Black Insulation in Walls

[indylola]

Ripping apart a wall in the bathoroom I found some insulation that is black. What does that mean? Has the insulation gone bad or is it just old?

Thanks,

Dean

[Concretemasonry]

It means you probably had moisture and mold in the wall.

Find out why and replace it.

Dick

[twelvepole]

If insulation fibers appear to be naturally black, there is a black insulation. CertainTeed makes a black insulation for acoustical purposes.

[Concretemasonry]

Also foam glass, but not too common in residential.

Dick

[Konrad Fischer]

because the lightweight insulation has no capillar activity, what means this materials will never dry out the condensate what must go into your bathroom wall, in spite of all vaporproofs, which will be moistured and moldy after some years as our experience proves. It is possible that allergy and asthma follows. Take it out carefully, and then do only solid wood boards in. They will work best as thermal insulationand can stand the condensate, because they do dry out.

Besides the lightweight insulation is not able to stop IR radiation, which is responsible for about 99% of the thermal losses. Only solid materialslike wood and stone can stop thermal losses. The fairy tales about heat conductivity you should not believe in. They are told from insulation industries and their fellows. In the 'Lichtenfelser Experiment' we experienced the opposite reality.

[twelvepole]

Because the bathroom is a room where moisture is common, a low permeability vapor barrier over insulation should be installed on the inside surface of the framing to avoid rot within the walls.