thedarktitan Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 We recently started renovating our home that was built in 1979. We sprayed fiber glass insulation on top of this unknown to me type insulation. If possible could someone help identify it please. I am stressing it is asbestos or something. Click to Enlarge 44 KB Click to Enlarge 49 KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 It's an older variety of cellulose, ground up newspaper mostly. Seen it quite a few times in older homes around here. No asbestos in cellulose. Relax. Click here for an older thread on this stuff. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarktitan Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Thank you I was thinking it was rockwool or something. We store like Christmas decorations in our attic and didn't want to be worried about it. Although there is blow in fiberglass around up there too so maybe we shouldn't be storing stuff up there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Just don't disturb the fiberglass if you're not wearing a respirator. Stay on the safe side. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Cellulose is good stuff to have in your attic. It forms a solid blanket that blocks air movement, so is better than fiberglass, in that respect. Is you attic hatch cover insulated? That is something many people neglect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarktitan Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 -Do you mean hatch like where I enter attic? If so no I do not because it would get everywhere when I go up there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Is the access to the attic in a garage, carport or is it in the house? Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarktitan Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The only one I have is in the house... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The only one I have is in the house... Then John K's advice is spot on. There's ways to insulate it without the mess. Search the web. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarktitan Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 -Will do! -I will continue to store a few things in my attic knowing it's not asbestos while keeping in mind not to stir up that fiber glass. Thank y'all for the input and identifying my insulation. I was up all last night stressing myself out.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarktitan Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Well I figured I'd update on my scare with asbestos- The reason I even became stressed about attic insulation and asbestos is because we had our popcorn ceiling scraped and painted. I didn't realize at the time that the popcorn could have asbestos, but when I found out I became fixated on researching and probably over reacting. I even sent a sample that had fell on the ground to that lab in California. They examined it very quickly and cheap $30. To my relief it came back negative for no asbestos! The said he found none in the sample on top of my chances being better since the house was built in 1979. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 There's lots of myths that spring up when information is short. I helped blow one to smithereens when I testified in support of a bill this past legislative session to require home inspectors to report mold growth. The Louisiana Board of Home Inspectors was still fighting it tooth and nail this past Monday when the governor signed it. Myths often die hard. Wrote this up a few days ago. Just felt like writing: We work in a profession entered with little more than a 90 hour classroom education, where discussion of any of a myriad of topics quickly becomes bogged in emotion and politics, where the truth is so distant that heated and painful discussion is ended only by grasping ancient policy, ignoring whether the foundation for that policy still applies, or even what it was. Given that, it's not surprising that this profession is a virtual fountain of myths, the latest of which is mold and the great liability attached to any mention of it. Home inspector liabilities can result from either of two mistakes: the failure to report something, either by design (exclusion) or by error; or by reporting something with mistaken language. In either case, the client is at risk of sustaining damage by the inspector's mistake, for which the inspector may be found liable at some point in the future. Mold was poorly understood in 1976 when it was first excluded by ASHI in the first Standard of Practice ever written. Almost anything an inspector could have said at that time stood considerable chance of being wrong. Excluding it was good policy then and the lesser of two evils, the greater being reporting it with errors. The problem with this 38 year old exclusion is that it's outdated. The EPA, OSHA, CDC and the NIEH all have information on mold growth in the home. These documents each describe in very simple terms, what mold is, what it means and what to do about it if it's in your house. Home inspectors no longer have an excuse to avoid reporting mold growth. Besides, since we now have reliable information about it, a home inspector has an opportunity to reduce his liability by reporting it correctly and backing it up with information from credible sources. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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