker but just get a door to door price.One of their fiberglass windows had an R9.1 rating
http://www.seriouswindows.com/residential/insulated-windows/fiberglass/925-series.htmlWill see what they come back with on price.
Posted Friday 2 Sep 2011 @ 3:08:03 am from IP # -
Saambo
MemberThanks nige. I'll keep on eye out on this thread to see how you go with pricing. I live in Adelaide and am only just beginning to research my double glazing options. It seems that Australia is way behind the yanks and europeans when it comes to double/triple glazing options.
Cheers
Posted Friday 2 Sep 2011 @ 8:11:45 am from IP # -
ghostgum
Membernige, US R-values are different to everywhere else in the world. They use farenheit and feet. In Australia with metric units, the US R-9.1 would equate to metric R1.6.
That's still impressive for a window. The better double glazed windows here are about U=2 or R0.5.Posted Friday 2 Sep 2011 @ 9:12:52 am from IP # -
nige
MemberThe guys from Eco-foam have been and gone. I got the dates wrong.
All up it was a two day affair the drilling being done on day one the filling the day after. Now normally the guys would be doig this from the inside? but as I am having the house rendered they had my absolute blessing to go crazy with the drill outside.
For the amount of dust created I am most happy everything was done outside as well.Back later to finish.
Posted Thursday 8 Sep 2011 @ 1:02:35 pm from IP # -
Bushwalker
MemberI'd be interested to hear about any problems caused or exacerbated by spray foam installation. The idea of spray foam appeals, but I've also heard stories of bad smells and other problems.
I'm not suggesting that any of this stuff is true, I have no way of verifying it, but it doesn't sound good:
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/spray-foam-jobs-lingering-odor-problems
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPxg9IlYnWg
More out there if you ask google...
Posted Wednesday 4 Jan 2012 @ 5:33:50 am from IP # -
nige
MemberSorry for the delay.
I am one very happy camper! the average temp difference has been around six degrees inside / outside. The highest so far eleven degrees without air con on.
With the air con ticking along on low all day the inside temp was 21-23 outside 41.
You could feel the radiated heat coming through the windows in other parts of the house.Apart from being happy with the performance of the product no other dramas as such, no smells as mentioned earlier the only, thing id remembering all of the power points so you don't get any shorting out as foam fills in the area behind them. You will find gaps and holes in walls you never knew existed.
On a bang for the buck basis I am really happy with the result.Posted Thursday 5 Jan 2012 @ 10:37:23 am from IP #
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