Nailboard on Interior Walls & Bedbugs
I am in favor of new insulating materials like nailboard for their thermal properties and ease of installation. I have seen a house converted to a residential property in a college town with plywood walls that had the worst bedbug infestation ever. The plywood alone has better thermal properties and a larger surface area that provides refuge to the insects during heat treatment. I wonder about using nailboard on interior walls and creating a “bed bug habitat” on the insides of walls.
Today, most contractors who would be installing these materials would tape seams, and probably install a vapor barrier on the floor, that laps up over the sheetrock. These are probably adequate preventative measures in commercial construction, but homes might require additional measures.
I want to discuss possibly painting the nailboard, and even using a permetherin additive in the paint. It sounds scary because it is an insecticide additive to paint, but with the current state of latex paint technology I wouldn’t expect it to peel into the home, and I would document the usage of this additive so that at the time of deconstruction, contractors would be knowledgeable. Do houses have MSDS? The paint also reduces the surface area of the nailboard, which is important when preventing small bugs.
Anyway, the board is $150/sheet it might as well be painted. Then, in 50 years, when it is time to deconstruct, the boards can be extracted and recycled.
Replies
Never heard of Nailboard so I looked it up. Their website says it's an insulated roof panel.
I'm not sure I'd remodel my house based on bedbug resistance, they can get in anywhere. Heat treatment is only one of the ways to treat them, you can also have the house tented which is even more effective.
If Nailboard is worth recycling 50 years from now the insulation industry will have failed in its job.
$150 per board??? And then having to look at OSB patterned walls for the next 50 years. Why, just why would you want that....