quote:

Originally posted by Jay Mallory:
I am completely gutting the 1st floor of my 1955 Washington, DC home. It has brick-block walls. Before I ripped everything out the walls had furring strips, lathe and plaster. I am seeing mixed opinions all over the web. Attaching new furring strips would most likely damage the block so I'm just going to frame 2x4 walls and attach the walls to the subfloor and upper joists.

How far from the block should I frame my walls (1 or 2 inch?)

Build your new wal s so that they do not touch the old except in enough areas to brace to the brick for support. To maximize space, put your new framing about 1/2" away from the largest protrusion of the brick. By keeping the framing off the brick, you can use regular non-treated lumber and keep some air circulation. Plus, avoiding direct contact will keep moisture from the brick from touching the framing material.

Should I add insulation? I hear insulation without vapor barrier will just mold, but vapor barrier will change the way the house breathes and destroy the brick long term.

Use a faced insulation with the insulation face on the interior side. This will still breath enough to keep the house as is yet will make it much more comfortable and efficient. Use a faced insulation with the insulation face on the interior side. This will still breath enough to keep the house as is yet will make it much more comfortable and efficient.

If I insulate, what kind should I use? Should I use vapor barrier or weather varrier? Should the barrier go on the inside or outside of new wall?

See above. Just keep the paper facing towards the living space.

Side Note: I purchased a lead test kit and the test came up negative for lead in the old walls. According to the forums I should have most certainly had lead, right? I even tested a chunk of broken wall so I could swab all the layers of paint - still nothing. Anyways, all I used was a simple dust mask. Should I be worried about anything?

quote:

Originally posted by Jaybee:

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Mallory:
I am completely gutting the 1st floor of my 1955 Washington, DC home. It has brick-block walls. Before I ripped everything out the walls had furring strips, lathe and plaster. I am seeing mixed opinions all over the web. Attaching new furring strips would most likely damage the block so I'm just going to frame 2x4 walls and attach the walls to the subfloor and upper joists.

How far from the block should I frame my walls (1 or 2 inch?)

Build your new wal s so that they do not touch the old except in enough areas to brace to the brick for support. To maximize space, put your new framing about 1/2" away from the largest protrusion of the brick. By keeping the framing off the brick, you can use regular non-treated lumber and keep some air circulation. Plus, avoiding direct contact will keep moisture from the brick from touching the framing material.

Should I add insulation? I hear insulation without vapor barrier will just mold, but vapor barrier will change the way the house breathes and destroy the brick long term.

Use a faced insulation with the insulation face on the interior side. This will still breath enough to keep the house as is yet will make it much more comfortable and efficient. Use a faced insulation with the insulation face on the interior side. This will still breath enough to keep the house as is yet will make it much more comfortable and efficient.

If I insulate, what kind should I use? Should I use vapor barrier or weather varrier? Should the barrier go on the inside or outside of new wall?

See above. Just keep the paper facing towards the living space.

Side Note: I purchased a lead test kit and the test came up negative for lead in the old walls. According to the forums I should have most certainly had lead, right? I even tested a chunk of broken wall so I could swab all the layers of paint - still nothing. Anyways, all I used was a simple dust mask. Should I be worried about anything?

You should be dead by now! . Actually, no. While potentially dangerous to everyone, the main danger of lead paint ingestion is to young children. If you wore a mask and had decent ventilation then you will be fine. This could all be moot since you did test negative for lead. It is strange that such an old house did not have lead paint in it so it may be a good idea to purchase another round of test swabs from a different source - some are defective out of the box.