My opinion is that if you really want an old house and get an old house, then accept it for what it is, and love it for what it is, an old house. If you just like the idea of an old house, but want it to perform and act like a new house, then build a new house that looks old. The approach I've taken on our restoration of an 1850's Victorian farm house is to not insulate except where we were forced to by local building code. Air sealing is the key as you (Matt) have pointed out in other videos. Seal, insulate, and condition the attic, seal, insulate and condition the crawlspace, weatherstrip the windows and doors, but just air seal the walls from the outside. Will there be some thermal heat gain/loss? sure. But I'm confident the Ida house will be very comfortable with a good HVAC+D system. If you pull all the siding off the outside, or all the finish wall off the inside, you're going to end up throwing away 3/4 of it unless you find someone who is very patient and very passionate about preservation to do the work. And then what's the point of saying you have an old house if the only parts left that are actually old are covered by all the new finishes. Apologies, I get carried away.
I appreciate both you and Brent Hull for sharing so much thought and knowledge here. I am in the process of doing as Brent Hull noted, cedar breather and rock wool plus I am furring the inside lumber 2 more inches to get 6 inches of exterior wall rock wool in. I have already worked the roof and have eave vents to ridge vents. My 117 year old four square in Toledo Ohio will last another 117 years thanks to your guys level of knowledge and help applied to my home. I thank you both. Note that I am in a historic district and I cannot do the work from the outside in. The Course of Action or COA will not allow it.
Matt, thank you,. thank you, THANK YOU for using the mics on this episode; it made a HUGE improvement to the quality and experience of this video! Keep up the great work!
My wife and I are not builders, nor do we have anything to do with a trades craft. We both genuinely enjoy watching you and learning about things we need to do on our future home renovation.
Gorgeous house! I wish Claire best of luck. Working from outside makes sense but there's a big downside that must be solved, keeping the historic detailing. By pulling the new wall face out 2"-4" as you described, that will create issues with keeping all the lovely old roof cornices and window trim. It can certainly be done but will require advance planning. Incidentally, those gables probably had overhangs when it was built, with essentially the same trim detailing as the eaves... Please do an update on this as the work progresses.
I have a 1946? house here in Houston that is similarly built. Stripped off the drywall and found the same "wallpaper" underneath. The foundation and structure is shot so it has to come down unfortunately.
@@JOSEPH-vs2gc It would be very expensive for the whole house but you could cover just your south side with a greenhouse for less and then have a outside area on nice sunny winter days.
I hope you told them about your opinion about tackling the situation from the outside and I hope that they go with it because that's the best way to do it. Great video Matt 👍🏻
It's probably too late because the roof is already replaced (Metal, see 58 seconds) Pretty tough to add any thickness (sheathing) to the exterior walls without extending/adding to the roof surface, gable end.
Man I would love to hear more about those exterior treatment ideas. We recently adopted a 100yr old in downtown san antonio, and are deciding between scrape and paint or new siding.
Matt-I hope you get a chance to do a series on this place. I'd like to see how I probably should have done things differently. A bit late for me-I did my redo in 1999 -2001 of a 1905 ballon framed 2 story in Downtown Pflugerville but I have a couple of areas that could be refreshed without it being too terribly large of a project.
I think you hot the nail on the head when you said "In your neighborhood" location location location. Matt bought it for the property not necessarily the house.
@@bluebird5100 Yeah, Matt spent almost $500k on a lot that is probably worth less than $200k. The existing house only made the land less valuable considering it's condition.
Please show the progress of this house and show us the choices they made. Money pit or not, The proper preservation of an old building is a process that we remodelers don't often see.
The problem with doing new sheathing and dimple mat on the exterior is now you have added a lot of bulk that will protrude past the window trim, the frieze, and all the other trim and architectural details. Doing that may very well ruin the character of the house. Better to be slightly less efficient than desired and still maintain the old character of the home.
For the costs of moving this house, put it on concrete pillars and have Matt put his Zip sheating around it, you probably could build two new houses for that. And yes I get the nice detailing of old houses.
