LESLIE: Ray in Nebraska, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
RAY: I was calling to see if you can give me information. I’m going to put siding on at least a hundred-year-old building and it’s got wood siding on it.
TOM: OK.
RAY: But it’s – the paint is bad already.
TOM: OK.
RAY: I’m going to think about putting – blowing in insulation and I don’t know if it’s worth it or not.
TOM: Right. Well, if you’re going to insulate a house to make it more energy-efficient, there’s an order of events that you want to follow. The first and most important thing is to look at the attic and make sure that you’ve got 15 to 22 inches of insulation in that attic space. I would do that as my very first insulation project because that’s what gives you the best return on investment.
RAY: I did that last year.
TOM: Alright, good. So the second thing is – is this on a slab or is it over a floor? Is there an opportunity for floor insulation?
RAY: No, no.
TOM: Why not? Is it a slab or is it over a basement?
RAY: It’s over a basement, yes.
TOM: Alright. So if it’s over a basement, then you want to make sure the box beams around the outside are insulated, as well.
And then, lastly, we can talk about the walls. And yes, if you’ve got no insulation in there, I do think that blown-in is a good thing to do. But you mentioned that the siding is a mess. Are you considering taking the siding off the walls from the outside?
RAY: No. It has the old wood that looks like siding, so …
TOM: Siding on there? Alright. Then what you can do is – you’re going to put siding on top of that then, right?
RAY: Yes. Yes.
TOM: So what you can do is you can blow in insulation from the outside and you don’t have to worry about the holes that you’re putting in the old siding, because you’re going to cover it with new siding.
RAY: Yes.
TOM: So I do think that that’s a good idea.
RAY: Oh, OK. That was about it then. I appreciate it.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project.
RAY: Thank you.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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