![insulation for lath and plaster walls insulation for lath and plaster walls](https://basc.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/images/2018-MandalayProd-8-XPSInsulation-metal%20flashing%20behind%20foam.jpg)
Harder to figure out how to spray diluted elmers into the bead stream.I owned a 110 yr old house that my husband moved into with me when we got married. I'm ok to rig up a blower from a shop vac, a cardboard box, a clear hose and some duct tape. I figure the bigger beads are less likely to migrate through cracks. I was going to use the latter in some 1.5" cavities I have, drywall furred to block walls above grade, and maybe the bigger (cheaper) beads in some deeper cavities I have below grade. On amazon you can get either 8-mm or 3mm beads by the cu ft. I would trust factory blown EPS beads to outgas less nasties (without fire, over time) than any poly-urea foams done in my walls. What a local code official would say, I don't know.Īpparently one issue with the beads is that the polystyrene soaks the plasticizers out of vinyl wiring jackets, making them brittle and potentially prone to cracking in the distant future.
![insulation for lath and plaster walls insulation for lath and plaster walls](https://d31nlic817ug0g.cloudfront.net/8d3a291fee4193a1c65e71741b2327a17e69e25d-4-medium.jpeg)
Between two brick walls is pretty fire safe. The beads would be a lot like beadboard (EPS) chemically. I would assume that all foam burns and is dangerous in a fire. Additionally, it completely changes the building's exterior historic character. The "deep dish" retrofit makes the most sense, but it is a major and likely epensive undertaking. I'll park these two links here in the hopes it may help someone using the search function in the future. Or, with interruption of evaporation in the freeze/thaw cycle, brick can spall and rapidly degrade. If you diminish the ability for air circulation, you end up with rotted joists at critical structural junctures. It is a structural element into which joists are embedded. Thing is, the brick is not simply a veneer. I may not be around to know the long term effects of blowing cellulose or foam between the wythes but if you explore/research the literature consensus points to trouble. That's the rub…the two "walls" (exterior brick and interior lath/plaster) do act together as a single system. Thanks for reading this overly long post! As it is I bet the 13 is limited by being shoved back into the old firebox, but again, not enough room to have a larger stove sticking out into the room. I bet I'd be very content with a larger stove but I don't have the space. I'm heating with an Englander 13 placed into the firebox of the living room end of a completely open 1st floor (approx 18' x 32'). One specific question I have is, can cracks in the plaster allow cold air to infiltrate into the house? There are several hairline or larger cracks in the wall, but no plaster is missing nor is there lath exposed.Īnyway, short of medieval style thick tapestries or blankets, does anyone have a ideas of how to deal with the negative effects of this cold wall? I put a thermometer at the bottom of the staircase this winter and no matter how hot the wall thermostat said the ambient air was at, the thermometer by the wall at the bottom of the stairs was never higher than 59/60*F. I'm convinced that the cold radiates or convects, or whatever, into the house. Second, with all its imperfections, the plaster has an historic appeal that I'd rather retain. First, I prefer to not loose valuable real-estate on the staircase I don't want to loose the stringer I painstakingly stripped and repainted. I'm not really willing to fur it out, insulate and then hang drywall for a couple of reasons. So, the issue I'm trying to address is this cold, cold wall. I had blown in insulation blown into the "true attic" above the 3rd floor when I bought the house in 2005. The staircases runs parallel to this wall (basement to 1st, 1st to 2nd, 2nd to finished 3rd floor). This wall, from the 1st floor to the finished attic has the original lath and plaster, and the structure is two-courses of brick. I have an alley running along that south-west side.
![insulation for lath and plaster walls insulation for lath and plaster walls](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fc/92/e2/fc92e2fb48eb4b16b319985e482e6c8a.jpg)
![insulation for lath and plaster walls insulation for lath and plaster walls](https://media.angieslist.com/s3fs-public/styles/widescreen_large/public/lath_plaster.jpg)
One side wall is a "party wall" shared with my neighbors and the other, south-west facing side wall gets all the weather coming from the west. My house is a late, 1890's solid brick end row house in Pittsburgh, PA. Not sure there's a solution short of a medieval-era tapestry hung against the wall, but here goes the situation I'd appreciate some help thinking through: