Remodel Guide: Types of Home Insulation

Several types of insulation are made: batts and blankets of fiberglass or rock-wool insulation that are readily available, easy to install in open framing and reasonably affordable.

Loose-fill insulation, made to be poured or blown-in to attics or closed-up walls by machine, is manufactured from fiberglass, rock wool, cellulose, perlite and vermiculite.

Some walls are filled with plastic foam. One type that is sprayed on during new construction-polyurethane-has excellent R values and blocks drafts caused by air infiltration. An older type, urea-formaldehyde foam, is no longer installed because of potentially dangerous vapor emissions.

Rigid foam board insulation is also used during new construction-typically installed as roof or wall sheathing before roofing or siding are applied.

Reflective insulations, made from aluminum foil, are used mostly in hot climates for blocking radiant heat gain through roof and walls.

Walls may be insulated during construction with nearly any type of insulation. Retrofitting walls with insulation, however, is expensive and difficult-it usually involves drilling holes through exterior walls that are later plugged and pumping-in insulation.

Crawl spaces are insulated with batts or blankets installed between floor joists and, in some cases, rigid foam board insulation on foundations or exterior finished-basement walls.

--Don Vandervort