I grew up in a home built in 1942 or 1943. Opa added some insulation in the attic in the 1960s, in Summer was okay with tabletop fans until the asphalt roof replaced the cedar shakes. No central heat, just a couple wall heaters, so did get cold in Winter. Though you learned to live with the climate than work against it, though not saying to go without HVAC, just keep in mind the climate (for example using night cooling if available so less cooling needed during the day). To this day rarely turn on the heat, right now 35*F outside and 55*F inside.
Enjoyed the video!! If you would like to see a very different metal lathe/concrete finish, drive by 906 Maufrais Street in Austin (look at the driveway side of the house). You will have to access Maufrais off 10th St.
Matt, what's your thoughts on the exterior foundation stucco and its lathe touching the ground with no weep screed to keep the stucco from wicking moisture and rusting out the screed?
I don't think Matt understands the concept of ROI. Not everything needs a $500,000 super energy efficient/air sealed/super insulated remodel. Sure, it's nice to have closed cell spray and zip sheathing and conditioned crawl space on everything, but FAR from practical in a lot of situations, and probably outside of most normal small house remodel budgets. You would never recover the cost in energy saving by insulating as Matt suggests.
Right. Not only would this particular owner never see any ROI, but neither can there be any mass replication of such an expensive approach to save energy in the larger fleet of residences.
Matt's videos typically show the best or better options for products and design so as an educational tool and entertainment option I want to see the advanced techniques and materials that he uses. And while many of these options might be a stretch for many homeowners I think the closed cell is not the best example. Closed cell has come down in price so much that it's really not that big a difference in price when you think of the whole rehab. Plus if you need to save cost you can always spend a little less on finishing that will ultimately be replaced in 10 or 20 years anyway. But your certainly not going to be able to retro insulate if you want to. The other thing is that the closed cell does a lot of things that fiberglass doesn't. Closed cell adds rigidity and stops air infiltration and won't become useless if it comes in contact with moisture. But more importantly I think that ROI goes hand in hand with livability and comfort. Adding insulation or windows or doors that remove drafts from your home and unwanted sound or environmental irritants (pollen, dust) I think can't be measured purely by ROI. And solving these issues after the house is finished is difficult at best and extremely costly. I also live in New England so our heating bills can be so high that the ROI is easier to realize with some upgrades. I'm also conscious of the fact that this may not be the case in all locations including yours. I can only talk about my own experiences.
@@timmacsweet131 It's great to see "the best" or "better" options, but when building a house it is almost always more important to weigh the cost vs benefit, something I've never seen Matt even consider. Sometimes you do spend extra money just to be nice and comfortable, that's OK if you have it. But where should we stop? Why not frame every wall with double 2x12s, put 4 layers of zip sheathing with the joints staggered so it is amazingly sealed and stiff, fill the 24" wall cavity with closed cell spray foam, and then build another 2x4 wall on top of that for the mechanical to run through stuffed with rockwool. That would be an amazingly strong, energy efficient, and comfortable house, so why not?? Nobody said anything about the budget for this house, but I suspect the reason it had to be moved is because it was going to be torn down from a more expensive piece of real estate, thus they probably don't have a million dollar budget. The fact that they didn't even put a vapor barrier in the crawl space says a lot about what the homeowner will probably do with the place.
Ryan Roberts Since the house is being rehabilitated for a millionaire designer and tv host in a housing market that has become very expensive in the last twenty years I can safely say that cost is not really a big concern. Also since I'm not sure if this is even Matt's build or he's if he's just showing someone else's which he does a lot I'm not sure that Matt would be privy to the budgetary issues that the owner and builder discussed. It may very well be that the builder gave the owner options but that she opted for this approach for any number of reasons. Most of Matt's shows have either custom built homes or high end hehabs. Once again as entertainment and information gathering I think more people like this format vs say talking about the more traditional budget friendly building techniques. The best analogy that I have for this episode is some of the car shows that I watch on RU-vid that show mechanics that build, for example, a customized vintage Ford Bronco with an entirely new drivetrain and suspension and electronics with custom interiors etc. You could make the exact same argument that as an investment it makes no sense to drop 100k+ on a restomod Ford Bronco. But that misses the point. For people that can afford this it is money well spent to have a certain looking home that performs to a high level. Is it for you or me no. But neither are the expensive cars I find interesting. So while I understand your point I think that Matt's show never had that goal in mind because it's not a factor for most of the owners of these properties. If you think it should be talked about then there may be other shows that address those concerns but I think it would be the equivalent of a car show talking about how you should just buy a Toyota Camry because it's cheap and practical and gives a better ROI. The reason people like seeing luxury and performance cars is because they have engineering and tech that will someday come down in price or become ubiquitous enough to be in all cars including the ones we drive much the same way Matt discusses tech and materials that will someday be in all homes. Just my take.
