Fiberglass Blanketing the Bathrooms

Fiberglass Awareness

A person standing in a wooden bathroom in a white hazmat suit wearing a 3M fiberglass free respirator next to a sink holding a long bat of fiberglass.

When we had the log cabin built we had not yet discovered that fiberglass was the culprit of our families illnesses. I never felt well after spending time at the cabin and I had figured all of the new building materials needed to finish gassing out for the indoor air to get better. Five years later the problem was worse and I never quite understood why, until we had the fiberglass revelation. We removed the fiberglass from the roof and ductwork and the air did improve, but I was still sensing something. We finally figured out the interior walls of the bathroom had fiberglass. With the way the heating system was set up, the fiberglass would have actually been keeping the bathrooms colder, not warmer. Perhaps the builders installed it for sound purposes? The air gaps and the places it was installed made no logical sense. Or maybe they installed it around these interior walls simply because that is what they were taught.

A person's arm removing a wooden excess panel with a black and gray drill in their other hand in front of a sink in a bathroom.

We were able to get to some of the fiberglass by removing a medicine cabinet which has an excess panel behind it.

A person in a white hazmat suit wearing a pink 3M filterette respirator pulling yellow batt fiberglass insulation out from behind a wooden wall.

Removing the fiberglass. If I did not have the hazmat suit and the 3M P100 Particulate Filter mask (which is their fiberglass free version) I would not have been able to remove it without getting very sick. I used to think I was not able to wear respirator masks. My lungs always reacted to them and I had a hard time breathing. When I figured out my trigger was fiberglass and then made the connection that a lot of respirators use fiberglass in their filter, we found a fiberglass free mask. I have no issues wearing the 3M P100 Particulate Filters.

A person in a white hazmat suit wearing a pink 3M filterette fiberglass-free respirator holding a black bag full of yellow fiberglass batt insulation.A white pipe running up a wooden wall attached to a wooden stud with a strip of yellow fiberglass batt insulation in the bay next to it.

A strip of fiberglass behind an interior wall next to a tub serving no good purpose.

A person in a white hazmat suit wearing a pink 3M filterette fiberglass-free respirator pulling yellow fiberglass batt insulation out from behind a wooden wall.

Removing fiberglass behind the bathtub, accessing it from a closet.

The crack between two studs showing yellow fiberglass in the wall.

Getting it all out was tricky.

Yellow fiberglass insulation inside of a wall above a light switch with wires coming from it.A man in a black shirt cutting a hole in a wooden wall with a saw.

Fiberglass does not have an infinite shelf life, yet it is often installed as if it does. We had to cut a hole in the wall in order to get it out of this particular section.

A man in a black shirt reaching up high cutting a hole in a wooden wall with a saw.
A rectangular hole in a wooden wall with yellow fiberglass batt insulation showing where teh wood was cut.
A large rectangular hole in a wooden wall with yellow fiberglass batt insulation exposed where the wood was cut away.

Fiberglass behind an interior wall causing the poor indoor air quality inside the cabin.

A person wearing a white hazmat suit wearing a rubber glove reaching out their hand to touch yellow fiberglass batt insulation that is behind a hole in a wall.

When I touched it I could see a poof of yellow dust disperse into the air.

A person in a white hazmat suit wearing a pink 3M filterette fiberglass-free respirator slowly pulling out a long yellow fiberglass batt of insulation and putting it into a black contractor bag.

Even more so when I began to slowly pull it out of the wall.

A yellow bat of fiberglass hanging out of a wooden wall with a small step ladder next to it.
A hole in a wall showing the back end of as shower with a batt of yellow fiberglass insulation in the bay next to it. There is a wire running through the wall.
A rectangular hole in a wall showing a bat of fiberlgass insulation behind it with a saw, saw dust and other tools on the floor.

We had to cut another hole in the wall in order to get it out.

A person in a white hazmat suit wearing a pink 3M filterette fiberglass-free respirator on their knees pulling out a yellow batt of fiberglass insulation from behind a wooden wall and putting it into a black contractor bag.

I have to wear a hazmat suit and a gas mask when handling the fiberglass, that right there is a good reason not to want my house wrapped in it.

Three holes in a wooden wall, a long one in a closet and two smaller holes outside the closet where fiberglass was removed.

As the fiberglass is removed I can feel the air change for the better. The area smells differently and it is easier to breathe.

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