Warm and Cozy

After months of research, our house is now insulated with dense pack cellulose. Everything I had read and heard from other people in the energy business indicated that this was the stuff for us.  We chose Coastal Insulation to do the job because of their experience with cellulose and their cost effective bid. Before work began, Paul and Chris had multiple conversations with Manny, the owner of the insulation company,  so we would know exactly what to expect with the route we were taking.

On Thursday, Alex, the site-prep man, showed up at the house with rolls of netting and his rapid-fire staple gun. He carefully explained to me how he was going to secure the netting over the studs and strapping to make it as tight as possible. I watched as he stapled the netting on the very inside of all the studs so no cellulose would migrate. Apparently, if this happens it makes it more difficult for the installers to hang the sheetrock.

stapling netting

Alex finished all the ceilings by the end of the day and returned on Friday to do the walls. As he worked he told me about his life as a law student in Brazil, subsequent immigration to Boston, meeting his future wife, and how proud he is of his 7 year-old son's progress in school. He also told me that he was sorry that he would not be the one doing the cellulose installation.

Early on Saturday morning a team of 6 arrived from off Cape to do the job. With my dust mask firmly in place, I took on the roll of observer, watching as the team attacked this simple yet laborious process.  Two blowers were set up in the front hall along side the bales of cellulose. All day long big chunks of the stuff were fed into these machines. It was quickly propelled through the tubing held by Brian, the foreman and shot out into the cavity. Within minutes a portion of the wall filled up. Another cut was quickly made in the net to insert the tube again to continue the job. When the tube was moved and some of the cellulose fell on the floor it was simply swept up and put back in the machine, leaving no waste.

cellulose blower

Currently, I am reading a book about the 1930's Dust Bowl called The Worst Hard Time, and I am reminded that those pioneers also used newspaper for insulation. "Some nesters even arranged the papers in neat, horizontal rows, so they could read the fading news stories." But I didn't need Chris to remind me that rodents also use it to line their nests in the walls. Fortunately, critters are repelled by the boric acid impregnating the cellulose.

As soon as the machines were turned on, the room became hazy with dust. Everyone wore masks but no one covered their eyes. Within minutes it started to bother me so I grabbed a pair of goggles from the garage. I'm sure I was a sight with mask, goggles, and hair up in a baseball cap hiding behind the camera. While work continued on the first floor several members of the crew worked on the installation of Ecotouch fiberglass batts in the crawl space under the house. By five o'clock the house was swept clean and the job was done. It is going to be a very tight house. The next step is the insulation inspection that we hope will happen in a day or two.

cellulose ejected into ceiling

Out on the riverfront we have been experiencing astronomical high tides. Yesterday, I watched as water covered the parking lot next to us. Fishermen who left their trucks and trailers there earlier in the day were going to return to wet tires. Inspired by the high water I dragged my kayak down to the river for a paddle upstream. Along the way, I noticed the gritty gray berries on the bayberry bushes flanking the path. I grabbed a couple off a stubby branch and crushed them between my fingers. The pungent smell always reminds me of the early settlers who used to boil these berries to collect the wax for candle making. As I paddled down the river past the old 1920's mansions, my mind drifted between the economic problems facing a newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt and the ravages of the Oklahoma panhandle and the challenges of the Pilgrims in a new land who discovered that this fragrant berry could provide them with light. It is reassuring to consider that in spite of all this we persist and endure.