Timothy McCann Yes I appreciate seeing the best-of materials and techniques provided in this channel, and some of the EU products for example. In the case of this historic house, the open it up and seal it approach seems ill fitted and thus expensive. The goal is to save some of the historic wood working. In that case, reclaiming some historic wood is the better approach, then build new and cost effectively to the original layout, applying the reclaimed material. As it is, to meet code the original house will essentially have to be demolished in place bit by bit anyway. When taking in the old antique car to the shop for work, and the mechanic says his solution is to hand build everything but the trim with 2019 car parts, the cost many times that of a 2019 car, it’s time to look another mechanic.
My tiler demoed old tile in my master bathroom last week and the guy made alot of commotion before coming to get me, the walls behind tile are shiplap with old wallpaper surprisingly with not much damage to wallpaper, they were confused and so was I, this is the first video I’ve found with explanation to what that shiplap is. I always assumed since buying the house that behind the current drywall was lath and plaster
Nice house with charm, but I wouldn't want it. The cost and headache to renovate it are too high. It would be easier (and probably cheaper) to start from scratch. Plus, a newly designed structure will have fewer compromises for modern energy standards.
That's how I feel. It's not like a historical person lived there and it should be preserved to celebrate them in some way. I'm really curious to know what the final cost of the renovation is compared to just building a new home with similar dimensions.
Not really true. This house has been almost completely gutted; almost everything will be new. There will be very little painstaking restoration. The final cost will depend on the products, materials and systems they choose and the owner seems to have high expectations - suggesting high-end choices.
That's why I'm glad there are people like Claire to take it on. It would be a pity to lose yet more of our historic architectural heritage... It's takes all kinds of people to make the world go 'round. :0)
I am doing a 1912 with double tear drop ship lap siding. After watching Matt’s videos we decided to scrap sanding the lead paint off. Way To much work. We will take the siding of and insulate and use zip system before we add the new hardy siding.
Matt, you can apply closed cell spray foam directly onto the gravel of your crawl space to act as insulation and vapor barrier. Much easier than taped polyethylene membranes.
Thats a better idea than sealing the wood. Those old houses need to breath. Ive seen closed cell and open cell foam applied underneath a house ruin original floors on these types of foundations because of moisture issues.
@@saltwaterdriven Yes indeed. The higher moisture content in old wood definitely creates problems when sealed with spray foam or any air tight product.
I wish I could talk to you about my old house I bought. Old plank style house. It's taking me an eternity to peal off all the layers inside. It's got a huge amount of damage. Once I start putting the walls back together I'm not sure how I'm going to keep the moisture out of the walls. I might look into this egg barrier stuff you showed us.
I have a 6000 sqft house from between 1873-1876 (we cannot find the exact date but we were able to date it closely based on the fact it has Carnegie Steel). We are going through the process but unfortunately we must do it on the inside. It has old stucco on the entire exterior, so removing that is a no-go. Right now, we just got done with the bulk of the HVAC and we are finishing the third floor, bringing it up to passive house standards.
It seems like a lot of the building techniques you talk about are pretty exclusive to the American south. I don't know if I've ever seen a pier and beam house anywhere around the northwest, everything has basements.
The ground's less wet and shifty there, so it's easier to make a good basement happen. There are some in the south, but they aren't common because of issues like that.
