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I want to insulate the floor joists of my house and take old saging insulation out and the people that I talked to about doing it want to spray foam it and say it is better but I want rock wool. I want to change out my heat pump and inside unit and also my well bladder tank ,so want to move all the lines and think it would be easier if it was rock wool and could be taken down to move lines .Plus if you have a water leak how would you fix this if you had spray foam .I am paying so thinking of going with another company .I got 4 quotes from different companies and they were the cheapest to rock wool but now are trying to talk me into spray foam .I compared them all to what I wanted .The house is 2440 sq. ft. so not cheap to do either way .Basement is not heated and I live in VA near the NC border but want to make floors warmer .I have tried to push the insulation that is there back up but it continues to sag and has a black vapor barrier holding it up but it still sags down over the last 9 years since the house was built .Am I crazy to reinsulate or is it worth it .I can feel the floors are chilly in the winter .I have also heard some just put up a radiant barrier .That plastic bubble stuff with shiny foil look .I also want to insulate the basement walls .I only use it for storage now but it is plumbed out to be finished .But I am retired but don't need the space .

Why not do your plumbing first? Then look into the insulation...

As to which product under the floor - I can't advise you. However, if you are dealing with experts and not some fly-by-night outfit, you are paying for their expertise as well as their product and labor. Ask them what to do if - rather when - you have a plumbing leak.

With the house being only 9 years old - this sounds like an unnecessary expense to me. The insulation should not have lost it R-value in that length of time. Is there something (screening/webbing/lathe/something) you can attach to the joists to hold the existing insulation in place?

It wouldn't be very green to trash perfectly good insulation. All you need to do is tuck it back into place and maybe add some wire supports to keep it there. Any out-gassing from the fiberglass would have been done with years ago. If you don't disturb the fiberglass it is pretty benign. You start disturbing it and it can be irritating.

Can you even buy rock wool any more?

I cannot get to the insulation as it is covered with a black vapor barrier and that is supposed to hold the insulation up in place .I have used boards to help hold it up and also nail in anchors but it eventually rips through the black vapor barrier .Rock wool you can buy anywhere and is bug resistant and water and rodent resistant and also does not burn .I went with good companies that were listed by the BBB and also buy a rating of insulators .I have tried to find info about spray in stuff and the only thing i got back is if I plan on changing major things in my house that it should be done before it is done .They actually said closed cell soy is better but also said that the rock wool is highly recommended also .I have literally tried everything to push this stuff back in place and it must be cheap stuff because it is very loose and is extremely itchy and it also smells bad ,not sure how to describe the odor .I had to have work done and they had to cut the vapor barrier in several spots and even the heat seal stuff they put to cover the holes did not hold and vapor barrier has sagged more in those areas and I even tried to tape those spots with gorilla tape and that did not hold .It is actually falling out in some of those spots and when I open the basement doors the wind blows it around . .It seems like it is almost not bats of insulation .I am really not sure about this stuff as it is really a dark gold color .Seems like cheap stuff .Asked about plumbing leaks to even the spray foam manufacturers and never got an answer back ,so that concerns me after several e mails to them .I insulated the exterior walls from the outside and also under the slab and wonder If I could insulate the interior walls it would help .But still what can I do about the cuts in the vapor barrier .I just don't know how to seal them .Any suggestions ,there are fifteen of these slices in the vapor barrier .Part of it was done to run new piping for the well .We went to a 1 inch line compared to the half inch for the bigger bladder tank .THANK YOU if you can help ,wish I could post pics on here but can't get them to post .

Edit you pictures in paint to make them smaller. Just open the picture in paint and adjust the size from 100% to 20% and you'll meet the guidelines for HGTV's boards. Then just click on the add attachment link below the text box in the post a reply box.