Jan, there are several points I think are of paramount importance. Number one, make sure any and all exterior cracks and joints are batted and sealed or you will eventually have moisture invading your walls with all of the nightmare scenarios this might imply, mold rot and like. Blown in insulation will eventually settle leaving gaps at the top. If there are cross boards or fire breaks as some call them these will stop the insulation from filling the space. They do usually drill holes either on the inside or the outside and these must be thoroughly sealed to avoid moisture, wind driven rain will go through any crack and you do have such weather in Missouri. I'm beginning to wonder if your contractor might not be suffering from the "grey haired profit margin syndrome" and be taking advantage of your trusting nature. From the pictures I have seen, your barn home is not what I would consider weather ready to have the interior finished. Pardon me if I happen to be a bit skeptical, but in my not so humble opinion you have already been taken to the cleaners with your hot water problems, and I don't want to see you have nothing but regrets down the road when you are least able to afford the expensive prospect of doing something over that should have been done right in the first place. "There is nothing but a thin line between a dream and a nightmare."
OK, I wonder this myself, do we need it. Will the sheetrock provide more insulation that just the batts and planks? We have put up fiberglass batt years ago - but no way can we do the ceiling on this project. I'm OK with doing a couple of the smaller rooms ourselves, but is that being "penny smart and pound foolish"?? There is one exterior wall that already has tongue & groove on it but no insulation. He is planning on using the blown in stuff - R-19 8"depth. Since we've had water blow through this wall once, I suggested using the DIY foam kits - but he says this is fine. What my pea brain can't understand is, I know there are cross boards between the studs….I've used the stud finder to locate them to hang things. The paneling stops a few inches short of the ceiling and he said he can blow it in. But if you blow this in from the top of the wall how will it get distributed evenly - unless he plans on removing some boards. Do they drill holes through the outside boards? And, is it true that this stuff tends to settle in a few years leaving uninsulated areas near the top?
I know this is going to cost, but his initial figures of $24,542 seems a little high. I will definitely nix the $2000 to paint plus another $2000 to paint door and window trim — I can do this. He's also included $2000 for granite, which I don't want - and he knew this. Another $5000 to install two large sliding glass doors. I think the rest of it is installation of appliances and cabinets. The cost of those plus the fireplace, electrical work and HVAC is not included. The majority of his initial estimate is in the insulation/sheetrock & I guess putting up the panelling. If we could trim a few thousand off that, it will help.
He says he can get the walls up in a couple of days — but has rent on scaffolding for two weeks, :) If we can get this done fast, for a reasonable cost, we can proceed with the things we can do. I guess I'm anal about this but don't want to get started then get a bill for a lot more than we expected.
On Mar 20, 2016, at 4:50 PM, Ron Johnson l0c0l0b0@hotmail.com [DoIt_Yourself] <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Unless you REALLY need to, I wouldn't put sheetrock up if you're going to put paneling. And visa versa. And since they have rolled insulation that's easy to install, if i was you, I'd do that myself. Make sure you have a dust mask, goggles, gloves, and wear a long sleeve shirt to keep the stuff off of you. A staple gun would help securing it onto the studs if there's paper on it (make sure the paper is on the room side).
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Posted by: Dale Schoepflin <dalu@hbcomm.net>
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