The US has several very different climates, each region requires special attention to make things work. A leaky house is the only one that "works" in all of them, but its not that great. We dont really freeze here, the frost line is like 4". No need to dig down for deep footers. The water table in much of the South is also very high. You can dig down 1-2 ft and have flowing water. That means pier and beams or slab foundations only. The only basements you'll really find are in higher ground areas. I own one of maybe 30 basements in all of Houston, and it stays dry somehow lol.
Be aware if you pull the siding off with the intent to reuse it and add thickness to the wall, you may end up with gaps afterward. As far as the windows go, you can always have traditional storm windows or screens built to help keep bugs and the weather out.
My thought exactly- adding zip wall and a rain screen as stated, will add at least and about 1-1/4" to each side (2-1/2" overall). The existing siding will need a board stretcher to make everything look like the original (or you could change the corner board detail)
Why not go geothermal routed through a filtered HVAC with positive pressure in the home? This would significantly cut the HVAC bills, maintain quality air/temp/humidity year round and allow the home to remain in its original state. It would be significantly cheaper in the short term and probably cheaper in the long term. No crazy engineering required to keep dry air flowing through properly. Add on some solar to offset the HVAC costs and call it a day.
What's the reason that this isn't a good idea? (I don't know enough to understand the implied concern, so a quick explanation would be helpful. Thanks!)
AE firstly, it’s irreversible. The building components of this house have made it 150yrs but now they have a big fat foaming time stamp applied- the original fabric of this house is now destined for the landfill as soon as any simple repairs or changes are needed. It will hide and compound the inevitable problems down the road whether that be a plumbing issue or an appliance issue or problems with a window penetration or insects. Thats short term- but just imagine what a house sees in 150 years: depressions, recessions, wars (god forbid), abandonment, repossession, dilapidation... as soon as conditions change from the most optimal for this house, it is a goner. Foam prevents natural moisture and gas movement through the wood meaning that without the crutch of a perfectly maintained building and uninterrupted climate conditioning, the house is gonna rot. While it could have otherwise survived a few decades with all of its windows busted out and a tree growing through the roof...
@@eggsoups then what would be your recommendation other than just leave it 'leaky.' If the owners want a conditioned living space, you can't just leave it alone.
Princess Bride you’re right- build new or do exactly what they’re doing here if that’s what you want to do. But if you’re interested in preserving the historic fabric of the house for the long term, treat it with respect and do your best to steer clear of irreversible time stamped short term solutions. Vapor sealing the crawl space and insulating floor wall and attic with mineral wool could be a start.
That house deseves to have a basement. Also I would upcycle any old material that connot be used anymore as decorations. I used to reno 100+ year old houses and that was common. I would typically make a furniture piece gift for my clients out of recleamined material from the reno.
Enjoyed the video Matt. Always looking for your old home videos as I have a 1919 bungalow in SA. Just to be sure I'm tracking on your preference here - you're saying to *leave the walls hollow,* re-sheath with Zip, then external insulation (e.g., Rockwool), then rainscreen/batten, then siding? I'm planning to reside (old teardrop siding) only a section of my house and am trying to figure out the best way to do it. I'm not opposed to external insulation, but only a section would look weird - is there a good way to do insulation in the walls while still maintaining a good vapor barrier? Would love to know! Thanks.
I'm fixing up a 1893 original sandstone foundation, three stories all 9"+ ceilings. Brought it down to studs. 4" act. studs, hopeing to get a 1/2" of spray foam and 3 1/2" batts.
@@codycharles7147 Do yourself a favor and strip off the old siding, add new sheathing and wrap or ZIP sheathing. Old wood stinks, and wrapping it in tyvek traps it inside. I've been in houses where it was done, and they smelled mustier than before. New sheathing also allows you to better seal windows and doors. I gutted and renovated my house. I replaced the attic floorboards with subfloor and it made a BIG change in the way the house smelled! Good luck.
