All I wanted was quote on blowing in another layer of insulation, instead I got a two hour hard sell on house upgrades. I'm not doing that again.
So, has anyone done their own blow-in insulation? Looks pretty straight forward. Prep the attic, rent the blower, buy the insulation, take painkillers for a week after. Am I missing anything?
Can't you get the treated celluose from HD and the blower is free if you get X number of bags. No pain killers necessary unless you have to contort.
No idea about blown fiberglass, but it seems the world now hates fiberglass.
Caution, you do not want to want your soffit vents. Use the plastic shields or whatever they are called if you are going to pile it up against the exterior walls.
Home Depot and Lowes both have the equipment for rent and the bags of cellulose to blow in.
We did it two summers ago with the pink stuff from Home Depot.
It was really easy. We had 3 people so it went fast. 1 was in the attic with the nozzle, 1 was attending the hose between the machine and attic, and 1 feeding the machine. Worked real smooth considering none of us ever did it before.
Super easy. Staple in some soffit vents first- they're made of styrofoam and cheap.
You'll need one person feeding the hopper and one to direct the application. Tell hopper person to load slowly because the blower doesn't have any balls and wont run if you jam the hopper full.
I did my moms attic a couple years ago. I was up top and my uncle was feeding the hopper. Took a couple hours from start to finish. No big deal.
July and August have got to be the BEST time to do this. You'll never have to worry about being cold.
Dr. Hess wrote: July and August have got to be the BEST time to do this. You'll never have to worry about being cold.
Yeah, I did it in december last year and was hot.
+1 on getting a volunteer to feed the machine. I thought I could do it myself, (you really can't - its way too much up and down with only one person) and had to ask my wife at the last minute to change her plans for the whole day. That went well. Also, bring a truck or van to pick the stuff up. I think I made like 5 trips to the HD that day because I couldn't fit enough in my hatchback. So that only added like 3 hours to the total time... boo.
Doing the actual work is really easy though!
Nick_Comstock wrote: I did my moms attic a couple years ago. I was up top and my uncle was feeding the hopper.
Giggity
It's a messy PITA of a job, but it's not difficult. I did it 5 or 6 years ago in December. That cellulose stuff will get EVERYWHERE. I covered myself as thoroughly as I could (advantage of doing it in December), and was still finding that stuff for days later. My FIL helped by feeding the hopper as I was in the attic directing the flow. My roof has a shallow peak, so I was on my hands and knees for 4+ hours doing it, so yes, I needed painkillers. Knee pads helped. I did the Home Depot thing, bought a bunch of bails of the stuff and they threw in the machine rental for free.
Agree with what everyone said. One person to reliably feed the hopper, one in the attic. Make sure to keep sofit vents clear. Hot work, do it at night if you can. You'll notice the difference in your first heating fuel bill.
bgkast wrote:Nick_Comstock wrote: I did my moms attic a couple years ago. I was up top and my uncle was feeding the hopper.Giggity
Context is a motherberkeleyer!
I know the PO stated "attic", but FYI if you have any intention of drilling holes to blow it into exterior walls, you need to feed the cellulose in very, very slowly. Or else you'll plug the hose up solid, and then your neighbors get to see you wrestling the thing like a giant annoconda trying to get it unclogged. 
You don't need a truck. Building supplies and Home Centers deliver.
Dr. Hess wrote: July and August have got to be the BEST time to do this. You'll never have to worry about being cold.
This was my part time job when I was a teen. The government of the day was offering rebates in the interest of energy conservation, so you essentially got your house done for free. We did a tonne of this stuff over the summer. Being young, energetic and small, I got lot's of attic work. I'm still hot today and that was 40 years ago.
To get the hose in further without trying to fit into tight spaces tape an extendable pole to the end of the hose and you can fill all the nooks and crannies.
This thread delivers. Advice on extending your hose, some discussion about being a top versus "feeding the hopper". And how hot and sweaty you'll get doing it.
Keep the hose as short as you can, but don't bring the hopper into the house, as it's messy.
In reply to Mezzanine:
You forgot "To get the hose in further" and "trying to fit into tight spaces", as well as short hoses and messy hoppers.
Going to bump this thread. Lowes has the insulation batts on sale for 20% off. Wondering if I should go with that or the blow in insulation. I just replaced the ceiling in my kitchen so there is no insulation there. The rest of the house has a small layer of blow in. Debating whether I should go with the batts and then blow in or go all blow in.
Batts don't do anywhere near as good a job in an attic. They take forever to cut, and each and every one of them has 2 thermal gaps at each edge.
Blown in is fast, no cutting, can be laid to any thickness, and covers the framing when it is done, so no gaps.
You can add blown in on top of fiberglass batts.
There are different blown in products. Fiberglass, cellulose, denim, etc.
You guys have sold me. I'm doing it next weekend if my buddy is available to help out.
Does everyone do the eve chutes? My house was built in 1960 with minimal eve vents (that I can't even find in the attic) and I'm wondering how essential they are.
In reply to asoduk:
In Canton OH, I wouldn't do without them. You will get ice damming.
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