where can i get a half inch thick 4x8ft sheets of polyethylene?

[luv2liv]

totally OT, i know but winter is coming already. where can i get a half inch thick 4x8ft sheets of polyethylene? same stuff they use for packaging as seen here

this stuff is crazy good for insulation, allows light to go through, and can be used again and again. trying to get ready for this winter cause i dont wanna pay $500 per month for heating.

 

[lxskllr]

Uline Non-Perforated Foam Rolls in Stock - ULINE

Uline stocks a wide selection of Uline Non-Perforated Foam Rolls. Order by 6 p.m. for same day shipping. Huge Catalog! Over 41,000 products in stock. 13 Locations across USA, Canada and Mexico for fast delivery of Uline Non-Perforated Foam Rolls.

www.uline.com

 

[BoomerD]

Polyethylene Foam | Foam Factory, Inc.

A versatile solution with many shipping, packaging and target applications, polyethylene foam comes in several shapes and types. Available in 1.2 - 9 lb sheets, cylinders and tubes.

www.foambymail.com

 

[pete6032]

U-Line. Maybe Staples.

 

[WilliamM2]

totally OT, i know but winter is coming already. where can i get a half inch thick 4x8ft sheets of polyethylene? same stuff they use for packaging as seen here

this stuff is crazy good for insulation, allows light to go through, and can be used again and again. trying to get ready for this winter cause i dont wanna pay $500 per month for heating.

What makes you think it is good insulation? The R value for a full inch is 3.7 to 4. Half inch woud be much less. Polyiso has an R value of about 7 per inch. Almost double.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

What makes you think it is good insulation? The R value for a full inch is 3.7 to 4. Half inch woud be much less. Polyiso has an R value of about 7 per inch. Almost double.

Hell, newspaper has an R value of about 4, and is a damn sight cheaper.

 

[luv2liv]

What makes you think it is good insulation? The R value for a full inch is 3.7 to 4. Half inch woud be much less. Polyiso has an R value of about 7 per inch. Almost double.

i agree Polyiso is great but wish it was all white to be used indoor. are these made of polyiso? it does not say in product description. i plan to apply these to skinny old windows to safe some money this winter.

 

[Ajay]

i agree Polyiso is great but wish it was all white to be used indoor. are these made of polyiso? it does not say in product description. i plan to apply these to skinny old windows to safe some money this winter.
View attachment 86159

Paint them. Lots have printing on them anyway. You might need something color blocking.

 

[WilliamM2]

Hell, newspaper has an R value of about 4, and is a damn sight cheaper.

Hell, newspaper has an R value of about 4, and is a damn sight cheaper.

You mean cellulose? I agree, but I have 18" in the attic, probably be quite messy inside his house.

 

[WilliamM2]

i agree Polyiso is great but wish it was all white to be used indoor. are these made of polyiso? it does not say in product description. i plan to apply these to skinny old windows to safe some money this winter.
View attachment 86159

The first one might be. Where are you planning on placing these? It's not going to make much difference compared to proper insulation in the attic. I put in new windows, sealed the attic penetrations, and 18" of blown cellulouse in my house (had about 4" before) I saved about 25% on heating/cooling, maybe a little more. That's R56. Where are you placing it? R2 (half inch) on the wall will never return your investment, most heat loss goes out the ceiling.

 

[WilliamM2]

Double.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you want good insulation get Roxul. R14 for a 2x4 batt. If your application is not suitable then I'd go with the pink foam board. Space it out slightly, then use can foam to fill the gaps then vapour barrier tape to cover the seams. Air sealing is just as important as insulation. That's the issue with my house, I have R12 pink insulation but the vapour barrier is not taped anywhere except for any walls I opened and fixed it. House leaks like a sieve. Utilities were super cheap in the 60's so they didn't really care to make houses efficient.

 

[BoomerD]

If you want good insulation get Roxul. R14 for a 2x4 batt. If your application is not suitable then I'd go with the pink foam board. Space it out slightly, then use can foam to fill the gaps then vapour barrier tape to cover the seams. Air sealing is just as important as insulation. That's the issue with my house, I have R12 pink insulation but the vapour barrier is not taped anywhere except for any walls I opened and fixed it. House leaks like a sieve. Utilities were super cheap in the 60's so they didn't really care to make houses efficient.

If you stop all the cold air inflow…won’t your igloo melt?

 

[luv2liv]

Where are you placing it?

skinny windows and this large sliding glass door approx 9x9 feet. that's why i prefer the polyethylene because it allows light through....

i didnt think of the attic at all. im 90% sure i have an attic but absolutely no way to access it. will punch a 9x9 inches hole, on highest floor in the house...the 3rd floor, next weekend to verify if there is a crawl space. now, suppose i do have a 3feet high crawl space, can i use this? should be good enough right?

