We just had a new roof put on our house. We had a continous ridge vent installed on the roof. Now I will be insulating the attic. Our house is almost 100 years old and the only insulation in the attic is the pellet stuff just laying on the floor. I have been told it is called “vermiculite”. What ever it is called, it makes me choke when I breath near the stuff. So I was going to buy some insulation and insulate the rafters of the attic. Is this ok with the ridge vent along apex of the “A” of the roof.
Also, should I try and remove that vermiculite? I honestly can’t understand how that can have any R factor in it.
Thanks!
Dark
Replies
do not stuff the rafter bays...lay down a bed on the floor..cellulose blown in..nice and deep. The rige vent is so air can escape..hopefully it got in there from a soffit vent system..and ya need to NOT cover dem up with cellulose, install the baffles there..
Vermiculite has been making the news lately, some apparently has asbestos.
There is some controversy about it, the starting place for research is http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/asbestos/verm.html
And there are folks who claim the EPA has been covering up "the problem", and those who say it has been exaggerating it.
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I gleened this gem from the EPA web site. The stuff in my attic was way older than this, plus I removed it before EPA told me not to. ;-)
" Mesothelioma - a form of cancer that is found in the thin lining (membrane) of the lung, chest, abdomen, and heart. About 200 cases are diagnosed each year in the United States, and almost all cases are linked with exposure to asbestos. About 2 percent of all miners and textile workers who work with asbestos and 10 percent of all workers who were involved in the manufacture of gas masks that contained asbestos develop mesothelioma. This disease may not show up until several years after asbestos exposure. This is why great efforts are being made to prevent school children from being exposed."
The basic fact is that mesothelioma is a very rare disease condition "associated" with 10+ years of asbestos exposure, ie, people working with the stuff day in/ day out, that kills 200 people a year. If it weren't for lawyers making tons of money from it, you wouldn't likely hear about it. Most people have a 100 fold greater chance of getting killed in an auto accident. Follow the money, lawyers and a huge abatement industry is behind the asbestos problem.
As for the risk to people on this list:
W.R. Grace owned and operated the vermiculite mine in Libby. Much of the vermiculite from this mine was used in the company's Zonolite attic insulation, a product that the company sold from 1963 to 1984 when its sale by the company was discontinued.
I doubt it was much of an issue in my 1910 house. I found pictures and letters from the 20's and 30's in the debris as i removed it, so I guess I'm safe from Libby, MT vermiculite.
Jet Boy:
I believe some of your information is incomplete and some of your conclusions are not fully informed.
>>About 200 cases [of Mesothelioma ] are diagnosed each year in the United States,
>>The basic fact is that mesothelioma is a very rare disease condition "associated" with 10+ years of asbestos exposure, ie, people working with the stuff day in/ day out, that kills 200 people a year.
And mesothelioma is only one of the diseases associated with asbestos exposure. Other diseases include (i) other cancers - including lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer, (ii) non-cancers, including the lung disease termed asbestosis, pulmonary hypertension and immunological effects. (The good news is no studies have found links between asbestos exposure and reproduction!)
Looking only at mesothelioma is inadequate to assess the risks posed by asbestos.
>>If it weren't for lawyers making tons of money from it, you wouldn't likely hear about it. Most people have a 100 fold greater chance of getting killed in an auto accident. Follow the money, lawyers and a huge abatement industry is behind the asbestos problem.
No sick or dead people, no cases.
Asbestos is behind the asbestos problem.
(If it wasn't for auto mechanics making a ton of money repairing automobiles, you'd never hear anything about drunk driving, right?)
I'm not saying that it hasn't been overdone.
But I do take exception to suggestions that asbestos is no big deal.
Even with vermiculite, based on everything I've read (and I've been following the vermiculite issue for several years) there is not sufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions about the risks it poses.
I think a disservice is done when one tries to suggest that asbestos is nothing to worry about.
Just as I think a disservice is done when the problems are exaggerated.
And finally, re the reference to Grace. The Grace product is the only one that has been identified by brand and mining location. I have not seen anything suggesting that the asbestos issue is limited only to that brand or mine.
As I advise people regularly on this subject when they are buying homes, I am always looking for good information.
I see some good information and, unfortunately a lot of mis-information and incomplete information.
_______________________
Tool Donations Sought
I'm matching tool donors to a church mission to Haiti - we're shipping a bus converted to a medical facility in (now it looks like) April and can fill it with clothes, tools and all sorts of stuff needed in that poorest of all countries. A few hand tools or power tools can provide a livelihood for an otherwise destitute family. Please email me if you have tools to donate.
Thanks to Jeff and David and Jim and Rich and Steven and Mark and Jason and Shep and Jen and Mike and Joe and Bill and Ken for their offers!
Several donations have arrived! Thanks and God bless!