remodeling of my old house

[patrickdeloera]

My house was built in 1930 and it has a center hall colonial. Looking at it from the front, the first floor is stone venere and the second floor is cedar shingles. The roof is of Vermont slate roof ( https://www.ncslate.com/products/ ) that kind of matches the color of the stone venere.
Actually, my house is not insulated at all and the windows are quite old. I need to move/enlarge some windows, replace other windows, and add insulation. Insulating the stone part will be trickier and may require blowing in cellulose from the inside.

Does anyone have any comments on this approach? I'm a bit concerned about what a house would look like.
I think it is extremely important to have a well insulated/ comfortable house.

 

[vacerator]

It is of course

wet plaster, or some type of wooden ship lap inside walls? My first house had blown in from the inside. They did a lousy job of patching the drywall near the cielings where they cut into them. Far better to blow it in from the outside, then you won't need to patch the plaster lathe base which is wood. It'd also compromise the integrity of it, unless you drill holes. Then I don't know how well the inside of walls would be filled everywhere if you only drill in a few holes per wall. Too much patching as well. I'd consult a professional insulator for an estimate.

 

[rp2813]

Robert, can you move this to "Super" please?

 

[rickr]

May I suggest that you join the Facebook group, "Our Old House" I think you will find others who have dealt with these issues.

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[dermacie]

Before I would do anything, changing windows, and insulating, I would as around to people who have done this and see if it is actually worth doing. Does it really make a difference on utility bills and how much. Windows are terrible expensive and many new ones don't really last that long, and with a home with possible historic value it might be best to research storm windows and restore what is currently there.

 

[retro-man]

A friend of mine had insulation blown in from the outside of his house, which was built in the 30's. Horsehair plaster over slats. About 5 years later he was replacing windows and when he took out the old ones there was no blown insulation around the window opening anywhere we could see. He decided to start ripping the interior wall out, since he always felt cold near the walls. Turns out almost 50% of the wall had no insulation. Where they stuck the hose in had it but about a foot way there was none. Most of it had settled down to the bottom 1 to 2 feet of wall space. Torn it all out and replaced it with fiberglass rolls and did sheetrock over that. So yes it is a messy job but worth the value and time knowing it is done properly. You can't see through the walls so you can't tell how well it is spreading out and about.

Jon

 

[lowefficiency]

1930? Better check first if your house has any active Knob & Tube wiring, as that will significantly impact your insulation options...