90 Years of Dumb Owners

[Mark P]

I know many of us have seen this before, but it just blows my mind that for 90 years, no one bothered to place insulation in this attic. Granted in 1920 when this house was built coal was cheap, people were not as energy savvy as they are today. But what about the people that lived here in the 70’s 80’s, last year? Didn’t anyone ever wonder why their bills were so high, or why the house was so cold? Didn’t anyone ever go into the attic and say has there is no insulation up here. We know you can’t bury K&T under insulation, but I don’t think that is why insulation was not added. I just think the house has a long history of dumb owners.

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[Tom Raymond]

Mark your one twisted individual. You just did the easiest inspection ever of a 1920 attic and your complaining about it[:-dev3]

Tom

[Mark P]

True it was easy - Good point.

[Chad Fabry]

easy would be if it had a gang plank

[Terence McCann]

easy would be if it had a gang plank

And a walk up stairway, oh, and air conditioned.

[Michael Carson]

And a model fanning you with palm fronds and handing you a cold beverage

[Ben H]

And a model fanning you with palm fronds and handing you a cold beverage

I like how you think Michael

[kurt]

I see this often. Every 2 flat in the city has about 2" of matted down glass, or nothing. Most of the old balloon framers have nothing.

The one's with roof vents have huge heating bills. The one's that don't have roof vents aren't as bad as one might imagine.

Go figure........

[Terence McCann]

You shouldn't cover K&T with insulation.

[kurt]

You shouldn't cover K&T with insulation.

Has anyone ever seen K&T that wasn't covered with insulation?

(other than the pic that started this thread.....)

I don't think I ever have.

[Neal Lewis]

Yeah, I see it all the time without insulation. In the basement...

[Terence McCann]

You shouldn't cover K&T with insulation.

Has anyone ever seen K&T that wasn't covered with insulation?

(other than the pic that started this thread.....)

I don't think I ever have.

No, me neither (although, by the book, it shouldn't be buried).

[Marc]

You'll run into uninsulated attics with K & T wiring fairly often where I'm at. The winters are not so cold and long here, so insulation isn't as important.

Marc

[AHI in AR]

You'll run into uninsulated attics with K & T wiring fairly often where I'm at. The winters are not so cold and long here, so insulation isn't as important.

Marc

I would respectfully point out that it's easy to diminish the importance of insulation in attics in hot climates in the summer time. A lot of people get into the habit of thinking that heat will only rise.

That's not seeing the whole picture.

While hot AIR rises, heat as a substance will always seek equilibrium; it will always move from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration. Hot summertime attic air will affect temps in the living areas below it. Insulating the attic is useful in hot climates also.

[msteger]

I know many of us have seen this before, but it just blows my mind that for 90 years, no one bothered to place insulation in this attic. Granted in 1920 when this house was built coal was cheap, people were not as energy savvy as they are today. But what about the people that lived here in the 70’s 80’s, last year? Didn’t anyone ever wonder why their bills were so high, or why the house was so cold? Didn’t anyone ever go into the attic and say has there is no insulation up here. We know you can’t bury K&T under insulation, but I don’t think that is why insulation was not added. I just think the house has a long history of dumb owners.

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Too bad the home owner of this afternoon's inspection didn't know about insulation and knob and tube wiring. I found about 7" of insulation covering active knob and tube. I didn't see the knob and tube until I dug down a little since I knew the home was built b/w 1913 and 1929 and had to have K&T originally. It was actually a Sears house with a poured concrete foundation. I thought it was kind of cool that you could order a house from the Sears catalog and they'd ship you everything in two or three railcars. You'd go pick up the stuff and build your home. Of course, that was prior to building codes.