For those that want to do this: * Place walking planks beforehand. * Work the furthest corners first. * You can duct tape the hose to a long closet rod to reach hard to get corners. * Have a gravel rake to help you move and push insulation. * Don't cover up venting. * Consider placing a fan over one of the gable end vents facing outwards to draw dust away. * Consider fiberglass over cellulose. * Never-ever compact the insulation as it will then lose its insulation properties. * Consult your temperate zone for adequate insulation loft and expect it to settle over time. Consider doing twice the recommended thickness. You may have to do it in two rises to allow the first one to somewhat "set" before more weight is added.

@whipwhiphco9430

Жыл бұрын

For those watching who want to do this: don’t

@un-even-steven729

Жыл бұрын

For those that already have this.... how would they get rid of this stuff?

@Automaticguns1

Жыл бұрын

​​@@un-even-steven729 probably a sawdust collector with 4" hosing 100ft Or if you can't afford that. a small plastic rake, a broom, a case of 40-50 gallon trash bags. 3 panels of ½" osb or plywood 4'x4'. a full face respirator, a plastic coverall and 3-10 hours if free time to do it yourself. The second option is a few hundred cheaper but a bigger pain in the ass to do

@not_yet_nifter-6423

Жыл бұрын

​@@un-even-steven729 go to your local tool rental and rent a big vacuum with a long hose. Most good contractor rentals will have them.

@PlaneGuyProud

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for writing this wikipedia article. I'll consider your points and take them into account.

I had 56 bags of this stuff blown into my attic by a local insulation company. Only cost $995 and they we done in less than hour. I had done all the prep work needed they were just there to blow in and top off existing. It saved us about 100 gallons of heating oil last year.

@curiousennui8717

Жыл бұрын

Home Depot blowers can do up to like 10 bags an hour maybe and the commercial grade to up to 100 bags an hour. I used to do this for a living and I was livid when I had to get a rental

@dustinpomeroy8817

Жыл бұрын

​@@curiousennui8717they are horrible and frustrating, we used to have one that we cut the throat open on and man that thing would suck some shit.

@rupe53

Жыл бұрын

100 gallons is like $400+ these days. A 2-3 year payback is a great wow factor!

@robertholderman7552

Жыл бұрын

@@curiousennui8717: if you get one thAT is worn out you’re lucky to get seven bags an hour … !!!!!!!!!

@fighter5345

Жыл бұрын

@@curiousennui8717 I would never want to go and get a rental machine. I was lucky enough that when the commercial blower we had split it's chain our resident former maintenance man knew exactly where to get a replacement chain next morning and fixed within an hour. Don't underestimate maintenance personnel, even if it was a former job. Those guys know what to get, where to get it, and how to fix it even if they have never seen it before.

I work in demolition and that type of insulation is the worst part of my job. Clean up afterwards is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch

@daiboomb

Жыл бұрын

I do hvac and this stuff sucks when installing in attics with this stuff I almost went through so many times

@kostieee

Жыл бұрын

@@daiboomb well i have gone through before bc of it lmao

@iliketheanonymity6748

Жыл бұрын

I'm remodeling my house that has this crap in it, and you are definitely right. I have a couple more rooms that I'd like to do but I really don't want to deal with it anymore.

@potobserver9191

Жыл бұрын

One time, we had our hose going up through an elevator shaft and mid blow the hose burst. This shit was like chest high. And i had to scoop it out with a yellow bucket dustpan

@kevinmagee3474

Жыл бұрын

The amount of this shit they can pack into a single stud space is amazing

If you decide to do this, absolutely wear a respirator, not a useless mask. Also, be prepared to dust your house often, this stuff creeps in through every tiny vent, light fixture, or anywhere it can. It's cheap but has it's drawbacks.

@HBSuccess

Жыл бұрын

If you got dust through the ceiling plane that means it’s not airtight, a very bad thing. That means conditioned air from below is leaking into the insulation and could cause all kinds of condensation, mold, even rot .

@ryantracey8574

Жыл бұрын

Your house has problems

@josephinemiller68

Жыл бұрын

This stuff will end up in your lungs. No way I want that in my house.

@hannahmay5461

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, your better of with the fiberglass stuff

@membranealpha5961

Жыл бұрын

@@hannahmay5461 fiber glass is much worse for your body if inhaled

You covered the soffit vents. That will be an issue and could make heat build up worse and damage the roof itself.

