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The new to me house (built in 1963) is proving to have an enormous icicle problem.. Clearly the attic needs more insulation. What's the process for getting insulation blown in? Do they do it from the outside or the inside? Is it a disruptive process at all? What sort of contractor do you call to do this job?
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01-26-2022, 09:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-26-2022, 09:13 AM by crokett™.)
The process is you figure out the depth of insulation you need to get the Rvalue you want, you make some small stands out of scrap and mark the depth (you can buy commercial ones), you put those around the attic, then you rent the blower and get the insulation. Mask and goggles and go at it. blow insulation until it gets to the depth. Don't block the eave vents. Do it in winter or early spring, not summer. It's at least a 2 man job. 1 to do the blowing, one to feed the blower. 3 is better, the third guy can keep the hose from getting caught. It's not really disruptive, except for the blowing machine sitting in your house, and the mess. We did it from the outside once, fed the hose up through the eave. Of course for that some of the venting had to be removed. For contractors, oddly enough try a pest control company. A friend had a pest control company do his insulation.
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(01-26-2022, 09:10 AM)crokett™ Wrote: The process is you figure out the depth of insulation you need to get the Rvalue you want, you make some small stands out of scrap and mark the depth (you can buy commercial ones), you put those around the attic, then you rent the blower and get the insulation. Mask and goggles and go at it. blow insulation until it gets to the depth. Don't block the eave vents. Do it in winter or early spring, not summer. It's at least a 2 man job. 1 to do the blowing, one to feed the blower. 3 is better, the third guy can keep the hose from getting caught. It's not really disruptive, except for the blowing machine sitting in your house, and the mess. We did it from the outside once, fed the hose up through the eave. Of course for that some of the venting had to be removed. For contractors, oddly enough try a pest control company. A friend had a pest control company do his insulation.
Interesting, thanks. Does the blower get dragged up into the attic with you?
Giving me flashbacks with the pest control comments. Last pest control guy I let up in my attic broke through my ceiling in two rooms, causing severe damage, and then refused to acknowledge it happened.
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I suppose you could put a blower in an attic, but most attic entries aren't near big enough. The blower units I used it was a wheeled unit with a handle. It has a big hopper. the bagged insulation gets dumped in the hopper and chopped up then blown through the hose. If there's any way you can have it outside, do that. If it has to be inside, wall it in plastic attached to the ceiling. I've helped on 3 houses over the years. The only one the blower was inside was a reno. The other 2, one fed through an eave (we moved it around the outside of the house to reach the entire attic) the other we lifted everything onto the garage roof with a tractor and ran the hose through a window.
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Most Home Depots(and others probably) will include the use of a blower when you buy the insulation from them. The blower has a big hopper(the one we used held two bags of insulation), so it stays on the ground. Blowing insulation is at least a two person job, we had four. One with the hose in the attic, a second helping with the hose(hoses can be up to 80-100' long), third one opening bales of insulation and the fourth feeding the hopper.
There will be numerous YouTube instructional videos on the process.
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(01-26-2022, 10:47 AM)K. L. McReynolds Wrote: Most Home Depots(and others probably) will include the use of a blower when you buy the insulation from them. The blower has a big hopper(the one we used held two bags of insulation), so it stays on the ground. Blowing insulation is at least a two person job, we had four. One with the hose in the attic, a second helping with the hose(hoses can be up to 80-100' long), third one opening bales of insulation and the fourth feeding the hopper.
There will be numerous YouTube instructional videos on the process.
sounds kinda fun!
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(01-26-2022, 08:38 AM)mound Wrote: The new to me house (built in 1963) is proving to have an enormous icicle problem.. Clearly the attic needs more insulation. What's the process for getting insulation blown in? Do they do it from the outside or the inside? Is it a disruptive process at all? What sort of contractor do you call to do this job?
I live in the NE. We have insulation contractors; easy to find. If you are having icicles your problem may not be lack of insulation but lack of it in the right places, or maybe poor attic ventilation. In either case, insulation contractors can assess what's causing the problem and recommend appropriate action. Just adding insulation may not fix your problem.
John
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It is not fun. I don't know your age or the type of attic you have. If you are over 40 I would recomend calling an insulation company to come and do the work. Crawling around in an attic is only for youngsters. The insulation companes around me buy in such a large volume that their material cost will be less than you can get. You might be surprised at what the small diference would be for them to do it versus you making several trips to pick up insulation and the blower as well as returning it.
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(01-26-2022, 02:53 PM)Turner52 Wrote: It is not fun. I don't know your age or the type of attic you have. If you are over 40 I would recomend calling an insulation company to come and do the work. Crawling around in an attic is only for youngsters. The insulation companes around me buy in such a large volume that their material cost will be less than you can get. You might be surprised at what the small diference would be for them to do it versus you making several trips to pick up insulation and the blower as well as returning it.
Good point. I'm 46 but still quite limber (fingers crossed)
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Check with your utility company to see if there are any "winterization programs" available? Sometimes they will come out and do an analysis and then offer rebates. I had one done about 5 years ago, and they came out and did an analysis using a blower door, we thought the house was already sealed, but they found lots of small things.
Before adding more insulation to the attic you or someone else should seal around all the penetrations such as wires, plumbing vents, etc. If you have can lights they need to be dealt with also, but someone else can direct that. Also choose an insulation that won't allow easy air transfer like fiberglass.
You should also add vent chutes to the eaves so you still get good ventilation.
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