Bob talks with Nick Beasley about insulating his 100-year-old home. Insulation contractorsare installing Pro Pink blown-in fiberglss insulation from Owens Corning. Joe Arrigo from Owens Corning talks about installing insulation in an old house where conventional batt insulation is often not suitable for odd spaces. To remedy this problem, a piece of fabric is stapled in place and then loose fiberglass is piped in through a hose into the space behind the fabric. This spray-in, loose-fill insulation is effective and will translate into big savings in heating costs next winter.

If you need to insulate your attic, blowing in cellulose insulation is an easy job you can do yourself by renting a machine at your local lumberyard. To install the insulation, blow the cellulose in up to the level of your floor joists. Cellulose is made from recycled newspaper and treated with Borax, a natural pest repellent and fire retardant. For best results, be sure to distribute the cellulose in an even layer. In an attic with two-by-six joists, you can achieve an insulation factor of R-19.

Bob again meets up with insulation contractor Joe Sheridan in the main house where the Cocoon insulation in being blown into the original plaster walls. To accomplish this, Joe's crew has drilled holes every 16 inches so that they are into every stud cavity. They drill one high and one low to acheive the proper density. First they apply it to the bottom and fill till it's solid in there - about 30 seconds on a bottom cavity. The installer can tell when it's filled from the pressure of the hose. The product will start backing into the hose. With experience you can hear it. Thge goal is to create maximum density in the cavities - leaving no air pockets. When the insulation process is complete a plasterer will have to come in and patch each hole individually.

Mark Long and Bob Roundtree blow in Guardian Ultra Fit fiberglass insulation.

Bob recaps the work done so far in the Melrose remodeling project. A new nursery has been created for the soon-to-arrive baby, blown-in insulation has been installed in the attic, and some of the windows have been replaced. The family lives on the second and third floor of a two-family home and Bob shows how baby safety gates have been installed at the top and bottom of the stairs. Bob reviews some of the safety products in the kitchen designed to make the room safe for toddlers. Safety latches, dial covers for the stove, and sliding electrical outlet covers have all been installed. An elegant new powder room has been created featuring a porcelain sink and toilet from Porcher, elegant lighting from Bellacor, and iridescent blue tile from Daltile.

Insulation contractor Rick Davenport shows Bob how they install wet-spray cellulose insulation into open walls. The material is typical cellulose insulation, simply recycled newspaper. It's the installation system that is unique. Small jets of water moisten the insulation as it leaves the nozzle of the blower hose. The damp cellulose sticks to the studs and exterior sheathing, completely filling the wall cavity. The moisture will dry before the interior drywall is installed, so it doesn't harm the wall or affect the insulation value of the material. A large rotating brush, called a stud scrubber, removes excess material and cleans the inside face of the stud. In the ceiling, a blown-in-insulation is used. Plastic netting has been stretched along the bottom surface of the ceiling joists to support the material. The end of the blower hose is inserted through the netting to fill the cavity. Instead of adding water as the cellulose leaves the hose, an adhesive binder is mixed with the cellulose before it leaves the hose. The binder helps achieve a controlled density that provides a uniform insulation level of R-3.7 per inch, which comes to R-37 in this 10-inch cavity.

