Codes evolve just like anything else in this life. What is good today is bad tomorrow and something better has come along.

In the 1800’s insulating your home meant packing moss and mud between the logs–and this was considered a luxury! In Mongolia TODAY “good” insulation is derived by shoveling fly ash (what is left after coal is burned to generate electricity) into ones attic. Never mind that constant trickle of black dust from the ceiling…..

Thankfully we have come farther than that in the United States! In the 1950’s we began putting a VERY thin layer of fiber glass in the walls. Later it dawned on someone that heat rises and the ceiling made sense…so blow in insulation was born. As time progressed these insulations have grown thicker. Fiberglass now fills the full wall cavity and is a full 12 inches thick in the ceiling.

But wait there is more!!!!

Icynene or spray foam insulation has entered the scene!!! Why is this better? Well air can slowly blow through fiber glass, reducing its efficiency greatly, foam seals the inside from the outside. Code does not yet require this insulation, but I would bet it is coming!