I will be dried in at the cabin after this weekend. So I am starting to think about inside tasks. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to put in the insulation before I do the plumbing and electrical. My thinking is that you can just push the insulation back to the wall to install them vs. putting the wires and pipes in first and then try to push the insulation in behind them. I understand that it would be easier to do the wires and pipe with the insulation out of the way, but that is weighed against making the insulation more difficult. What do you all think?
Depending on how good a job you wanted to do with the insulation it seems like it would be easier to do the electrical and plumbing first. If a wire/pipe is running horizontally through a stud cavity the insulation should be slit lengthwise so the wire/pipe will be surrounded by insulation. That would be harder to do if the insulation was installed first.
Alan
Once you are dried in it is best to begin with any HVAC ductwork. Then the DWV plumbing. Next the hot & cold supply lines. Then electrical, telephone, CAT wiring. The reasoning is you work from the least bendable items to the most bendable items.
If you are doing batt type insulation you should not stuff it behind wires and plumbing. The batts should be sliced as necessary to accommodate the wiring and plumbing. Not all the way through, just enough to allow the wire/pipe to have the insulation "wrap" around it. Cut/slice from the unfaced side. Where there are switch and receptacle boxes some installers will first use canned foam insulation there. Squirt in just enough behind the box and let it cure. Trim off to a nice square edge so the batt insulation can be cut to fit snugly against it. Any time batt insulation is compressed you lose R-value. Avoid that. Also be careful to avoid voids; that's where the foam behind boxes works well.
Blown in or spray in insulations are also done last.
QuoteOnce you are dried in it is best to begin with any HVAC ductwork. Then the DWV plumbing. Next the hot & cold supply lines. Then electrical, telephone, CAT wiring. The reasoning is you work from the least bendable items to the most bendable items.
Very food advice. I wish I had heard it a few months ago because I didn't do these things in the correct order and encountered some difficulties because of it. They were overcome but could have been avoided.
I think it would be somewhat of a nightmare to insulate first, it's enough of a challenge with all the walls open. Insulating sucks but compared to the electric and plumbing it's a cakewalk, and as Don stated you really need to cut around wiring, plumbing, etc. in order to do a good job.
Also if any inspections were involved it would never fly.