INSULATION

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Protect Your Pipes from Freezing and Save 20% Off This Highly-Rated Heat Cable
Freezing temperatures can wreak havoc on your home's pipes. Once the temperature outside reaches 32 degrees Fahrenhei...
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We Were On the Hunt for The Best Window Insulation During Cold Spells, Did the 3M Insulation Kit Perform?
Drafty windows are the worst. There are few things that can ruin a cozy movie night or enjoyable game like sitting in...
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The Signs, Causes, and Solutions for Mold on Insulation
Q: I’ve recently noticed a musty smell throughout my home. I suspect it’s mold, but I haven’t seen any visual signs o...
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How Much Does a Radiant Barrier Cost?
Highlights The average radiant barrier cost for parts and labor is $1,700, or between $710 and $2,840. Labor rates,...
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20 Ways to Stay Warm Without Turning on the Heat
When winter winds blow, some homeowners dread the accompanying—and often outrageous— heating bills that Jack Frost br...
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It Pays to Make These 5 Energy-Efficient Home Upgrades in 2023
This is the first installment of Bob Vila’s Most Valuable Projects of 2023, a month-long series featuring high-ROI ho...
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How to Insulate a Shed in 8 Easy Steps
A shed can often benefit from insulation. Whether it’s a simple storage space for lawn and garden equipment, a backya...
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What’s the Difference? Spray Foam Insulation Cost vs. Fiberglass Insulation Cost
Not all insulation is created equal, especially for those who live in particularly hot or cold climates. Two of the m...
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5 Important Things to Know When Insulating Basement Walls
One of the most important steps to finishing a basement is installing basement wall insulation and basement ceiling i...
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The Best Spray Foam Insulation Contractors of 2023
Spray foam insulation is regarded as one of the best insulation materials. This foam insulation can create both a the...
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How Much Does It Cost to Insulate a Garage?
Typical Range: $2,000 to $6,000 National Average: $4,500Homeowners choose to insulate their garages for a number o...
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7 Ways to Winterize Your Apartment or Rental Home
As a renter, there are limits to the changes you can make to your residence to prepare for the colder winter months. ...
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Remodeling Your Home? Consider These 10 Ways to Incorporate Recycled Materials
Home remodeling is a $400 billion industry, with about 1. 123 million new single-family homes built in the United Sta...
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How Much Does an Insulated Garage Door Cost?
Typical Range: $400 to $10,000Many homeowners want to transform their garage into a workshop, yoga studio, or rehea...
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Solved! Who Installs Foam Insulation?
Q: I’m looking to install new insulation in my attic, and I heard foam insulation is the best at maintaining temperat...
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Solved! Is Spray Foam Insulation Worth It?
Q: My neighbors just had spray foam insulation applied in their attic. When my neighbor told me how much it cost, I w...
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Bob Vila's 10 "Must Do" Projects for October
Brrrr! Most of us are past the point at which we can spend all day puttering around outside, taking care of lawn and ...
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The Best Insulation Contractors
A home’s heating and cooling systems do a great job of making spaces comfortable. However, some homes aren’t as good ...
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Are Your Windows Drafty? Try These 12 Solutions for Every Budget
This winter, stop cold air from seeping into your home and driving up your energy costs. These fixes—some of which are under $10—will help keep you warm.
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How Much Does Attic Insulation Cost?
Highlights The typical cost of attic insulation is between $1,500 and $3,500, with a national average of $2,500. Co...
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How to Soundproof an Apartment Without Opening Up Walls
If your neighbor’s taste in music makes you cringe, it’s time for some soundproofing. Fortunately, there are many way...
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7 Things to Know About Rockwool Insulation Before Installing It in Your Home
Fiberglass insulation has long been a popular option for slowing the transmission of heat through the walls and ceili...
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Faced vs. Unfaced Insulation: Which Is Best for Your Home?
Homes require insulation to help regulate the flow of heat through the walls and ceiling. By slowing the transmission...
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Temperature Never Right? Here's How Much Insulation You Really Need
Q: Help! My home feels cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, and I think I need to add insulation. But how mu...