My house is constructed similar to this some idiot in the 70s nailed strips of wood to it and stucco straight onto the cedar siding on basment and attic area done same except they covered cedar shingles I bought it and when redoing the basment discovered the stucco at front is causing water issue Have to strip it all and try to save what's beneath if possible
This is silly. The floor joist and beam assembly become a part of the conditioned space of the house, meaning it would share the interior temp and humidity. This means, provided the other components of the building envelope are functioning properly and the pumping isn't dumping water into the floor, its fine. Do you live in spaces with 75% humidity and above? Do you dump buckets of water on the floor everyday?
@@georgehart1122 This will rot your foundation and ruin your floors. I watch my neighbor do this and have to rip out her original 100 year old floor a year later.
@@georgehart1122 If everything runs perfectly, sure. But we also have to design and build failsafes for when things dont work perfectly. Texas is hot and humid, so things need to be able to dry naturally when something else fails. A leaky pipe or drain, or failed/turned off A/C, can cause big problems in a short time.
Are you required to bring it up to modern standards? I would strip the siding and install a rain-screen/air barrier type material, remove and reinstall windows with sill pans, install the old siding, and then blow the walls with fiberglass. Going to be a a lot more efficient than it was and shouldn't have any rot issues either. That amount of work would take half a century to pay off in utility bills.
A question to ponder; If remove & replace methods are use, at competition, what percentage of the restoration of the house is considered, Original or Replica If not original, constructing from new could be an option? To rebuilt in original methods, Capsulate building practices is a historical structure for future knowledge of how the modern homes got their foundational start.
I live in an older 1935 house and just replaced my old single pane windows with vinyl casments, spray foamed my wall cavities and resided with azek and Hardie. You can keep the house original looking with trim details and a wood roof. If you actually want to live in the house forget about all the period authentic bullshit and do it right
Interesting but I have to say a little disappointing! Firstly, yes the house looks odd with the concrete foundations! But, your thinking of spray foaming the underside!!! Really!! Wheres the sympathy with the original construction/materials? Our 100-year-old log house in Estonia was built with double glazing and roof insulation (yes it gets cold here!) and it now has 12" (300mm) of underfloor insulation using blown paper impregnated with Boric Acid. It allows the structure to breathe. The trend here is away from newer PU/foam materials and back to something that works with the original structure. We have a small wood-fired heater, but last winter at -15 Deg C, we were walking around in T-shirts and bare feet! I'm totally sold on the importance of underfloor insulation, but, of the right type. I'd be really interested in having some feedback on the above. Still loving your channel though!
My sister's 1898 farmhouse (converted into a real house) here in Oregon had the shiplap wood with thin wallpaper over it. I can't imagine a less fireproof wall material. At some point they nailed wood lath over it (vertically of course) and plastered over it.
Especially if he removes the clapboards, he'll send it out and have it professionally and ecologically safely, chemically dipped. The process is controlled and not entirely too cost prohibitive. They'll be great to have hands-on with the scroll-work and detailed trim.
Since the house had to be moved anyway, pity they didn’t just partially disassemble it and turn it into a 21st century Sears house kit. They could have poured a new foundation (something more flood resilient than post and beam), removed lead paint and asbestos, and then reassembled it while incorporating code compliant features: electric, plumbing, HVAC, cat6 cables, smurf tube for future wiring , mineral wool insulation, and wind blocking breathable house wrap (I can’t quite bring myself to trust sprayed foam on wood, even with the dimpled mat used).
That foam spray is a big mistake (always is) as it will trap moisture, and the resultant damage to floor joists and boards will be invisible. You can't air-gap it all.
I have a similar problem project, a 110 year old home on the Texas Coast. it is a 2+ story balloon framed structure. It has survived hurricane Carla and other storms, so the "bones" are good. I'm currently working on leveling the home, replacing the groundfloot T&G subfloor with Advantech 1 1/8 OSB. The previous owner covered the exterior shiplap (profile #117)with 1" EPS, and vinyl siding. The interior side of the exterior walls is 1x6 shiplap. Do I use rockwool in the exterior wall cavities and subfloor or foam?
