before infrared cameras ????

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sean Lintow Sr on April 13, 2011 at 3:55am

Well I just simply pop the cover off a few light switches & electrical outlets & shined a light in there. If I didn't see anything I would take a bent coat hanger & use it to fish around in there some.

 

Generally if we are remodeling a house / gutting  a room to the studs I will add in new insulation anyways due to new electrical, plumbing, etc... & the old insulation is probably shot. The only surprise I had was the 1879 remodel we did where it was fully packed with a wool type insulation that stayed in place & was still in great shape.

Permalink Reply by mike sterling on April 13, 2011 at 12:54pm

A crocheting hook used at an electrical outlet on an exterior wall can reveal the presence or lack of insulation.

Permalink Reply by Paul Morin on April 15, 2011 at 5:41am

Common practice in the Minneapolis area for the past 20 years has been to drill a 2” hole in a closet on an outside wall and snap a plastic plug into the hole after verifying the insulation level.  This would be done for any home built before about 1970.  It is possible for a wall to look insulated using the IR and have only 1.5 inches of insulation in the wall.  In our climate it is cost effective to dense pack cellulose into a wall that has an existing 1.5” insulation batt.  Sometimes on homes build before 1920, the walls will have no insulation but have back-plaster.  Back-plaster is an additional layer of plaster that was installed in the center of the wall cavity, making it more much expensive to insulate.  The IR is a great tool but it has limitations.

Permalink Reply by Ed Ballard on June 7, 2011 at 6:27am

In reply to probing around ext. wall outlets, the problem is that batt insulation is usually installed poorly. By only probing in these locations you run the risk of determining that no existing insul. is in the wall because it was cut out too big around the box. The other error is compacted insul. around the box because it was not cut at all.

I would agree that the best practice is to drill inspection holes in the closet of an exterior wall and plug them. Of course this is dependent on H/O approval.