[Greenbuilding] friction & insulation batts

[Reuben Deumling]

A fair question. In this instance, the logistics of coming up with a way to
effectively create the back pressure I wanted in an 11' deep bay to achieve
the density I wanted, combined with the setup the insulation blower
involves for what is basically a small job, seemed like a bit more work
than figuring out how to jam the batts in there. But I may come to regret
that decision.

What I've come up with so far is to
(a) cut a suitably long piece of heavy plastic sheeting, pull it through
the cavity and affix the ends such that the rectangular channel is
relatively well defined by the sheet.
(b) push a series of batts into this channel using the second batt to
advance the first one, etc., and finally
(c) while holding the inserted batts with one hand, pull the sheet out and
reuse it on the next bay.

Trying this will quickly reveal whether the friction in practice is
overcome by this method.

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 3:25 PM, Bob Klahn <Home-NRG at dnaco.net> wrote:

>  Why fight to feed batts into a cavity situation which sound very
> difficult, when pacing the cavities with the same mineral fiber by blowing
> would seem a much easier approach?
>
>
> On 3/27/2015 4:55 PM, Reuben Deumling wrote:
>
>  Two questions.
> Were you pushing these batts into a bay the long way (vertically if this
> is a wall)?
>  What is PPE?
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 6:56 AM, David Wentling <dpwentling at ymail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Years ago I needed to install thick batts in openings. To assist me
>> ensure the batts were square to the opening and not compressed I created a
>> wooded knife shaped stick. I would press in one side of the batt along the
>> long edge then swing the batt into the opening using the ‘knife’ between
>> the batt edge and the joist or stud. The ‘knife’ allow me to reduce the
>> friction when sliding next to the wood and provided a tool to compress the
>> batt the full depth of the batt to ensure the back edges were square to the
>> opening. We used unfaced fiberglass.
>>
>> The wooden knife was a board about 16” long, more of a small machete,
>> that was belt sanded to a thin rounded edge and a rounded handle for easier
>> handling. I had to make several of the them over the renovation project and
>> used lathe strips pulled from the house. Looked like a large wooden letter
>> opener.
>>
>> Don’t for get the PPE!
>>
>> David
>>
>> On Mar 25, 2015, at 2:34 PM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> The situation is as follows:
>> a ceiling with 7-1/4"x14" bays, 11 feet deep
>> car decking below, fir T&G flooring above, rough sawn 2x8s in between.
>>
>> I can get Rockwool/Roxul batts that are the right height and will figure
>> out a way to trim them to the right width. My question is whether anyone
>> has a suggestion about how to devise a sleeve or baffle to reduce the
>> considerable friction all those rough sawn or at least not particularly
>> smooth surfaces will present to the batts being shoved horizontally through
>> those bays?
>> I expect to be able to access both ends for this purpose, which should
>> increase the options for friction-reducing aids.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> Thanks very much.
>>
>> Reuben
>>
>> Oh, and I nixed the blown in cellulose idea because of the challenges of
>> creating the necessary back pressure on a bay that deep/long. I'm sure with
>> a suitably devised baffle that I could gradually back out the nozzle & this
>> problem could be overcome, but it is not a large job (11'x12') and the
>> batts seemed easier.
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>
>
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