Posted: 1/4/2011 7:50:02 AM EDT
| I think there was a thread a few months back about insulation, i am getting started with a project to insulate my attic and wanted to find the thread to get more info on my project. anyone else know where this thread is? |
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I don't see it in my list, but I'll chime in on my job.
I went to Home Depot and bought 20 bags, got the free rental. I used the green/recycled stuff, mainly because it was cheaper and there was no itch factor. You NEED: 2 people - one to blow and one to feed the hopper 2 way radios, walkie talkies, or a third person, because it's a bitch to try and yell back and forth in the attic to the person feeding the machine dust masks - otherwise you will suffocate good flashlight to see what your doing some boards or small pieces of plywood to pay on the rafters so you don't fall through the ceiling Some guys taped the end of the hose to a long pole so they could poke it around in the attic without having to walk everywhere, I'm sure this helps. I was able to extend the hose enough to get where I needed it. My kids bedrooms where always hot/cold. I put another 10 inches or so on top of the existing insulation. It helped during the summer, no so much during the winter. Their rooms are still cold. I don't know what's in the walls. I've got the windows caulked. Only thing left is the venting. |
Second that on the Home Depot cellulose insulation blow job. It fills in the spaces that fiberglass leaves between the joists or the trusses. It is very efficient and my wife and I did the job ourselves with her feeding and me controlling the hose. Shit, this is turning into a GD porn thread. 
I also topped the mess with radiant barrier. It would have cost about 3K to have someone do it for me but I did the whole job for $500 in material alone. Radiant barrier does its best work under sun load but it does assist with keeping heat in the living space also. |
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Quoted:
I don't see it in my list, but I'll chime in on my job. I went to Home Depot and bought 20 bags, got the free rental. I used the green/recycled stuff, mainly because it was cheaper and there was no itch factor. You NEED: 2 people - one to blow and one to feed the hopper 2 way radios, walkie talkies, or a third person, because it's a bitch to try and yell back and forth in the attic to the person feeding the machine dust masks - otherwise you will suffocate good flashlight to see what your doing some boards or small pieces of plywood to pay on the rafters so you don't fall through the ceiling Some guys taped the end of the hose to a long pole so they could poke it around in the attic without having to walk everywhere, I'm sure this helps. I was able to extend the hose enough to get where I needed it. My kids bedrooms where always hot/cold. I put another 10 inches or so on top of the existing insulation. It helped during the summer, no so much during the winter. Their rooms are still cold. I don't know what's in the walls. I've got the windows caulked. Only thing left is the venting. If you have an older home, you might be surprised to find the wall cavities empty. I remodeled my brother's house, which was built in the early 50's. There was not one piece of insulation in the walls. In the rooms we gutted to the studs, we used R15 batts. On the walls that did not get stripped, the insulaton company drilled holes in the plaster in each cavity and blew in loose to a claimed R15 level. We knew where the cavities were because were stripped off the baseboards and all the studs were visible. We finished replacing out all the old windows with double pane windows. The old doors were replaced, and the attic, which was converted to living space, had the ceilings done to R30, and the walls and gable ends done to R19. They went from filling their propane tank once a month, to filling it once every three months. The savings overall have been very noticeable. I say all that to say this. Check into those walls. You might be losing alot of energy there. |
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Quoted: I don't see it in my list, but I'll chime in on my job. I went to Home Depot and bought 20 bags, got the free rental. I used the green/recycled stuff, mainly because it was cheaper and there was no itch factor. You NEED: 2 people - one to blow and one to feed the hopper 2 way radios, walkie talkies, or a third person, because it's a bitch to try and yell back and forth in the attic to the person feeding the machine dust masks - otherwise you will suffocate good flashlight to see what your doing some boards or small pieces of plywood to pay on the rafters so you don't fall through the ceiling Some guys taped the end of the hose to a long pole so they could poke it around in the attic without having to walk everywhere, I'm sure this helps. I was able to extend the hose enough to get where I needed it. My kids bedrooms where always hot/cold. I put another 10 inches or so on top of the existing insulation. It helped during the summer, no so much during the winter. Their rooms are still cold. I don't know what's in the walls. I've got the windows caulked. Only thing left is the venting. Did I help in some way?  We did the same thing in two stages.Watch the prices b/w HD and Lowes as they compete per bag which can vary from $6 to $10 bucks for the same stuff. I am not sure if you can still qualify for a tax break but check to see if you can, we did. FB |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I don't see it in my list, but I'll chime in on my job. I went to Home Depot and bought 20 bags, got the free rental. I used the green/recycled stuff, mainly because it was cheaper and there was no itch factor. You NEED: My kids bedrooms where always hot/cold. I put another 10 inches or so on top of the existing insulation. It helped during the summer, no so much during the winter. Their rooms are still cold. I don't know what's in the walls. I've got the windows caulked. Only thing left is the venting. If you have an older home, you might be surprised to find the wall cavities empty. I say all that to say this. Check into those walls. You might be losing alot of energy there. My house is only have 7 years old, but that doesn't mean they didn't do a half-assed job insulating. It may be more air circulation, the rooms stay more temperate if I leave the doors open at night. Doesn't quite make sense, because there is a return in my daughter's room. |
I had 2 insulation companies come out and give me a quote. Some of my walls are insulated some are not (house was remodeled about 10yrs ago) and i have alot of window space..the first company was pushing me on getting the cellulose blown in the walls also in addition to the attic, for a grand total of $6400  , the second guy said its not worth the effort to do the few walls i need insulated, his price was about $3200, home depots rough quote for installed blown fiberglass insualtion was about $2000 with these crazy prices I might need to start an insulation company, the profit margin seems insane, a couple thousand in labor cost for three hours of work. the main area i am trying to insualte is 60ftx27ft with about 15 can lights i need to put a sleeve around before doing the job. i think the cellulose material is the way to go just because it is has no itch issues and i guess pests dont like it because it dries out the area.
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Quoted: I had 2 insulation companies come out and give me a quote. Some of my walls are insulated some are not (house was remodeled about 10yrs ago) and i have alot of window space..the first company was pushing me on getting the cellulose blown in the walls also in addition to the attic, for a grand total of $6400 , the second guy said its not worth the effort to do the few walls i need insulated, his price was about $3200, home depots rough quote for installed blown fiberglass insualtion was about $2000 with these crazy prices I might need to start an insulation company, the profit margin seems insane, a couple thousand in labor cost for three hours of work. the main area i am trying to insualte is 60ftx27ft with about 15 can lights i need to put a sleeve around before doing the job. i think the cellulose material is the way to go just because it is has no itch issues and i guess pests dont like it because it dries out the area.Check your can lights to see if they are IC rated. If they are, you can lay the insulation over the top of them. DIY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlZmKKBXIrM |