@Manny Cirino you rock for taking action to help spread this word so the city of Lakeland can't pull the wool over our heads!  

Such are like tying a pit bull with a cotton clothes line rope, if he wants to get away he can.

The biggest wolves always greet you covered in sheep’s wool and make you feel warm and fuzzy in the beginning. 12k of rent up front sounds great however there is a down side and the downside in this scenario is an unknown risk which you can’t foresee nor calculate so to me again.....

We've used steel wool with good success because they can't/won't chew through it.

Bryan - welcome to bp.Ya, those cotton pickin garbage disposals, I have removed some but bought one this week $91 with tax.

Go with mineral wool. 

However, if you are using closed cell foam on the inside of your wall assembly, I would recommend using Roxul Comfortboard 80 (or an equivalent rock wool board from another vendor) rather rigid foam (XPS or polyiso) as you do not want a strong vapour retarder / barrier on both sides of the wall sheathing.The other thing to keep in mind is the ratio of "inside" to "outside" R-value.  

Scrub the brick with a wire brush or steel wool first to remove any soot that's set in.  

I live on Cotton Hill RD right off 202 on your way to Torrington. 

Tx can grow a variety of things ranging from dates,to palm trees to cotton and u name it.