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

[Joe Killian]

Reuben,

   Is the insulation type a vapor barrier?  Could make all the difference.

   I think one of the best descriptions I've seen for wall construction 
is at buildingscience.com
https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-001-the-perfect-wall
https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/building-science-insights-newsletters/bsi-090-joseph-haydn-does-perfect-wall

   Just adding insulation without considering the water & air & vapor 
issues could easily lead to the damage reported by the house restorers.  
Understanding and addressing the whole picture to arrive at a properly 
functioning wall would be the ticket. That could well mean doing more 
than just blowing insulation into the walls.

Joe

On 11/25/2019 8:03 PM, Reuben Deumling 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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