Finished Attic With Vermiculite

If your home was built before 1990 you might have vermiculite insulation in your walls or attic.

Finished attic with vermiculite.

Up to 85 percent of all vermiculite insulation in the u s. Vermiculite is a naturally occurring mineral that when heated to a high temperature expands to as much as 8 to 30 times its original size. Vermiculite was a common attic insulation product sold from the late 1920s to the early 1990s. I m focusing on the attic.

Five years ago we decided to insulate the attic and the recommendation we heard sounded good that it was best to lay fiberglass over it. I live in maryland and want to retrofit my house built in 1938. Unfortunately almost all vermiculite insulation contains asbestos and is unsafe when disturbed. Vermiculite is a natural insulation material but it s one that you definitely don t want to have in your attic.

Hi i m back with another question. That s good news because most zonolite a type of vermiculite insulation falls into that category. So we did that but incompletely. Expanded forms of vermiculite are light weight fire resistant and odorless making it an ideal material used for attic and wall insulation inside houses and buildings.

Came from a mine in libby montana sold under the name zonolite. It could be purchased locally and could be installed by contractor or homeowner. Vermiculite is a mineral that was used for insulation. When this mineral is put in an oven it expands like popcorn.

The epa says that vermiculite insulation which is the pebbly stuff found in attics of many older homes is only risky if it contains more than one percent asbestos. Vermiculite is a mineral mined from the earth composed of shiny flakes that look like mica.