Before you install insulation over the sawdust check the attic for old knob and tube wiring commonly installed from the late 1800s until the late 1950s.
Sawdust in attic.
Regardless call an exterminator immediately and provide them with all the data.
While this may seem like an unnecessary piece of equipment keep in mind that sawdust can sit for long periods of time and silently cause harm to your lungs and your tools.
So while seeing sawdust in our attic and all over our yard was a shock and a mess to clean up in the end we are very thankful that asbestos was nowhere in sight.
Even looking through a full house external my attic and examining my interior walls it only took the dude 20 minutes tops.
1 what is the best bang for my buck ie vs r value 2 should i take out the sawdust before putting new insulation in.
The sawdust could be from one of three things.
Or the sawdust could be from either carpenter ants or sometimes other ants or powderpost beetles.
This substance is called termite frass or termite excrement.
Knob and tube wiring is made of two individual wires that run through and are connected to porcelain insulators.
As a second line of defense you can also use a shop vacuum.
Frass is a sawdust like material left behind when ants bore into wood to make their nests.
If you see this around your house it s a telltale sign you ve got an ant problem on your hands.
It could be actual sawdust from construction of the cabinets or repairs that has since sifted out of the cabinets if they ve been moved or banged around.
As far as an attic goes you can just pile it in.
It will contains body parts and debris but will basically look like a pile of light wood shavings.
Request a quote walkthrough because you may have a termite infestation.
If you suspect there might be asbestos present in your home try to avoid disturbing the asbestos material and visit it s your health vermiculite insulation containing asbestos for more information on asbestos and minimizing your.
I am using sawdust insultation in the house i am building and i am mixing in some hydrated lime and a little borax.
Does need to be dry or the lime will set a little bit and hard things up.
Commercial extruded polystyrene sheets and fiberglass insulation are expensive especially in the quantities required in solar passive homes hence the importance of local replacement materials.
Instead they excrete a substance that many people mistake for sawdust.
I plan to put about 20 inches in my.
In order to increase energy efficiency i would like to re insulate the attick.
This will keep sawdust out of your air passages and prevent long term exposure from becoming a serious issue.
Of the three main types of termites subterranean dampwood and drywood it s the drywood termites that can leave behind the piles of frass often mistaken for sawdust.
This page contains a list of research papers on the use of sawdust as an insulation material.
If they want to charge you call somewhere else.
