On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:31:40 -0700, Joerg
Jim Thompson wrote:
On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:19:05 -0700, Joerg
Archimedes' Lever (queer of the universe) wrote:
[snip]
If the plasterboard in your INTERIOR walls have foil on them, your home
builder was a retard.
No, he was smart. Insulation in interior walls muffles sound quite well.
Unfortunately they took the good stuff for everything, the variety with
aluminim backing (so it can be tacked onto the studs).
The builder _was_ retarded. You don't need foil-backed to staple to
studs. The heavy paper-backing works just fine.
Or so you think. I've opened enough walls. Many times the stuff must
have gotten moist or something once upon a time and the paper is torn.
All it takes is a little plumbing booboo or a roof leak. In consequence
half of the insulation slouched into the bottom of the wall and the top
half had nothing, nada, zilch. I have never seen aluminum-backed do that.
If plain insulation had been put in place you wouldn't be having your
reflection issues.
True :-(
Foil is generally only used where a vapor barrier is needed.
Which it is on outside walls and in ceilings. The guys just used the
same stuff everywhere because it was on site. In the 70's there was no
such thing as WLAN, heck, not even cordless phones.
Oh, and then there was the era of towering hairdo, pink flamingos and
<gasp> metallic wall paper ... found some of that, too. Believe it or
not, once upon a time this house was painted harvest gold.
