Now that everybody wants to build green, there are lots of new insulation options for keeping your house warm. These include spray foam and fiber insulation and non-fiberglass batts. You no longer have to use materials that are potentially dangerous to yourself or the environment. All of these options use recycled materials in an environmentally friendly way. Let's take a look at some of these options.
- Non-fiberglass Batts use a variety of earth-friendly materials with cotton for natural insulation. Most folks use recycled sheep's wool that is treated so that it is fire resistant. Another material you can use is rock wool, which is naturally resistant to fire, water and noise.
The other materials used are cotton batts, wool batts, rock or slag wool batts and boards, or any combination of these. It depends on what you want out of your insulating material. If noise reduction is a major concern, you should go with rock wool, which has a natural resistance to noise.
Installation technique is exactly the same that has been used for many years for installing fiberglass materials. The advantage to using non-fiberglass batts is that they are friendly to the environment.
- Spray foam insulation is quickly becoming the most popular methods, and this is because it is not only green, but also flexible and relatively easy to install. If you're willing to put a little elbow grease into it, you can do the entire job yourself, and there are kits available for doing just that.
You simply spray the foam insulation into the cavities of the wall and the material expands by itself to fill the space up completely. The foam is particularly effective because it fills all the little cracks and crevices completely. Most types of spray foam are fire resistant, and are also effective against moisture that can creep into your house and cause mold infestations.
In some cases, spray foam insulation is used along with other techniques to get the desired result. Because of the foam's flexibility, you can use it together with non-fiberglass batts. While some people can handle their spray foam installation themselves, if you're not much of a handyman/woman, you might want to have a professional do it for you.
- Spray fiber insulation is where little bits of various materials are blown into your wall cavities to create insulation. The materials are environmentally friendly, and often include mineral wool, cellulose and other materials mixed with water. It is blown into the wall crevices using a special machine designed to pack it in so that there is no air left. The material dries and a special adhesive that is mixed in keeps it all in place.
The Spray fiber product is also a popular method because it is, by far, the easiest. Water should be mixed into the solution depending on how humid the environment is. The material is sprayed in, and in 24 hours it dries into place. Best of all, all the materials used are recyclable.
Home insulation has never been this easy or easy on the environment before! Join millions of others who are doing their duty to save the earth by building green.
Polyurethane Spray Foam Insulation
With spray foam insulation, you get all of these benefits rolled up in one product. This is why so many people are now choosing it over traditional materials.
Mold, Mildew And Other Nasty Stuff
What you don't know about mold and mildew can cause you major health problems. Few people understand really how bad it is to have mold in your home. Any moisture or water in the home can be a breeding ground for mold, and traditional materials just doesn't keep the water out.
It is particularly easy for water to leak into basements and form permanent puddles in out of the way places, which is where mold and mildew thrive.
Spray foam insulation works well against water and moisture because it expands to fit the space exactly. It doesn't chip and crack over time. This is the leading cause of mold in basements; it isn't that the insulation was improperly installed or inadequate, but that it cracked over time. These cracks are how moisture gets in.
Keep Out Those Uninvited Guests
Cozy air pockets in standard materials also invites in our creepy crawly friends. Nobody wants a small nation of cockroaches living in the basement. Bugs can squeeze in anywhere, and unless you have spray foam insulation that fills all the cracks and holes in your foundation, you will find them living with you.
Again, it's the expanding that fills in all those spaces. Expanding foam does what regular materials simply cannot do; like a sculpture mold, it fits exactly the crevices and cracks around the basement or attic where it is installed.
Fire Safety
One of the advantages of spray foam over traditional types is that it is fire resistant. The material itself will not catch fire in the event of a house fire.
Tests have been conducted to check the fire resistance levels, and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. Having your house's crawlspace insulated this way is a great way to keep you and your family safe from fires that would otherwise rage all over the house in minutes.
Traditional home insulation is highly flammable. This is because there are pockets of air around or inside the material. This is just what a fire needs to keep it going and spread further throughout the house. Foam spray fills spaces in your house like crawlspaces and attic walls so that no air can get through.
In addition to being helpful in protecting your home against moisture, pests and fire, spray insulation helps protect the environment. It is part of the growing trend of "building green." Unlike other insulation types, it is made from renewable resource materials and is a much "greener" choice.
Spray foam insulation does more than just keep you warm. It offers a great solution to many problems homeowners face.
Andrew Stratton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Motorola Cell Phone, Tummy Tucks Before and After and Political and Social. In our increasingly eco-aware world, the need for greener materials is on the rise. Home building is becoming more eco-friendly. are proven greener met. Andrew Stratton's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.
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