drywall has the best fire hold out theres lots of woods and paneling but thet dont have the fire hold out i say drywall what if you did blow in between the studs you would have lots of holes to fix but might be a solution

I was told by a contractor that it's not a good idea to blow in between the studs if there is already insulation. What we've got is very old (40 yrs old) fiberglass batts that are worn and probably flimsy. So maybe it won't matter? (In another room in the house, the contractor thought we were getting an R3 at most from the existing fiberglass insulation).

Yeah was unaware of you have sone insulation so then tear it down and do new drywall

You are going to create more dust removing the drywall and adding insulation then you will with the new drywall. Old drywall dust and insulation particulate is more of a annoyance then the new. Contain this entire area during the renovation. Move out all furniture and completely cover the carpet / floor. Open windows and point fans to the outside.

The zipper door is two sheets of plastic duct taped to the frame - one is open to right, one to left, so you have to work through both to get in and out. You don't have to overlap them the full width of door, and if you guys leave your work shoes in the room, use the window for disposal, your house will come through fine. Touchy when you have a little guy - you could do ceiling and attic and new window first - those are probably even more leaky.

libradesigneye! We use real zippers now! Look at zipwall accessories for self-adhesive zippers. Duct tape a single layer of heavy plastic sheeting (6mil) to the door trim. Peel the paper from the sticky side of the zipper and then adhere it to the plastic sheeting. Open the zipper and cut the plastic sheeting with a utility knife. Voila! door done..walk inside and zip it up!

Love that - figured they would need the basic version but why not do it right!

Zipper costs less than $15 and really cuts down on dust and frustration!

If the house if 40 years old have it checked for lead based paint before you start removing drywall.

Thanks everyone. You guys are awesome!