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.
We were able to get to some of the fiberglass by removing a medicine cabinet which has an excess panel behind it.
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 strip of fiberglass behind an interior wall next to a tub serving no good purpose.
Removing fiberglass behind the bathtub, accessing it from a closet.
Getting it all out was tricky.
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.
Fiberglass behind an interior wall causing the poor indoor air quality inside the cabin.
When I touched it I could see a poof of yellow dust disperse into the air.
Even more so when I began to slowly pull it out of the wall.
We had to cut another hole in the wall in order to get it out.
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.
As the fiberglass is removed I can feel the air change for the better. The area smells differently and it is easier to breathe.
