San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-12-13
COMBINE -FOUR
MATERIALS IN
INSULAT0R
Wise Home-builder Chooses
One That Combats
Fire Hazards.

The insulators which are sold for
use in small homes are made of ami
NAL, vegetable or mineral substances.
OF animal-substance insulators,
there is only one: Cattle hair COM
pressed into mat or felt and backed
with paper.
The vegetable insulators are cork,
fiax-fibre, eel grass (a seaweed), wood,
wood-fibre, sugar cane waste. The
cork is compressed and baked into
board, or it is simply granulated and
used as a filler. The flax fibre is
compressed into semi-rigid board, or
it is worked together loosely into a
blanket backed with paper. The eel
grass is made into a blanket faced
with sheets of paper. The wood is
worked into fairly stiff board COW
cred with a cement and sheets of
paper. Wood fibre is compressed into
semi-rigid boards or is backed with
paper and made into quilt" or is
shipped loose to be used as a filler.
Cane-waste is compressed into
"semi-board."
HELP HOME BUILDER.
"Mineral wool" and gypsum are the
two minerals used as insulators. The
former is spun limestone" to be used
as filler, or il is mixed with other
materials and moulded into board
form. Gypsum insulators are made
in two different ways: Either as
rigid boards-"firc-proof lumber"--or
as filters to be mixed with water,
which swells the gypsum into. light
porous fire-stop and insulator between
the studs Of a house.
This simple classification of all
the insulators on the market will help
the prospective home-buildcr to choose
among them. But there is another
helpful classification: that is, from
the standpoint of the form in which
they nrc sold. In general, there are
four types:
/. Rigid boards. These are made
Of cork, wood, wocd-fibre or gypsum.
Some of these do nothing except in
sulate; that is, they are extra items
that must be added to the cost of
the house.
Others can be used as wallboard, to
provide the interior wnll-finish. Other
insulating boards can be used for fire
protection as well as stopping heat
loss. Others can be used as plaster
bases. Others as sheathing lumber or
backing for stucco.
NON.RIGID BOARDS.
.. Non-rigid boards. Some of these,
also, are extra items in the materials
bill. Others, despite their lack of
structural strength, are sometimes
used for plaster bases or for stucco
backing or even for sheathing.
3. Quilts. Since they lack struc-
tural strength, the only purpose these
materials serve is insulation.
4. Filters. These are materials
which must be poured between the
studs of wall, or over the lath and
plaster of ceiling or between the lay
ers Of flooring. Some filters are loose
others have structural strength. The
former serve no other purpose besides
insulating, but they have some value as
fire-stops. An insulating filler which
chemically "scts" when poured in place
becomes rigid and has structural
strength. 1t also adds to the fire-safe-
ness of the construction.
Now, this classification prepares the
way for an answer to our question.
BEST SELECTIONS.
What types of insulation can 1 use
in my house," the prospective builder
asks.
ANY of the types described" we
may answer. "But-and this is the
big point-choose one which will do
more than just insulate; one which
will stop fire, has structural strength
and can take the place of lath or
sheathing or stucco-backing. Choose
an insulator which will combine the
qualities Of three or four materials in
one. Then your insulation will not
only save you money by cutting the
fuel-cost; it also will reduce the initial
expense of building"