@therabman_5606

Жыл бұрын

Facts! Cutting out roof ventilation will cause the roof to “sweat” that will cause moisture built up that will make the timbers rot and mould build up

@enb3810

Жыл бұрын

Or cause mold because of lack of airflow

@snowcow1173

Жыл бұрын

​@@therabman_5606 happened to us when the ridge vent went out, we put gable vents on instead and its better now

@brysonhitchcock8825

Жыл бұрын

I was JUST about to say that. You need baffles. Anyone who says “nah you have a ridge vent or roof vents” doesn’t know how attic ventilation works. Soffits draw air into the attic, there it’s expelled outta the ridge vent or roof vents.

@not_yet_nifter-6423

Жыл бұрын

Sssshhhhhhh!😜 They did it themselves!😉😉 They saved looooots of money😉😉 They will pay us for it down the road. If it weren't for diyers we wouldn't have full time work in the reno industry in my area.

Just some things I noticed. The price is $300 but that will vary depending on how many bags you need. You want to shoot for at least r30 in hot climates but there's a site that shows the recommendations by region. You also want to air seal BEFORE blowing in insulation. The big advantage to not having any insulation is you are free to cover up all the holes around wires, vents, etc. You also cover up your lights with can light covers. Otherwise going through all the trouble of insulating won't bring as much of a benefit as you'll think. Addtionally, you want to put up baffles over your soffits so that you don't block important airflow with insulation. Your house won't be able to breathe. All in all, I would recommend you do your research before deciding to insulate your own attic. Because if you don't (like this guy), you'll introduce more problems than if you hadn't done anything at all.

@randybobandy9828

Жыл бұрын

He didn't do research? Did he tell you that?

@user-rn3rn6nl3h

Жыл бұрын

​@@randybobandy9828 he blew insulation into the soffit

@guttertierbot

Жыл бұрын

covering soffit = no research. Roof will be trash in couple years.

@denniswilder3014

Жыл бұрын

also it is designed to be sprayed in so it gets into the crevices spreading it by hand like they did creates air pockets.

@msmith4700

Жыл бұрын

I did my own attic also and I agree with you totally you must foam all penetrations of wires and ceiling, fan, cans, and lights.. also, are you still up insulation that the air ducks were also covered in the insulation.. thereby making them more insulated

You need to put soffit covers (baffles) where the roof meets the soffit so you don't blow insulation into the soffits (as you did) and prevent the roof from venting. You just shortened the life of your roof big time but maybe home Depot will have free roof nailer rental when you buy a new roof.

@g_i..

Жыл бұрын

Was just going to comment on venting for that roof, most people have no idea about the important details like this on any project that professionals do.

@PNUTT4444

Жыл бұрын

Ty. Ty both. Stated more nicely than I probably could have. I yelled at my screen. ( out of frustration for not being able to tell them what they are doing ) Then calmed down, knowing that I didn’t do it. I couldn’t help before it was done. Then went to see how long it would take to find in the comments.

@G_Zero127

Жыл бұрын

Cheap work gets expensive down the road when he needs to replace the roof😂

@meganbaird0609

Ай бұрын

We are having to replace 40% of the plywood on our house because the sofits had insulation blown into them and now we had a huge mold problem! Please use baffles to insure your soft ventilation is clear! It's is going to cost us 30k to fix. 😢

Yes, for the point that you’re missing is that when you paid professional you get professional stuff like you didn’t install roof baffles and that’s gonna be fun when it becomes really moist up there and condensed with mold

@adammonahan687

Жыл бұрын

Was looking for this comment. Guess he didn't watch the right KZread video before he started hahah

@velcro-is-a-rip-off

Жыл бұрын

What are you saying

@NickR..

Жыл бұрын

You don't need roof baffles. It's not insulated at the roof sheathing. Just need to keep from blocking soffit.

@currincook6422

Жыл бұрын

@@NickR.. you do with this small of a pitch. It's impossible to insulate the plate without blocking airflow. This is very basic stuff

@calebferren6607

Жыл бұрын

This house obviously doesn’t have soffit vents, a lot of older houses like this don’t. A professional wouldn’t have put baffles in because there is no vent. Adding some with roof venting would have been a good idea.

We did this to our home, you have to make sure you don’t cover your soffit vents to allow air flow in the attic.

@UltraGamma25

Жыл бұрын

Yes

@Mattastic79

Жыл бұрын

That's what I was thinking. It didn't look like he did. Or baffles.

