Insulation & Carpeting
Many people have reached out about the insulation we used in our home. The one thing we did was make sure that no spray foam was used in the home. This is because it is an off-gassing chemical that goes directly into your home. You can look up all the lawsuits, etc., against it. Many states have filed complaints, leading to contractors not using it at all. However, many people still do use it and are not aware of chemical toxicities. Another issue is that once it’s in, you can’t get behind it. If there’s a leak, mold, or termites, it becomes a problem fast. When we were looking for a house, the only time we would even consider it was if we absolutely loved the home, it wasn’t brand new, and spray foam was only in the crawl space. If it was in the walls or attic, we wouldn’t even do a walk-through.
The house we remodeled didn’t have spray foam since it was about 18 years old, before it became popular. We didn’t open every wall, but in the areas we did—like the kitchen—we used rock wool. In the attic, we replaced the insulation with Knauf EcoFill. It’s clean enough and cost-effective.
The other thing that we did was replace all the existing areas of carpet with new wool carpet. Yes, hardwood is better from a mold and allergen perspective, but carpet and rugs are cozy, and we enjoy them for that. We aren’t going for perfect; we want to use the best options we can with creature comforts that we desire. That is why we replaced it with 100% wool carpet in places we wanted to keep it. We used Carpet Den Interiors in Franklin, TN, because they understood we wanted no glues in the rooms and low-VOC glue on our stair runners. They also didn’t staple down our carpet, so we could use needle-nose pliers to remove any carpet at any time if there is a leak and potential mold issue. And the carpet we went with was Godfrey Hirst Brookhaven III, and I absolutely love it. We did the oatmeal color, and the new wool carpet smell dissipated quickly with our Air Doctor 4000’s running. So if carpet is something you are looking into, check them out, and if in middle TN, tell Carpet Den we sent ya!
To maintain carpet, we vacuum weekly if not more and use a closed bag HEPA filter vacuum. The one we went with is this (SHOP HERE), and it has been well worth the investment. If you’re in middle TN get it through Edison Vacuum in Brentwood. They will service the vacuum yearly for you, and it comes with a 10-year warranty, which is awesome.