Demolition and cavity wall insulation.

[Barney12]

Two questions that are currently in my head re the demo and I'll post separately to aid future searching. Firstly cavity wall insulation.

 

Our 1950's eyesore is rammed full of cotton cavity insulation. My worry is that when we demolish it's going to go EVERYWHERE which I just know will provoke outrage with our nearest neighbour and possibly the national park too.

 

So I've got a few options:

 

1. Hope for a still day.

2. Try and remove it.

3. Try and absolutely saturate it with water to stop it blowing everywhere. It's incredibly absorbent (the reason the house is so damp!).

 

Any other ideas? Or which ones best?

[jack]

I don't think you want to remove it.  

 

Saturating it could work, although awkward to get to it before the walls come down (be a bit time consuming drilling holes for a hose or spraying water in through top of cavity if you can get to it).

 

I'm not familiar with cotton insulation, but assuming it's a bulk product like batts, it'll likely be clumped together pretty well given how long it's been in the cavity. Can you knock a hole in a wall somewhere and see what state it's in?  

[Barney12]

It's not well compacted at all. There are various holes where I can reach in and grab handfuls.  

[Gone West]

I'm planning on soaking mine which is blown mineral fibre and hoping it is reduced dramatically in volume as it is a 100mm cavity.