I am new to these forums, and have no home maintenance experience. I own a 1975 SW, and my parents and I are trying to do a lot of repairs, replacements, and renovations to make it more livable. One of the big issues I've had is that in the winter, the cost to heat the house (with a new furnace) is over $300/month. We're going to have to Community Services Consortium come out to look at my windows and see if they can help with weatherization, but we're thinking the floor is the main issue. We don't believe it has much insulation, if any. My ex said that he would apply the insulation (I was thinking roll type R-19?) if I bought it, and told him how to do it. Since he agreed to do it however, we had a piece of the kitchen floor replaced, and here's what the handy man found mid-fix:
Yes, that gravel is the ground under the house. I'm thinking that insulation is the best we have.
AND-- (just to show you for kicks) part of the flooring he pulled up had been eaten away:
Lovely!
Now I am concerned that:
(a) It's too big a job even if I held my ex's hand and showed him exactly how to hang each piece of insulation?
(b) Are there beams down there to connect the insulation to? It doesn't appear so... how does that work?
(c) Is it possible to use some kind of sprayed foam insulation under the house instead of trying to secure rolled r-19?
(d) How do you know if the insulation you're replacing contains asbestos or not?
Thank you very much for reading, I appreciate it!I'm blogging the whole renovation at: http://transmogrifyingcaravan.blogspot.com/
By the end of this my wide-eyed ignorance will become muscle-y know-how.
