Holes in the wall
I've been putting holes in my walls. Just to see how much wiggle room I have in creating a new space.Well, now I know. And now I know why I can hear things so well. There was like an inch or two between my drywall and the party wall. With no insulation.
When I get insulation I see that I'm going to lose some floorspace and some square footage. I don't know how I feel about that. It's has yet to really sink in. I want quiet. I like space.
Labels: renovation
posted by Mari @ 22.2.07
9 Comments:
This month's issue of (I believe) Old House Journal has a special section on types of insulation, including what a DIY'er could install or what requires a pro. From the dc gov site for energy efficiency (and tax breaks for same), a brick uninsulated wall is much better than frame uninsulated wall because brick is denser. Most heat is lost through the roof, not doors, windows, or a basement.
I thought that lath and plaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lath_and_plaster) applied directly to the brick that comprises your party wall was de rigeur back in the day? Are you saying that the lath and plaster was stripped away at some point and wood framing with drywall was put in its place?
--Stoma
There are floors where it is plaster on brick, other floors where it is drywall an inch or so away from the bare brick, and drywall on brick/ plaster-brick. I got a variety. The plaster on brick stuff is covered with icky nasty textured paint, which I'd need to cover with joint compound.
When I moved to both Portland, Oregon and to DC, I noticed that they didn't have insulation in the walls because I could hear everything going on in the street. Back home you can't hear a thing as the walls are so insulated in Wisconsin - for good reason.
I was going to foam my unisulated back walls but ive got plaster directly on brick (which desperately needs major pointing). but the foam is DIY: tigerfoam.com
i had a friend who used it in MA and he said it was pretty easy. the guy on the phone was super helpful too.
Correction: it's This Old House, which has great info on insulation types. Old House Web (http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/260.shtml) suggests not furring out perimeter walls for insulation (#8) -- this is where you lose inches.
What I want to hear is more on the textured paint! When was this high fashion?
I'm guessing circa 1988 or later as a way to hide cracks in the plaster. There weren't any nice patterns, just a sometimes softer version of what the ceiling looks like. Othertimes the paint was so sharp in places you could scratch yourself with it.
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Sorry Anon but I am deleting your comment, because it violates my comment rules requesting that commenter ID themselves somehow.
But to answer your comment, I know I don't need to insulate the party walls. However, I have experienced the problem of living next to a property that has a long history of being vacant for loooooooooooooong periods of time. According to the guy on the other side of this property the owner left it unoccupied for seven years. That mixed with the fact that I can hear music blasting from 3-4 houses down and loud interior conversations from the house next door, this is a huge want. Temperatures are a concern too. The pipes froze and burst in the house next door and it did not help matters that my boiler was dead. The insulation between the vacant house and I will be thin, but it will be a little something.
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