Blowing in attic insulation

[Monsterlover]

I just did this on Saturday.

We had some nice icicles forming on our eves and thick ice on the gutters.

A quick peak up in the attic revealed 2-4" of blown cellulose (about 30 years ago probably)

We stopped at Home Depot and talked with their guy about it and he steered us away from cellulose in favor of fiberglass (AttiCat)

I rented the HD truck and brought everything home in one trip, the blower and 13 bags of insulation.  Note that AttiCat is $27 a bag, and cellulose is $10 ish but covers less area.

I returned the truck and we cleaned all the leftovers from the PO out of the attic (old books and crap like that)

The next morning we went too it.

Mrs ML fed the machine and I was in the attic with the business end.

AttiCat expands 16x it's packaged size, is fire retardant and will never settle (maintains the R value.)  You slice the pack open in the middle, all the way around.  Then, snap off one half (kinda like drywall)

Stuff it into the machine, a razor cuts the remaining plastic as you do this, pull out the plastic packaging.

There's an on/off switch on the end of the hose, and it blows out all light and fluffy like.

Our attic is 26x24 (about 625 sq.ft.)  I figured we'd need 13 bags, but we used 11.  After I had half the attic done I stopped and asked what was left.

9 bags she says

I waded back in and added more.

All said an done, we blew in 11 bags in 90 minutes and that amounted to about 18-20" of insulation

Total cost was $335 ($20 of that was renting the truck)

I wore a respirator but there was almost zero dust.  I also did not itch despite this being pink insulation.  Though, it didn't feel like the pink roll on batting, it was much softer.  Looked like cotton candy and was soft like cotton balls.

I HIGHLY recommend this stuff.  Somewhat inexpensive, easy to work with and clean.  I can't wait to see the difference in the gas bill next month.  We were able to drop our programmable thermostat 10 degrees at night!!!

Also, this is tax deductible

http://insulation.owenscorning.com/homeowners/insulation-products/atticat.aspx

Adding Loose Fill Insulation to an Attic

[triangleforge]

Excellent!!! We really need to do this in our little old house, and I was expecting a much higher price tag.

Thanks for sharing.

[Benjamin5150]

Thanks for posting about your experience.  I've been thinking about this as well.  During our little storm here in Virginia, I had about a foot on my roof which quickly slid down and hung about three feet below the gutters...where it quickly froze into what look like a suspended avalanche...mangling my gutters in the process.  I looked up and down the street and everyone else's snow remained perfectly on their roof.  This is my first house and I had seen the insulation in the attic.  However, upon further inspection it looks like matted wool and is probably as old as the house (1945)?  Plus it's a slate roof if that matters.

One challenge for me is that I have a cape styled house and the lower part of the roof in the front of the house doesn't have any access thru the bedroom walls.  However, I do believe that there is a straight shot to that area down between the rafters up above in the attic.  I guess I could conceivably pump the insulation down to that area via the rafters above in the attic and just fill up that entire space?  I'll have to research that some more.

Thanks again.

[cyrus buelton]

damn dude, that is like 2 feet of insulation!!!

wowza!

[desmopr]

ML...I have this exact same problem and was researching a solution.  Did you remove the existing cellulose insulation or just blew on top of it.  I have more than a foot of it.

[swampduc]

Great info, ML, thanks for posting.

[The Architect]

What were the reasons they gave you to not use cellulose? 

[Monsterlover]

ML...I have this exact same problem and was researching a solution.  Did you remove the existing cellulose insulation or just blew on top of it.  I have more than a foot of it.

No way in hell was I going to remove all that.  A) I can't even think of what to do with it all, and B) it is providing SOME semblance of insulation.  More is better

What were the reasons they gave you to not use cellulose?  

Main negatives were the mess/dust it creates while it's being blown in (think 4' visibility )

It also settles which decreases the R value.

