Blown-in Insulation Removal

Before and After

Fiberglass Awareness

Page 3

A wooden floor with some wood removed showing the gray loose fiberglass and air ducts both metal and black flex ducts with pink fiberglass showing on the ends with a wire running across the floor

Before—The old air ducts with some of the attic floor removed showing the gray blown in fiberglass that was packed under the floor.

A metal duct wrapped in shiny bubble wrap connected to a foil duct that runs under the floor next to a wall with wall paper decorated in holly leaves

After—One of the cleaner metal and foil ducts that replaced the old fiberglass flex ducts. We wrapped the new metal ducts in bubble wrap where insulation was necessary. The house air is now much cleaner.

Black fiberglass flex ducts with orange-brown fiberglass exposed at the ends running down into the floor that is packed with gray blown in fiberglass

Before—The old fiberglass wrapped flex ducts coming from the old HVAC unit running down into the attic floor. Notice how the contractor never taped off the ends of the flex ducts leaving the fiberglass insulation exposed to the air. He also had the HVAC system pulling its return air from between the floor joists by simply pushing the blown in fiberglass to the sides to create a space. While contractors may be trained in how to cool or warm a home, unfortunately they are not trained in how to also keep the air in the home clean. Some contractors may consider the air quality, but most do not. There are a lot of sick-homes out there. The people living in these houses are sick way more than they should be. If you want a home with decent air quality you must be your own advocate.

A heat pump air handler with foil flex ducts coming from it running under the floor in an attic

After—The new HVAC system air handler with clean foil ducts that replaced the old fiberglass wrapped flex ducts.

Dusty black fiberglass wrapped flex ducts with yellow and pink fiberglass exposed

Before—This was the old fiberglass flex ducts and the fiberglass that wrapped the old HVAC system before it was removed. The fiberglass was left exposed. The contractor never taped it off. Do you have exposed fiberglass in your home?

Silver bubble wrapped ducts and silver foil ducts running along a wall that has wall paper with holly leaves printed on them

After—The new metal and foil ducts that are wrapped in bubble wrap where insulation was needed. Bubble wrap is a much cleaner way to go than using fiberglass.

An HVAC system wrapped in fiberglass with black flex ducts with pink fiberglass exposed on the ends

Before—The old HVAC system wrapped in fiberglass insulation. The flex ducts were never taped off at the ends so the pink fiberglass is exposed to the air.

An air handler wrapped in silver bubble wrap with foil ducts coming out of it with the wood floor removed showing the floor joists in an attic

After—The house now has heat pumps. This is the air handler wrapped in cleaner bubble wrap insulation. We had the fiberglass inside the air handler removed and replaced with a black foam. We are going as fiberglass-free as possible. It is not an easy task. It is a bit shocking at just how much fiberglass is inside the average home. Since we have removed the fiberglass from our own home, a lot of our ailments that we had for decades have gone away. All this time a lot of our sicknesses were caused by poor indoor air. Doctor after doctor would ask about our diet, amount of exercise and sleep patterns. Not once was air ever mentioned. Be your own clean air advocate. How is the air in your home and workplace?