Bob is joined by Mikde Hobson of Westchester Insulation as the crew prepares one of the Mashpee houses for insulation installation. Hobson explains that this is a patented insulation system that uses special fabric stapled and drawn tight across any cavity that needs to be insulated. The crew works with pneumatic staplers to get the fabric in place across all the walls and the joists of the cathedral ceiling. The fabric is not intended as a moisture barrier of any kind and is just there to hold the insulation in place and prevent it from settling. Hobson shows Bob the white fiberglass that will be blown into the cavities. It is white because it is a virgin product, completely free of treatments, binders, or chemicals. Certainteed and Johns Manville both produce fiberglass insulation that is suitable for the Blow-In-Blanket installation. Once all cavities have been enclosed, the insulation contractor cuts a slit in the fabric and inserts a hose through which the fiberglass is blown. The cavity is filled to a density of two pounds per cubic foot which is visible to the eye by a slight bulge in the fabric. At this density, an R-value of 15 is achieved in two-by-four cavities like walls. In attics and ceiling cavities that are two-by-six, an R-value of 38 can be achieved. This insulation is inert and will not support moisture, mold, animals, or insects. It also serves as a sound insulator and can be blown in around drain lines, in interior partitions, and around tubs and showers. Blo-In-Blanket insulation is suitable for new construction or retrofit applications where it is blown in through the sheathing from the outside or through interior drywall to fill wall cavities. Blow-In-Blanket insulation costs about 50 to 60 percent more to install than traditional batt insulation, but offers such energy efficiency that it pays for itself within two to four years.

The roof of the new addition is being insulated to retain all the heat generated from the radiant heating system. Paul Johnson of Alpine Insulators reviews the installation process. The first step involves installing netting that is breathable so air can escape once the cellulose is installed. The netting is fire-retardant and stapled in place to hold dense-packed cellulose in place. Bales of cellulose are emptied into a machine located in an on-site truck that shreds the cellulose before pumping it at high pressure into the cavities of the roof. In this case, the insulation cost about $2.25 a square foot. Cellulose is a great thermal insulator and sound attenuator. In the interior partion wall where the bathroom will be located, cellulose will be installed directly against the drywall. Bill Hulstrunk of National Fiber reviews some of the properties of cellulose insulation, which has been around since about 1920 and used extensively since 1970 in both new and existing construction. Borates are added to make the cellulose fire-retardant, and mold and insect resistant. Because of the added borates, a propane torch can be put to the cellulose without igniting it. In a field test, a penny can be put on top of the cellulose and melted without the heat penetrating the material. These borates are naturally occurring and the cellulose itself is made of 83 percent recycled content, making this type of insulation an environmentally conscious, "green" choice. The cellulose in this house is being used in an unvented application. Because the material is packed very tightly, it reduces the chance that warm, moist air will penetrate the cavity and create mold growth.

Bob meets up with Joe Sheridan from Energy Guard to learn more about the US Greenfiber Cocoon cellulose insulation application that is taking place in the barn. This is not a do-it-yourself process. A mesh material is first attached behind the wall cavities to hold the cellulose in place until the drywall is applied. The cellulose is essentially ground up newspaper treated during the manufacturing process with borates to resist fungus growth. It's mixed with a litle moisture and blown into the stud cavities. Product that falls onto the ground is vacuumed up and sucked back to the truck where it is remixed and blown back out. While one installer blows the insulation in, a second man follows with a stud scrubber, leveling the cellulose with the studs. The goal is to create a tight fit eliminating air movement through the wall. One can achieve an R-factor of R-13 in a 2 x 4 wall and an R-21 in a 2 x 6 wall, R-factors that will be maintained even in extreme temperatures. Within 24 hours after application the moisture content drops below 25% allowing sheetrocking to proceed. Another benefit of the product is sound attenuation. Upstairs in the attic, Joe's crew is doing a dry application. The cellulose is blown in under pressure. The hose is fed down to the bottom of the cavity and pulled back as it fills up. A proper vent in the ceiling is not necessary because the insulation is so dense that air doesn't travel through the insulation and miosture therefore never gets out to the roof sheathing. The price of the Cocoon product is comparable to fiberglass insulation.

Bob is back at the Punta Gorda, Florida, storm-ready house for the installation of the hurricane-resistant front door. Jesse Gonzalez from Mercedes Homes joins Bob for the installation of an oversized front door with impact-resistant side lite. Like the windows of the home, the door is installed agains a pre-cast lip so that it can resist blown-in during a storm. The sill and the added concrete lip will also help protect against water infiltration during a storm. The door is unusual in that it swings out, a feature that will help keep it and the house envelope in tact when pressured by high winds.