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How Much Does Spray Foam Insulation Cost?
Highlights The typical cost range to install spray foam insulation in a home is between $1,409 and $4,145, with a na...
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How Much Does Insulation Cost to Install?
Typical Range: $1,400 to $6,300 National Average: $2,900If you’re experiencing a drafty house, high energy bills, ...
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The Best Storm Windows for Added Insulation
Homes with older, poorly insulated windows can face colossal energy bills in the cold- and hot-weather seasons. While...
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The Best Expanding Foams of 2023
Expanding foam is a flexible product with a wide range of applications, including waterproofing, fireproofing, and in...
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Stop and Read This Before You Dress Up Furnishings with Spray Foam
Transforming mirrors, chairs, and other furnishings from dull to dramatic is quick and easy with spray foam insulatio...
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6 Things to Know About Sheep’s Wool Insulation
From the ground up, insulation is a necessity in the home. Tucked behind walls, nestled beneath floors, and hidden ab...
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The Best Attic Insulation
Insulating your attic is an excellent way to protect your home from temperature extremes and moisture damage while re...
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The Best Window Insulation Kits to Keep Your Home More Comfortable, Tested
Window insulation kits offer an affordable way to cut the cost of your energy bill and make a home less drafty. For t...
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The Best Door Draft Stoppers for Cooler Months
The scenario is chillingly familiar: You’re walking happily and comfortably through your home when suddenly, a cold p...
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20 Cheap Home Repairs That Could Save You Thousands
If your house could talk, it would tell you that spending a little money now on small repairs could save you big bucks down the road. We’ve put together 20 of the...
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8 Things to Know About Blown-In Insulation
Today’s building codes require a minimum amount of insulation in walls and attics, but older homes were often under-i...
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The Complete Guide to Weatherstripping the House
Weatherstripping is a time-honored method of minimizing door and window drafts throughout the house. In the winter, w...
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7 Places That Could Use More Insulation—And Why
Take insulation into your own hands to seal up sneaky air leaks around the house—and save big money. This content is paid advertising created in partnership ...
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The 25 Easiest Ways to Save Energy (and Dollars) This Summer
Staying comfortable through the summer often comes at a price (after all, air conditioning ain't cheap). If your energy bills have your blood pressure rising fast...
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7 Cool Inventions That Will Help You Save Money on Your Heating Bill
It might as well be one of the laws of nature: As outdoor temperatures drop, electricity bills rise. In much of the country, it takes a lot of energy to keep your...
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11 Ways to Winterize Your Home on a Budget
Keep the cold out, the heat in, and your energy bill down with these cost-effective tips for winterizing your home.
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All You Need to Know About Blower Door Tests
Drafty homes waste energy, yet most homeowners don’t have a clue as to how energy inefficient their homes may actuall...
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The Best Ways to Improve Your Home's Value in 2022
Priced out of the current housing boom? Remodeling might be the way to go instead of buying a new house, and these projects offer the best value for the money.
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The Secret to a Warmer, Drier, Faster Finished Basement
This article has been brought to you by Amvic Building System, who provided BobVila. com with a complimentary product...
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10 Types of Insulation All Homeowners Should Know
Insulation is a vital component in any home that is energy efficient. Typically placed in areas where air escapes, su...
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Thinking About Insulating Your Garage Door? Here's What You Need to Know
As the weather cools, it’s the perfect time to gird your garage against the colder temperatures on the way, especiall...
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10 Shortcuts to a Not-So-Scary Basement
If you have an unfinished basement, you probably don’t want to spend a ton of time down there. The air is musty, the floors are damp, and it feels just a tiny bit...
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8 Wise Ways to Winter-Proof Your Home for Practically Nothing
Winter is coming! Is your house ready to deal with harsh winter winds, blowing snow, and frosty windows? A well winterized home has what it takes to stand up to w...
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The Little-Known Benefits of Pipe Insulation
If you know anything at all about pipe insulation, you know that it goes a long way toward preventing frozen pipes. T...
