http://forum.mybarnconversion.com/ 'build green' en Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:16:33 +0000 http://forum.mybarnconversion.com/topic/cork-granules-as-loose-fill-insulation#post-24 Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:43:13 +0000 KGraham 24@http://forum.mybarnconversion.com/ <p>What a great website! I really hope someone here can help me. I'm working on a 100% green retrofit of a very old house in the northeast united states, where winters are -0. It's a wood frame construction, intact plaster/lath walls on the interior, and _absolutely nothing_ in the cavities. I'm dissatisfied with all available commercial insulation options, and would like to use granulated cork, as a kind of 'pour-in' application. However, cork's made no inroads in the american market (except as composite flooring), so no one anywhere has been able to provide me with information. I have no idea what size granule should be used in such an application (on the larger side seems intuitively logical); whether it can be straight ground up cork or if it has to be the 'expanded' type; and perhaps most importantly, whether it has to be treated for flammability - I've actually put this question to several people, and they disagree vehemently, one of them insisting that untreated cork granules are fire safe as insulation, the other insisting that it's a fire hazard! (It doesn't help that one of the very scant results of a Google search for this kind of use of cork is a link to a description of a ship that caught fire - the source being the cork insulation in the walls!) Is there anyone out there who can provide me with accurate answers to these important questions? </p> http://forum.mybarnconversion.com/topic/timber-cladding#post-6 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:00:31 +0000 sue 6@http://forum.mybarnconversion.com/ <p>I want suggestions as to wether to use oak or soft wood for the exterior cladding of an oak frame barn. I don't want a black stained wood - will look rather oppressive next to the main house with white clap board. Also is it true that oak distorts and warps. I had hoped in time that the timber would fade to that silvery colour </p>