Erby Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 From a friend: =============== "I found this stuff in the attic of a 75+ year old home in Louisville today. There was multiple types of insulation in the attic. This stuff looked like and was the same size of Styrofoam beads. But when I pinched a bead of the stuff it easily turned to power. It was the consistence of talcum power." Click to Enlarge 25.76 KB Click to Enlarge 43.53 KB ======================= Perlite doesn't turn to powder in my experience. Any other ideas? - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 I think it's expanded perlite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erby Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Perlite is more like Styrofoam and wouldn't crumble to powder for me. Will "expanded" perlite crumble to powder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Dunno. Urea Formaldehyde does, but I've never seen UFI beads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Perlite is more like Styrofoam and wouldn't crumble to powder for me. Will "expanded" perlite crumble to powder? Yes. Perlite is a volcanic rock that when heated, the trapped water turns to steam and expands. It then easily crumbles to powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottpat Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 I agree with Perlite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 There's a Mexican drug cartel guy looking all over for that shipment. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Looks like Perlite to me, as well. We used to use it as core-fill (insulation and sound dampening) in masonry walls for school gymnasiums, classrooms, etc. The tiniest hole in the wall down near the bottom, permits that stuff to sift out just like a sand clock until the core was empty. It made doing such things as installing an electrical box after construction a real pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Looks like Perlite to me, as well. We used to use it as core-fill (insulation and sound dampening) in masonry walls for school gymnasiums, classrooms, etc. The tiniest hole in the wall down near the bottom, permits that stuff to sift out just like a sand clock until the core was empty. It made doing such things as installing an electrical box after construction a real pain. Mike, was zonolite any easier to work with? Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Looks like Perlite to me, as well. We used to use it as core-fill (insulation and sound dampening) in masonry walls for school gymnasiums, classrooms, etc. The tiniest hole in the wall down near the bottom, permits that stuff to sift out just like a sand clock until the core was empty. It made doing such things as installing an electrical box after construction a real pain. Mike, was zonolite any easier to work with? Marc That name doesn't ring a bell. It was always Perlite and Vermiculite that was called for on these government jobs. As you probably know, architects tend to spec products based upon which building product sales reps have been calling on them to keep a product in the forefront (at least that's how it used to be anyway). That insulation deal sometimes became a big problem, though, because schools, jails, and a lot of commercial buildings all had the electric within the masonry. Sometimes we'd be ready to roll in the morning on a wall and the electrician wouldn't show up to install conduit and boxes ahead or along with us. In such cases we found ourselves with a field cost of about $2.50 a minute. We'd usually give the electrician about en minutes max and then raise the cotton - shame on him. Our only alternative was to knock the crew off and send them home. So, that electrician had to deal with added expenses to re-insulated the affected cores and some masonry patching. Fun times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamJDorn Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Just a guess, was there any moisture issues in the atic, or signs of moisture (mold, etc..). Could be a desiccant to soak up moisture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Just a guess, was there any moisture issues in the atic, or signs of moisture (mold, etc..). Could be a desiccant to soak up moisture? Ha. Sounds like something an engineer would do. The stuff in the pictures is perlite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted July 29, 2011 Report Share Posted July 29, 2011 Just a guess, was there any moisture issues in the atic, or signs of moisture (mold, etc..). Could be a desiccant to soak up moisture? OK, so you spread the desiccant out in the attic, and it soaks up all the moisture. Then what? You leave it up there, like John's boxes of kitty litter? I've used kitty litter to clean up spilled fuel oil, but part of the process is shoveling it into bags and hauling it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allseason Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Perlite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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