Hey Matt, just wondered if you already have a list of products that you have discussed in these video's for Waterproofing a home. I wish to share these products with a local builder. I could go through each video all over again if i have to try and list them, but thought i would ask you first... just in case. If you do, send me a link to the info. Many thanks in advance.
I'll tell you right now, this is his wheelhouse; he's got too many videos on too many systems to send you links to, and he's not going to take his time to do that unless you're going to pay him! Time is money fella! Just go through his videos, they won't be hard to identify, there are usually 3 or 4 products demonstrated for each application like foundation waterproofing, window pans, vapor barriers, etc. Pick and choose what works for you, or visit the sponsor links in his description. These are the processes he usually demonstrates.
Matt I’ve been looking for advice or a video on insulating a board and batten house with fiberboard sheathing (John’s Mansville Weathertite Sheathing). Would love if you could provide insights on what you’d do in this situation
What about rock wool insulation? It has a tendency not to hold the water. It may not be the best like spray foam but in this application you don’t have to remove all the siding on the whole house. Sometimes I think Your solutions to more energy efficiency cost more than three or four times what the utility bills would be over 30 years. Energy efficiency must be economical to install or it’s not efficient.
Rockwool and cellulose are the best for handling moisture, which we have a ton here in Texas. Foam is a no-go here, the risks of failure are too high considering the high heat and humidity. I used cellulose in my gut renovation of a 1950 house in Houston. Even with no A/C in the middle of summer it dries itself out, while a foamed house would be full of mold.
Living in my 110 year old house on original foundation. If, in 10 years I my place were in that condition I would *not* call it good. But hey, Texas. :)
What's the point in buying a house that needs siding, windows, doors, roof overhangs added, electrical, plumbing, hvac. It's cheaper just to build from scratch. There is not much square footage there and I think your in for an 80k remodel easy. I could build that brand new with a real foundation for 70.
It's got character; it doesn't smell like the door isle at Home Depot. That said, I'd be inclined to insulate the inside of the walls as Matt described, leave most of the siding in place, increase the overhang of the gable, add flashing above the lintel moldings, cover only the top & front surfaces of the window sills with aluminum (enough to keep the water out, but not enough to trap it), add ductless AC units and just watch and monitor it carefully after that. Lap siding doesn't leak much except around the windows and doors, so why tear it all off?
I'm liking your videos more and more. I'm a fan of This Old House but your channel seems to be more about construction and less about featuring some new product. I like that you have a fan on This Old House who wears your ball cap; maybe we'll see you on there one of these days....
Not really. There's no bullshit quickie-trick construction in it. It's from before the whole "drywall and forget it" era as well. As long as there's no subterranian termite damage it will probably last a hundred more years. The wood we used to build houses back in that era isn't the cheap shit you can get at lowes, it was normally 2.125 by 4.25 and had 8 times the strength.
Despite the gains in insulation, I would strongly discourage the use of spray foam in the crawlspace. There's no point into hanging onto a home built with such old lumber if you're going to completely encapsulate it in some modern substance.
Matt, I am in the same type of predicament with a 1930 house built on the water in Cape cod. I have been leaning towards using Siga Majvest 500 wrap on the original shiplap sheathing. Applying Benjamin Odbyke rainscreen with cedar shingles on top. Then from the inside using Aerobarrier before installing rockwool. Then either using Siga Majrex or plywood with Siga Rissan on the joints then blue board on top of that. I could skip the Aerobarrier and do closed-cell foam…I could also rip off the shiplap sheathing and apply Zip sheathing….I just do not know what to do, could you please help me!??
Taking off the siding and trying to reinstall it is not a practical idea. The cost involved, if you ensure no damage, is way too high for the return. Trying to add outside insulation won't work at all. The entire house now changes. The overhangs, which are already small, are now smaller by the size of the insulation and air screen, and the boards are too short to meet. While this can be "fixed" by using wider corners, you are not using the original material and it changes the look of the home. Plus, and this is most important, it won't help save the wood all that much. It's not just the air flow that keeps that old wood dry, it's the HEAT from inside the house. That leaking heat helps quickly dry out the siding. While this makes the house colder, or hotter depending on the season, the flow of heat helps keep everything nice and dry.
