[Greenbuilding] Insulating walls in (old) wood framed house without vapor barrier?

[Mike O'Brien]

Hi, Reuben—

It would make sense to install vapor retarders and air barriers to keep moisture out of the walls, where it will condense during winter. Are the local guys saying that can’t be done? Or even if it could they still would not insulate the walls?

Usually our old frame buildings have shingles or board siding over shiplap, not plywood or OSB, so in our climate a wall can transfer moisture to the outside. Are these walls different?

Best, Mike
Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 25, 2019, at 8:06 PM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I realize this list has gone silent, but in the hope that some of you smart greenbuilding folks are still out there, receiving this email, I would like to pick your brains. A correspondent from Illinois has been cautioned by five(!) "very experienced people' not to insulate the walls in an old house:
> 
> In the attic, yes. We are not going to put it in the walls. After talking to multiple old house restorers who have been in the trade 40 years or more, they all say one thing, that due to lack of a vapor barrier, it will trap moisture and rot the framing in the walls. They did a lot of insulating in the 1970's, and then a great deal of structural repairs in the 1990's on those houses.
> 
> I suggested he try to find a second opinion. Please share your wisdom. 
> 
> Thanks very much 
> Reuben Deumling (who joined this list almost twenty(!) years ago.)
> 
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