OR should i hire someone to blow insulation in? would they remove the whole ceiling or can they just use a tiny hole?

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you stop all the cold air inflow…won’t your igloo melt?

We import southern ice now, it's better than the stuff here.

 

[WilliamM2]

skinny windows and this large sliding glass door approx 9x9 feet. that's why i prefer the polyethylene because it allows light through....

i didnt think of the attic at all. im 90% sure i have an attic but absolutely no way to access it. will punch a 9x9 inches hole, on highest floor in the house...the 3rd floor, next weekend to verify if there is a crawl space. now, suppose i do have a 3feet high crawl space, can i use this? should be good enough right?

OR should i hire someone to blow insulation in? would they remove the whole ceiling or can they just use a tiny hole?

Never heard of an attic refered to as a crawl space. There should be access, if not, make one. Should be a lot taller than 3 feet as well. They will need access for blown insulation, you have to spread it around.
Attics require ventilation too, stops ice dams on the roof. I did mine years ago when I added an addition. It wasn't much cheaper to do the insulation myself, so I hired that out. It's a messy job, and at the time very hot up there in the summer.

How old is this house? Maybe a pic would help.

 

[Red Squirrel]

When I got blown insulation added I was also getting a roof vent installed since I only had small vents that would get covered in snow and I had ice damming issues. They used the same hole as the vent to do the blown insulation before they installed the vent. I would make a hatch and you might have to try to crawl to the eves to install baffles before they put the blown insulation or it might block off the soffits and cause venting issues. Working in attics is a pita though. If you don't have gutters it might be easier to remove the fascia and the soffits and put the baffles in from outside.

They should be able to put it in from a central location provided they can actually reach everywhere from that location.

 

[WilliamM2]

When I got blown insulation added I was also getting a roof vent installed since I only had small vents that would get covered in snow and I had ice damming issues. They used the same hole as the vent to do the blown insulation before they installed the vent. I would make a hatch and you might have to try to crawl to the eves to install baffles before they put the blown insulation or it might block off the soffits and cause venting issues. Working in attics is a pita though. If you don't have gutters it might be easier to remove the fascia and the soffits and put the baffles in from outside.

They should be able to put it in from a central location provided they can actually reach everywhere from that location.

Might work for a very small house, but there was no way they were going to be able to insulate evenly from a vent hole.
I installed the baffles before I put drywall up in the addition and garage, very easy to install from below.
They installed the baffles for me on the house when they did the insulation. One of the main reasons I hired it out, I had 48 baffles to install, and I just couldn't fit in there. Attic space slopes to about 6" at the edge.

 

[BoomerD]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house without some kind of attic access Unless maybe it’s a manufactured home. My current house has two. One on the second floor in the mb closet, one in the garage that’s single story.

 

[luv2liv]

this is my house from 1900 in Philly. the dotted blue line is the 3rd floor ceiling. see that circular hole at the front? when i am in this front room, i dont see this hole anywhere. so im 90% sure i have an attic.





also, on the roof, i have this central air for cooling. no idea if it can also do heating. for now, we heat with the radiators.
there is this spinning thing as seen on the right side. i am guessing it is for cooling the attic when wind blows by?

 

[BoomerD]

There's no opening in any closet?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh wow a flat roof for a house. That's not too common. That whole setup looks more like what is typical of a commercial building, even got a packaged HVAC unit going on. But yes there may still be a small attic in there, that circle is a vent. Going to guess you got metal trusses in there like you see in the ceiling of places like Walmart and they just made it into an attic, almost wondering if this is a converted commercial building. Blown insulation could be tricky to do in this case as there probably is not a lot of room to work with.

 

[luv2liv]

There's no opening in any closet?

none. i will cut a hole in one of the 3 closets to verify what's beyond the ceiling. will use an endoscope through a half inch hole first. then cut a bigger hole once im confident there is more space to work with....

 

[lxskllr]

Plaster? You might be opening yourself up to a real headache.

 

[luv2liv]

Oh wow a flat roof for a house. That's not too common. That whole setup looks more like what is typical of a commercial building, even got a packaged HVAC unit going on. But yes there may still be a small attic in there, that circle is a vent. Going to guess you got metal trusses in there like you see in the ceiling of places like Walmart and they just made it into an attic, almost wondering if this is a converted commercial building. Blown insulation could be tricky to do in this case as there probably is not a lot of room to work with.

i would say 90% flat. there is sloping for all the rain to run to the back and into the downspout. this is actually very typical for Philly row houses. or at least all the houses i ever bought (3)