Thanks for posting about your experience.  I've been thinking about this as well.  During our little storm here in Virginia, I had about a foot on my roof which quickly slid down and hung about three feet below the gutters...where it quickly froze into what look like a suspended avalanche...mangling my gutters in the process.  I looked up and down the street and everyone else's snow remained perfectly on their roof.  This is my first house and I had seen the insulation in the attic.  However, upon further inspection it looks like matted wool and is probably as old as the house (1945)?  Plus it's a slate roof if that matters.

One challenge for me is that I have a cape styled house and the lower part of the roof in the front of the house doesn't have any access thru the bedroom walls.  However, I do believe that there is a straight shot to that area down between the rafters up above in the attic.  I guess I could conceivably pump the insulation down to that area via the rafters above in the attic and just fill up that entire space?  I'll have to research that some more.

Thanks again.

Sounds like you need to do the same thing I just did.  If you have limited access, all you need is to be able to get the hose in there and let 'er rip!

An additional benefit that I didn't mention is cooling during the summer.  Our house is quite warm upstairs in the summer.  5-10 degrees more than downstairs Id guess.  The heat from the sun heats the roof and the air under that.  That heat seeps down into my living space (bedroom) and it sucks.

Adding insulation should really really slow this process down the same way it slows heat getting out in the winter

[brimo]

One of the biggest problems I've seen (as an electrician) is that the installers fail to put a surround and cover over downlights. These lights get extremely hot at the best of times, but the insulation traps that heat and you end up with your house burning down around you.

We currently have a scheme going where the average sized home gets a full rebate on home insulation. This caused an explosion in operators wanting to get their hands on that guvmint cash. Unfortunately there was a shortage of blowin and batts and some went to using a foil blanket roll. We have had at least two electrocutions here where the poor b@stards stapling down this foil sheet managed to penetrate a cable and liven up the whole lot.
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/insulation-installer-electrocuted-20091016-h0en.html

Update 11 feb, as of a couple of days ago it's now 4 installers that have been electrocuted, 4 needless deaths, and guess what? the government has now decided to do something about it.
?

[Monsterlover]

Just to update--

We can notice a difference in temperature upstairs.  It's still colder up there than downstairs, but that's still a function of poor cold air returns (or lack of them totally).

It's been down to 0* here recently, and last night we got 12" of snow.

I see that my neighbor's gigantic icicles are starting to grow back (before they broke them off, they touched the ground where they were about 4" diameter )

We have zero icicles starting on our gutters.  With snow and cold the conditions are definitely there to start them growing.

But they're not

[Rob Hilding]

Having read none of the previous posts.....



My only thought was "Doesn't that make your knees itch"





We now return you to your regular helpful postings..........

[Duck-Stew]

Good to see that the usual quality of your posts hasn't slipped upwards. 

Having read none of the previous posts.....



My only thought was "Doesn't that make your knees itch"





We now return you to your regular helpful postings..........

[The Architect]

It's a little late for you now ML but if anyone is going to do this work, it's a good idea to do the following prior to insulating. 

Go along with a can of spray foam or sealant and air seal all the penetration through the attic floor.  Such as; plumbing vents, plumbing piping, duct work, electrical wiring, telephone line, cable lines, gaps in wall to ceiling joints and any other opening is the ceiling.  You'll be amazed at how much heat escapes through these small openings.  Remember the fiberglass insulation does not stop air movement.  Once air moves through the insulation it reduces it's effectiveness. 

[Monsterlover]

^

This is true.

I would have done it, but didn't think of it first.

I'll do it on the next house

Having read none of the previous posts.....

My only thought was "Doesn't that make your knees itch"

We now return you to your regular helpful postings..........

This is the non itchy insulation.

You shouldn't have a problem

[cyrus buelton]

I think I am going to take a look in my attic as I have a shit ton of icles on my roof, meaning I am losing heat.

Not to mention, I fear them falling outside and hitting either my wife or dogs.


Few questions:


1. IF you have recesset lighting, do you move insulation around it or is there some sort of "cover you can put on it?


Also, how do you work with attic vents?

Once you blow it in there, do you go move it away or are you careful when you are spraying it in?

My attic is small.

I only have a 1300sq ft condo.

I also think it will benefit me in the summer as that damn western sun BEATS on my roof all make the beast with two backsing day.