home insulation

[Unregistered-nicholas]

I have an 80+ y/o home, with balloon framing, plaster walls and radiator steam heat. Although my home stays relatively cool in summer and warm in winter, the last few years I’ve noticed the plaster walls “sweating” when the heat comes up and recently have noticed brown spotting on the rugs & upholstered furniture. I’m afraid this might be a mold.

I’m wondering if whatever insulation might have been in the walls has finally deteriorated, thus causing the “sweating” and moisture in the house, and whether insulating the balloon framed walls might stop this problem. If so, what kind of insulation would be best? What about a vapor barrier to keep moisture away from any new insulation, so the moisture on the walls doesn’t simply transfer to the insulation in between?

[Unregistered-lg]

i think the problem is originating with the heating system,especially if you have a one pipe system and the boiler has an automatic fill.

with that system working correctly you should be asking about ways to add humidity in the winter months.

[homebild]

The real problem is lack of insulation, not humidity level.

Without proper insulation, your exterior walls will become much colder than the dew point for the interior air pretty much no matter what the interior humidity level.

This will cause the gaseous water in the air to condense when it contacts these cold surfaces.

Add insulation regardless of type and your problems should cease.

[Bruno1949]

Blown in insulation, especially older types of insulation, will settle over the years and compact at the bottom of the walls, leaving very large areas with NO insulation.

It is NEVER a bad idea to have the house insulated properly. NEVER! So adding the proper fire stops (required in ballon framed houses if the walls are opened) and insulation and vapor barriers is never a waste of time or money no matter how comfortable the house feels presently. The cost of heating and cooling is NOT going to go down so it’s smart money to insulate.

In my old 1908 Painted Lady Victorian I had bad walls anyway so I basically gutted the house. The wall cavities had two layers of plaster and lath, one between the studs and one on the wall surface. It made the job twice as hard and twice as messy. New wiring, new phone and Internet lines, new plumbing where needed followed by fire stops in each bay and 4″ of fiberglass insulation (full sized 2″ by 4″ studs). Over that went 1/2″ foil faced foam board taped and sealed. Over that went 1/2″ drywall.

In the end you could heat a 12′ by 18′ room with a candle. Well, almost. I can’t say how much it cut my fuel costs because I also replaced the furnace with a newer ‘used’ gas furnace, but the new furnace was 75% the capacity of the old monster and it rarely ran during the day in winter unless it was -15 degrees outside. I know my heating bill dropped by $100 a month after just getting the downstairs finished and another $50 a month when the upstairs was done.

Your heating system should be checked to make sure it’s not venting steam into the house, it sounds like it might be doing that. After that, insulation is a very good idea. A properly insulated house with normal humidity levels will not have condensation problems like you describe. A little mist or frost on a window maybe, but not wet walls and furnishings.

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