My 70 year old home in the Houston area has shiplap and knotty pine walls and no insulation too. I'm actually concerned that if I added rockwool or any type of insulation it won't be able to "breath" anymore like it has for 70 years and I'd be creating problems. But I want it to be more energy efficient! Any thoughts?
What is your exterior sheathing and covering? I live in Houston too and gutted and remodeled my 1950 house. I left and old Cellotex sheathing and just foamed all the gaps and holes. The exterior is brick and left it alone. I hired Payless Insulation to spray cellulose in all the walls, its about the best for handling moisture in walls and also breathes. Rockwool is also very good at handling moisture! Both allow the house to breathe. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!
So my question is . I understand doing the exterior insulation. I have a 100yr old home in far Northern Minnesota with shiplap on the outside as well.. but adding the zip system on the outside . How does the wall breathe out interior moisture?
I'm trying to figure out why someone thought it'd be a good idea to have pressure treated wood directly touch concrete like that. If I'm not mistaken, that's a really bad idea.
Oh ya add 3 plus inches up zip siding then put old wood back are you smoking crack would ruin the whole asthmatic of the whole less overhangs let alone siding wouldn’t be big enough
I have to agree he is way over simplifying it you can’t add all those layers of material onto the outside and put the old siding back on without doing all sorts of revisions to make up for the change in dimensions.
Could you put a new interior wall system inside the old one? Use foam board against the old interior studs leaving the cavity hollow to keep it vented while still keeping the original facade. Inside use metal 2x4 or 2x6 studs to hold the drywall up while filling that cavity with rock wool or something like minded. The walls will be thicker and interior space will be lost, but if it would work, maybe it would be a good tradeoff.
A bit unrelated question, but couldn't I just lower temperature in my house by putting foam insulation boards on my attic floor joists ...no need for spray in or rolling fiberglass for quick and easy diy...other question is there a safety issue by doing it this way?
Idunno about that crawlspace insulation... I'm not a builder, but I know for sure the wood in the crawlspace lasted 120 years without it. I got a suspicion it won't make 120 years with it. What's really to insulate there - this is Georgetown TX, the temp down there will be a pretty constant 50-70 degrees.
Got 150 yr old balloon framing farmhouse... How does I insulate some exterior walls? Heat bill in Canada is $800/month on cold months??🤔 don't want to change exterior.
The only think I'm finding for the delta dimply mat is another material used on basements. Do you have an exact material name for the dimply mat and the material stapled on top of it?
Personally I hate old flaky cedar siding, just gonna be a maintenance nightmare going forward. I’d wrap the whole place from the outside with house wrap and reside it with something maintenance free, and then gut and remodel the inside in typical fashion, but that’s just my thoughts and I am by no means a preservationist
What if my 82 year old house exterior is nearly 100% cut limestone block? Working on the outside is not an option, and sealing the inside loses floor space and removes the thermal retention benefits of stone. I am so lost!
I am a first time home owner. The house i bought is located in michigan and comes with similar issues regarding water penetrating the walls however i dont have any insulation currently but want to insulate the walls come this summer. Your video makes me believe the water would be a red flag to no proceed until i can do something about the envelope. Would you be able to elaborate or recommend a resource to determine the best path forward.
Can i apply the typical building practices you use on my new house build in southern Illinois? Most importantly, the insulation and venting techniques?
I would say sure you can, but the dimple-mat was used where a vapor-barrier and waterproofing membrane wasn't possible without disturbing the original exterior structure. With new construction, you won't have that. You can theoretically have a better system (depending on how much $$ you spend) by the way you sheet and barrier your exterior, and how well you weatherproof your window installs. All that done properly, and you'll have a BETTER, more efficient system than dimple-mat on a retro possibly, because you can have better R value and better membrane/vapor barrier on your exterior. The dimple-mat system would still be a great choice for a foundation wall exterior below grade to keep water and resulting moister and pressure channeled away from your foundation. THAT would be an excellent application on new construction. Just my opinion....
