Insulating the Western Wall

Winter was nearly upon us, but we were determined not to be caught again with an unclad wall. Last winter had been cold enough. Thanks to the assistance of an old friend, we were able to purchase the materials necessary to buy the (recycled) cladding. But before it could be put up, the rest of the insulation we'd salvaged from the tip so many months ago was finally to be used up. It had been sitting in a shrinking pile under an old blue plastic pool liner for the past twelve months, occasionally scattered by the wind or leaked on through stray holes. What a relief to go through it for the last time.

The steps that used to lead up to the old kitchen door look rather pathetically pointless.

 

I hate wearing masks, no matter how good they are for me. Either we didn't have access to a conventional mask, or I was determined to be a bit different since I had to wear one. I can't quite recall. Oh, but I didn't enjoy this. The fiberglass fibers are horrible - they make you itch all over. And then there was the added joy of the insulation being dirty and sometimes wet, depending on where in the stack it had been. As we couldn't put wet bits in the wall (damp was okay), we had to cut those sections out and adjust accordingly. Put it this way: there was a reason we got it for free. (Everyone else has more sense!)

 

 It was painful, but it was worthwhile. Our wall ended up insulated, for nothing more than our time and effort, and a waste product was stored in a useful, invisible way. Our struggles with recycled fiberglass insulation were over.