Re-claimed Insulation Adventure

The big old barn...with a misfit sitting area.

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”  -HDT

Last weekend, Dan and I made our way up to Contoocook, NH. I came across a Craigslist ad entitled, "Re-Claimed Insulation" and read further. The man had large amounts of various R-levels. After a conversation on the phone, I learned that it was all piled up in his barn loft. At 4$ a bag, I couldn't complain. We made arrangments to meet on Sunday, and up until then I had visions of Dan and I wading around up to our hips in strips of loose insulation, picking and choosing and packing it into bags. I was actually quite excited. There's a part of me that equates getting filthy with getting a lot done. :)

We enjoyed the ride once we got off the main highway, and learned that Contoocook was a wonderfully quaint little town. Little shops lined the streets with colorful signs and tasteful window displays. It reminded me of little coastal towns that thrive on summer visitors.

We approached the seller's (Josh) house and found a lovely homestead- hustling and bustling with activity. Dogs and chickens roamed freely amongst stacks of wood and miscellaneous machinery. Josh explained how to access the loft. I absolutely love farm life- and big old barns are the BEES KNEES to me. You never know what you will find! I just love old things, I guess. My face lit up as we entered the massive barn; I stumbled forward looking every which way, as if I were 9 again and entering Chuck E Cheese for the first time.

Up in the loft, we found a much better situation than what we were expecting. The insulation was already bagged, we just needed to peek in to see what kind, then take what we wanted. We took 18 bags of the typical fiberglass insulation. It's not my material of choice, but it is reclaimed, and that in and of itself is worth it to me. It's already here, might as well use it. We also took 5 bags of eco-blown insulation that was made of 100% recycled material. Recycled and re-claimed! Woohoo!

We would have happily taken more, but there's only so much we could fit in Dan's truck. We did the rough math and figured out that we got about 300 square feet of insulation for $72. If I were to get the same amount at the big box stores, I would have paid at LEAST $215!! That's about 3x as much!

Sure- it's not all of our insulating needs, but it is that much less that we need to buy at full price.

The road trip was a success on all accounts. We had a great time on the ride, met a nice family, saw a beautiful place, explored an old barn, and brought ourselves one step closer to our dream.

It was pretty cozy! A good indication for our tiny home!

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