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The Pros and Cons of Today's Most Popular Insulation
Not all homes are created equal, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to home insulation. There are many factors to consider when selecting insulation, inclu...
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So, You Want to... Insulate the Attic
Are you getting the sense that your heating and cooling costs are going through the roof? You might be absolutely rig...
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How To: Weatherstrip a Door the Right Way
Door drafts can be a cause of real discomfort. Besides the immediate unpleasantness of a chilly gust invading the war...
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Planning Guide: Insulation
Insulation is the strong, silent type. Although it operates behind the scenes for the most part, it plays a vital rol...
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Ceramic Coatings for Increased Insulation
Ceramic coating has been around for almost 20 years and is highly effective in preventing unnecessary heat loss or ga...
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Soundproof Your Floors
Paying attention to what’s underneath your floors can have a profound effect on noise reduction and sound control in ...
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Blown-In Insulation vs. Spray-In Foam Insulation
Blown-In InsulationBlown-in insulation products are competing to bring improved performance per square inch and the l...
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Insulation 101
Insulation is a non-structural material used to reduce heat transfer. The most typical forms of insulation available ...
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Green and Blue: Denim Is Eco-Friendly Insulation
Next time you pull on a pair of jeans, consider this: You can use denim to keep your house cool in the summer and war...
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Let Your Attic and Crawl Space Help Improve Home Comfort Year Round
Looking to cut energy costs and improve home comfort? Focus on your heating and cooling systems. While it is imperati...
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Top Tips for Insulating Crawl Space
I grew up in a split-level, the house style that dominated suburbia in the decades immediately following World War II...
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Superior Insulation for Less
You have the desire, the energy, and the skills to beef up the insulation around your house, but the cost of material...
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Insulating the Roof and Installing Mold-Resistant Drywall
The roof of the new addition is being insulated – in an environmentally conscious way – to retain the heat from the radiant heating system. Moisture- and mold-res...
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Reviewing the Addition's Footprint and Garage Doors and Laying Down the Second-Story Floor
The new addition's footprint is essentially a whole other house, yet it will integrate visually with a matching roofline to the existing house. New technologies h...
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New Insulated Garage Doors
New insulated garage doors will replace the home's originals and be installed on the new garage. They have the appearance of wood and the performance of factory-f...
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Pouring the Upper-Story Walls and Saving Energy with Concrete Construction
As the upper-story walls are poured, Bob talks with the builder and contractor about the significant savings in time, energy, and cost that come with concrete and...
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Installing Insulated Windows in the Baby's Nursery
The new windows in the baby’s nursery are highly insulated for cold and sound and have health and safety features for young children. They can be installed by do-...
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Remodeling Before Baby and Insulating the House
Bob talks with homeowners Nick and Maggie Beasley, who are remodeling, babyproofing, and insulating their home before the baby is born.
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Installing a Fabric Sound-Absorbing Ceiling
Sound attenuating insulation is added to the nursery to reduce the echo effect of noise.
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Redesigning the Third Floor
Bob meets with architect Gregory Rochlin to discuss the third-floor structural redesign.
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Brooklyn Navy Yard Tour
Eric Deutsch, former president of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, gives Bob a tour of the nation's first federal boat-building facility.
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Insulation Install
George Saylor from Owens Corning is on location to install, and explain the unique properties of, the insulation being used in this project.
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Pre-cast Concrete Foundation Installation
Bob meets with Jim Costello from Superior Walls of America to discuss the difference between a pre-cast and a traditional poured-concrete foundation.
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Reviewing Energy Efficient Products in the Home
At the Cobb Hill co-housing community, Bob and general contractor Mark Albee look at some of the energy efficient and eco-friendly products in use.
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The Blown-In Blanket Insulation Process
Bob is joined by Mike Hobson of Westchester Insulation as the crew prepares one of the Mashpee houses for insulation installation.
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Blowing In Cellulose Insulation
Bob joins Joe Sheridan (from Energy Guard) to learn more about the US Greenfiber Cocoon cellulose insulation being used in the barn.
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Blown-In Insulation
Bob joins insulation contractor Joe Sheridan to witness the process of blowing insulation in behind original plaster walls.
