Is the home depot vermiculite good?

[martin_80x]

Hi, I'm searching were to find the vermiculite here in FL, and I want to know if the vermiculite from Home Depot is good, and how much do I need for a 42'' heart.
Thanks.
THERMOROCK 2 cu. ft. Medium Grade Vermiculite-489702 at The Home Depot

[martin_80x]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

I just went to an independent plant nursery and I found big bags of vermiculite $25 and perlite $18, I bought one of each.
I will probably mix them and do 5:5:2 for the heart.
Do I get better insulation doing that?

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Check with a concrete block supplier. The HD price is twice as much for half as much for what I paid at a concrete block supplier. 4 cu ft for 10 bucks earlier this summer.

[stonecutter]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Keep in mind that if you buy block fill insulation it will be very fine. Agricultural supply and building yards carry the course vermiculite...it will have better insulation properties.

[boerwarrior]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

I found that the Home Depot vermiculite was too fine. I went to a different hardware store here in Northern California (Friedman Brothers) and found a supply of larger bags with vermiculite that was coarser grained - I as much happier with this

[kbartman]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

I just received my shipment from Uline I purchased the grade 4 stuff. I think it was $34 dollars for 4 Cubic foot bag, I bought 3 bags. Shipping was pricey I thought. I ordered it on Saturday and had by Tuesday.

[stonecutter]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

That is pretty high. Had you checked with agricultural suppliers for perlite or vermiculite?

[deejayoh]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Go to a nursery as Stonecutter suggests.

[thickstrings]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Mine was 22$ for vermiculite and 18$ for perlite in 4cu.ft. bags from a nursery....and I may add it was the only thing that was easy to get where I live.....

[martin_80x]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

So if I do a 50/50 mix for the heart, how many parts should I use?
5:5:2 ?
I've been reading how to built it but, I'm a little bit confused, should I use portland cement or regular concrete?
Thanks.

[stonecutter]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Mix by volume, meaning you can use any size bucket or pail.

If you have a ratio of 1:6 that means......

1 part - Type I/II portland cement ( not pre-mix containing sand or masonry cement)

6 parts perlite or vermiculite.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Stonecutter, I will differ with you on the fine perlite not being as effective as coarse. It is all about surface area and the smaller the grain the greater the surface area for a given volume. It makes it harder to mix well, but it also provides more insulation value.

[stonecutter]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

I don't see how it could....I feel the larger air spaces created by the larger particles make for better insulation.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

Follow it to it's logical conclusion: The BEST insulation would be just an air space by that logic. This is obviously not true. The best insulation is that which provides the most surface area, or alternatively, has no air at all (a vacuum). Observe the size of the granules of an open celled foam and a closed cell foam, then note the R values of each. The difference is surface area.

[david s]

Re: Is the home depot vermiculite good?

I don't see how it could....I feel the larger air spaces created by the larger particles make for better insulation.

I should think that in theory the difference in grain size would be negligible, unless the stuff was ground down to powder. Eg a bucket full of large marbles has the same density as a bucket full of small marbles. The spaces between them are smaller, but but there are more of them. I've found that the fine grade of vermiculite requires more water (because of the larger amount of surface area exposed presumably). The fine vermiculite makes a more workable mix, but then because it takes up more water then there is more to eliminate and I should think that it would dry slower than the course stuff. I'd love to see some tests that show a difference in insulating capacity between fine and course. I suspect that the difference if any would be very small.

I've used both course and fine and while I haven't weighed the bags, did not notice any difference in weight (density)