Okay, you are getting ready to put some insulation in a job and you are thinking it cannot be really be too tough. Well, it is not. There are just few things I need you to remember, but remember before you get started, make sure you have the right safety equipment.
Insulation does not bother me, but you may need to wear a long-sleeve shirt. You may need to wear a mask and it might not be a bad idea to have some light cotton gloves on, and maybe some eye protection.
There are two types of insulation. There is insulation that has no phasing on it, and there are some that does. Okay, the difference, the phasing is merely just a vapor barrier. I prefer to work with the insulation that is unphased and I add my vapor barrier, clear polyethylene plastic, just before I am ready to dry wall.
Now, here are some things I want you to keep in mind. The insulation comes from the factory precut for whip in many cases. That means, if you have standard stud material that is 16 inches on the center, the cavity between the studs is 14-1/2 inches. The insulation comes in a half-inch wider so it is friction fit. Keep that half-inch in mind because when you cut it for a length, you are also going to cut your insulation a half-inch longer than it actually needs to be.
Now, how do we cut the insulation? There are two ways. If you are lucky enough to know of someone who has got an insulating cutting knife, get that. If not, just use a standard razor blade or razor knife, but you are going to need a board to compress the insulation to make it easy to cut, really simple task to do. One or two swipes of the razor knife, is all you should need.
Now, when you get ready to install it, you have got electric wires in your way, it is really important. You need to split the insulation on the back side about a half way so that the insulation raps around the wire. If you do not do that, you end up with a void space or cavity and that is where you can have some heat loss.
Just tap the insulation into place that is cut right, it is nice and tight at the top. Keep it flipped up a little bit. Do not worry, your vapor barrier is going to cover it and your dry wall will hold it in place.
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