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Building Walls With Structural Insulated Panels
Bob visits the site to watch the Steve Thompson and his crew from Premier Building Systems raise the SIPs walls. Jim Tracy (from Premier) provides SIPs details.
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Manufacturing the Engineered Wood Floor Joists
Bob visits the Willamette I-Joist Mill in Woodburn, OR, before returning to Yonkers where the crew is assembling the second floor walls with structural insulated ...
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Setting the Glulam Ridge Beam and Structural Insulated Roof Panels
Workers set the glulam for the roof ridge and, assisted by a crane, put down the roof panel system.
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Digging the Water Trench and Installing Insulation
An excavation specialist, working under the oversight of a city inspector, digs the trench for new water service to the accessible home. Inside, contractors are a...
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Installing Insulation and Plastering
Carpenter Bob Ryley and Tim Grether (from Owens Corning) install insulation and vapor barrier in the bathroom. And Jim Larson (from Georgia Pacific) installs a sp...
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Installing the Skylight, Acrylic Block Panels, and Cooling System
Remodeling of the attic floor continues with the installation of Hy-Lite acrylic walls, an HVAC system, and insulation.
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Fixing Old Double-Hung Windows
Bob meets with carpenter Cortney Lofton, who is rehabilitating some old double-hung windows with new nylon-braided sash cords and kerf-in thermoplastic weather st...
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Attic Insulation
Australian-born architect and homeowner, Gavin Langley, shows Bob how attics are insulated in his home country.
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Greenhouse Glass Installation
Bob and contractor Bob Ryley install sloped glazing on a greenhouse with the help of Mark Santos.
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Installing the Precast Foundation
The basement walls are lifted into place and secured. This system is ideal for cold weather installation as the concrete is already cured before delivery. The pre...
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Rigid Roof Insulation
Bob helps contractor Bob Ryley install the roof insulation and the false rafter tails, or "jet blocks". Bob discusses the advantages of this type of insulation, e...
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Cellulose Insulation Installation
Contractor Rick Davenport demonstrates the installation of wet-spray cellulose insulation. Jets of water moisten the insulation as it leaves the blower hose nozzl...
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Installing Insulspan Structural Insulated Panels
Bob and contractor Bob Ryley review the Insulspan structural insulated panels (SIPs). These Styrofoam panels save steps in construction, since they include struct...
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Building a Victorian-Style Breezeway
Contractor Bob Ryley is creating a Victorian-style breezeway using modern materials, which will bridge the old and new wings of the home.
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Insulating the Victorian
Bob and the insulation contractor review how different types of insulation are used in different applications. Blown-in insulation is put into the existing house,...
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Vent Pipe Installation
A vent pipe is installed in the ranch's roof. A hole is cut and a shield is added to create a weather-tight seal around the pipe and roof shingles. Down in the ba...
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Insulating the Home
Insulation contractors Jim and John Case show Bob how to insulate the cathedral ceiling. To ensure airflow and prevent condensation buildup, channels are install ...
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Progress Update Tour
Bob tours the ongoing remodeling project, remarking on some of a large project's difficulties. Next, Bob tours the upstairs where he talks about out the new windo...
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Insulation Ratings
Hank Cassidy explains insulation ratings to Bob.
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Finishing the Steel Building Container
Once stripped down, an ISBU's exterior is finished with heavy-gauge steel, then faced in sheet-metal wrap and covered with SuperTherm insulating ceramic coating. ...
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Restoring Old Windows
Ryan Pirro (from RestorationWindows.com) discusses refurbishing old windows with solid-bronze sash chains, new parting beads, and spring-bronze weather stripping ...
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Spray-On Closed-Cell Insulation
Bob meets with Don Schumacher (from NCFI), who explains polyurethane spray-on insulation. Applied directly to the back of sheathing, it swells to 25 times its liq...
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Spraying In Closed-Cell Insulation
Bob is joined by Jim Remick, of Nickerson-Remick insulation contractors, who tells Bob that closed-cell insulation is more and more in demand. Once rigid, the ins...
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