As home and office energy bills increase, so does the popularity and need for building insulation. The most popular insulation product in our area is made of fiberglass and it is normally sold in roll or batt form. The other type most often sold is classified as “rigid” insulation and is sold in sheets.
Batts are pre-cut to length, 93", to fit a wall cavity and 48" in the case of R-30 attic insulation.
Since heat rises, the most important place to insulate in a structure is the ceiling. It is also important to consider insulating walls and raised (wood) floors.
Insulation is manufactured in various “R” values; the higher the R value, the more insulation value of the product. Often, new houses today are insulated with R-30 in the ceilings, R-13 in 3 1/2” thick (2x4 studs) walls or R-19 in 5 ½” thick (2x6 studs) walls, and R-19 under raised floors. Existing concrete slab floors are often insulated by using rigid insulation around the exterior perimeter of the slab.
Another factor is the amount of formaldehyde in fiberglass insulation; our stock is all formaldehyde free. We have a large inventory of fiberglass rolls and batts in R-11, R-13, R-19 and R-30 for use in the popular framing spacing widths of 16” and 24”. We can quickly order encapsulated and cathedral batts.
Stock Insulation is kraft paper faced. This face should be positioned towards the conditioned space. In the case of wall insulation this would be the inside of the structure. With floor insulation the face is against the flooring. In attic insulation paper faces the ceiling.
We also stock rigid insulation in 4x8 sheets. It has a higher R value than fiberglass for any given thickness but it is higher in price than fiberglass for any amount of R value. It is usually used only where either fiberglass is impractical or where a higher R value is needed.
Finally, we have insulation used to insulate your water pipes. This product is used to wrap either hot water pipes to prevent heat loss (saves energy) or cold water pipes to try to minimize freezing in cold exposures.As with most all products we sell, be sure to ask about our FORCAP pricing plan. It stands for FORBUSCO CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PLAN and it gives you immediate discounts which can be substantial. It is meant to thank you for being one of our customers during our 70 plus years of serving this area.