About Me

Planning and Executing Construction and Contracting Projects: Tips for Consumers

Welcome to my blog. My name is Deborah. About 15 years ago, I bought an old home. We worked with several contractors to rehabilitate it, but ultimately, the foundation simply wasn't stable enough, and we had to tear it down. After that, we worked with a construction crew to build a home from the ground up. The experience was exciting and challenging, and I learned a lot through that process. I want to share construction and contracting facts and information with others so I decided to start this blog. I hope that you like the results, and I thank you for reading. Enjoy!

Planning and Executing Construction and Contracting Projects: Tips for Consumers

Eco-friendly Solutions for Insulating Your Home

by Samantha Russell

Cutting down the cost of energy in your home is one of the reasons for insulating your home. During the cold weather, the insulation prevents the loss of warm air from the house. On the other side, it keeps the warm air out of the house when the hot season sets in. During insulation, you can use eco-friendly and natural materials that have not been manufactured using chemicals. At least, the materials you use will not contain any harmful substances that can adversely affect your health. Moreover, some eco-friendly materials used for insulation are made from recycled materials, which is a good way of using domestic and industrial waste. If you want eco-friendly insulation solutions, here are a few alternatives of that you can go for:

Sheep's Wool

Sheep can survive in cold climate because of the wool that covers their skin. It keeps their bodies warm by retaining the heat generated by their bodies and preventing the loss of that heat to the surrounding. This is the same concept used when wool is compressed and used to insulate your home.

After compression, the sheep wool forms numerous air pockets. These pockets contain trapped air that keeps your house warm in cold weather and cool when the temperatures start soaring. Besides the compression that enables the wool to fit into the gaps in your home, no other modification is done to the natural wool.

Blanket and Batt Insulation

Blanket and batt insulation is installed between the beams, joists and studs of the building. It is also applicable on unfinished walls and building foundations. Batts are made in bundles while blanket insulation comes in the form of long rolls. The length of the bundles or rolls varies according to your needs. 

Blanket and batt insulation is made using a variety of eco-friendly material such as cotton, wool and mineral rocks. When installing the insulation, you should make sure that it does not leave any gaps at the corners or joints of the house. Preferably, you should buy oversize bundles or rolls to fit the building cavities snugly.

Spray-in Icynene

Icynene is a product of castor oil. Icynene seals gaps and leaks thoroughly ensuring that your house remains airtight throughout. Once it is sprayed on the surface of the wall or ceiling, it expands and covers the gaps between the walls or the ceiling. You do not have to worry about moulds because the cake-like insulating material allows moisture to escape. Therefore, it remains dry over the period that it is in use.

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