Woollen worries

[Guest Alphonsox]

An issue with moths and sheep's wool insulation - new to me

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/01/grand-designs-dream-home-ruined-biblical-plague-moths/

[Jeremy Harris]

IIRC, wool insulation is supposed to be fitted within an insect-proof barrier, not left exposed where moths can lay eggs on it, so the defect seems to be more one of poor installation than a defect in the product.  We looked at this before choosing pumped cellulose, because there is is potentially a similar vermin problem, even though most pumped cellulose is borax treated.

 

I concluded that as the cellulose was sealed tight inside the structure, and as I spent a day going around the outside of the frame sealing up even the very smallest of openings with low expansion foam, and making sure that the breather membrane was very tightly secured everywhere, there was no way for anything to get at the cellulose itself, so there was no problem.

 

We've had mice nesting inside open fibreglass insulation in the loft of the old house, as there was nothing covering it up, so once they got into the loft then they could nest in it to their hearts content.  The fix for that was to seal up all the holes under the tiles around the eaves and fix soffit vents with grills to keep the little blighters out.

 

I suspect that any insulation material that is left exposed would end up being a home for some creature or other.  The key is to make sure the creatures can't get to it.  Keeping moths out doesn't seem to be a major problem, I'd have thought,

[Ferdinand]

10 hours ago, JSHarris said:

IIRC, wool insulation is supposed to be fitted within an insect-proof barrier, not left exposed where moths can lay eggs on it, so the defect seems to be more one of poor installation than a defect in the product.  We looked at this before choosing pumped cellulose, because there is is potentially a similar vermin problem, even though most pumped cellulose is borax treated.

 

I concluded that as the cellulose was sealed tight inside the structure, and as I spent a day going around the outside of the frame sealing up even the very smallest of openings with low expansion foam, and making sure that the breather membrane was very tightly secured everywhere, there was no way for anything to get at the cellulose itself, so there was no problem.

 

We've had mice nesting inside open fibreglass insulation in the loft of the old house, as there was nothing covering it up, so once they got into the loft then they could nest in it to their hearts content.  The fix for that was to seal up all the holes under the tiles around the eaves and fix soffit vents with grills to keep the little blighters out.

 

I suspect that any insulation material that is left exposed would end up being a home for some creature or other.  The key is to make sure the creatures can't get to it.  Keeping moths out doesn't seem to be a major problem, I'd have thought,

 

I can confirm the last paragraph.

 

I had a pile of Rockwool on our drive taht was for insulating under the floor of the Little Brown Bungalow.

When the handyman got around to taking it over, he complained very slightly about the (small number of) lone-living bees from our old stone wall that had taken up residence.

 

.

Ferdinand