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

[John Straube]

too simple to say “can be” or “cant be”
It depends.  on the wall assembly, materials, interior climate, exterior climate and exposure.
Lots and lots of “old" homes have been insulated, the vast majority successfully.

So what is the wall made of? How old? What is the interior RH in the winter? Rain exposure?
In most cases down in cellulose combined with a good air sealing job on the inside works very well with low low risk

> On Nov 25, 2019, at 23:03, 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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Dr John F Straube, P.Eng.
jfstraube at uwaterloo.ca
www.JohnStraube.com