@nickkirschner3719

Жыл бұрын

They covered them alright, this one is gonna be a nightmare in the future.

When your PPE cost more then your insulation 😂

For the record that's not a promo, that's a permanent offer. I worked at home Depot for 7 years and that offer was valid and available the entire time.

You can adjust the flow of the insulation, at the bottom of the machine the is a metal plate that you pull out which opens the hole at the bottom letting more flow out. Just so you know

@GardensoftheAncientsHerbal

Жыл бұрын

Slower gets a fluffier spray though

@patrickancona1193

Жыл бұрын

@@GardensoftheAncientsHerbal little less then half is what we ran but depends on humidity & temperatures on site, this kid really screwed the pooch not running moisture barrier & baffles, that’s one big pile a black mold in progress, every speck has to be vacuumed/swept up & done over correctly before the whole house is condemned

@donaldliverance2597

Жыл бұрын

​@Patrick Ancona Jesus thank you at least one person here has it figured out. hope the homeowner does soon

As someone who worked doing insulation, i am absolutely appalled

@wizcombo

Жыл бұрын

Why?

@potobserver9191

Жыл бұрын

@EWave you can't just throw blowing insulation in between an open bay and call it a day.

@CaptainRexCT-7567

Жыл бұрын

​@@potobserver9191 Why?

I worked for an installation company for about 3 years and we installed cellulose insulation and foam, he would need like 16.5 inches of cellulose to get r36

@johnaubreymitchell7128

Жыл бұрын

That doesn’t look like r30 to me

@HBSuccess

Жыл бұрын

You should have paid more attention. Cellulose is roughly R3.5 per inch. 16.5” when installed gets you an R49-50 when settled. Not R36.

@dickbutt7854

Жыл бұрын

Still better than that toxic foam

@janiellmorel9588

Жыл бұрын

18” of cellulose gets you to R-60 which is what we put over here in Massachusetts with some agencies.

@miguelcorona4643

Жыл бұрын

Do they still put asbestos in insulation????

You can still see the ceiling joists! There’s not much insulation.

Your mice will appreciate your efforts. 🤣🤣🤣

@hikarychan3997

Жыл бұрын

I 🤔 I was thinking this exact same thing like it looks like a rodent room

@tinytim9453

Жыл бұрын

Cellulose has boric acid added to it to keep insects and rodents away.

@steveloux4709

Жыл бұрын

Rodents do not like cellulose insulation. Unlike fiberglass.

@not_yet_nifter-6423

Жыл бұрын

​@@hikarychan3997 my attic has cellulose over fiberglass...the mice hated the cellulose but loved the fiberglass. When the blow-in was done the mice I caught halved in size and number almost immediately and then disappeared after a few months. Just like my more experienced contractor buddy said.

@oufannamedbrandon6715

Жыл бұрын

HaHa! The BEST part is when "his mice" became "your mice" the day he blew this stuff in.. All cellulose insulation sold in the U.S. is treated with a combination of Borax, Boric Acid, and Ammonium Sulfate per. U. S. Code.. I've yet to see any evidence of mice when cellulose insulation is around. But guess where I always see them?. You got it! Almost every fiberglass insulated attic I go into.. Dam shame that people today bash others over something they themselves have zero knowledge or understanding of... Right or Wrong be damned, some people just need to be heard I suppose..

Menards stores doesn’t offer their insulation blowers for free as HD (and possibly Lowe’s? or your local lumber yard) but they offer their insulation for less, then charge you for renting the machine. The difference is IIRC that you can keep the machine a day or two longer. Thought it might help someone else…

@dustinpomeroy8817

Жыл бұрын

and Menards blowers usually aren't broke

Rock wool sounds like its a lot less hazardous and messy

@Rj-yd9su

Жыл бұрын

Hahaha you must of have never worked with rock wool huh

@xeovg4169

Жыл бұрын

@@Rj-yd9su yea I have 🙂, put it my own home, really simple, just cut and place in.

@janiellmorel9588

Жыл бұрын

Rockwool sucks. Terrible air barrier

@xeovg4169

Жыл бұрын

@@janiellmorel9588 how is it worse than this???

I do insulation , and you got roughly 4-6inches in there which is the absolute bare minimum… you did 0 airsealing of the wall tops w 1 part spray foam which is what’s mainly gonna stop all the air flow into the attic , you want anywhere from 15-18inches of cell in there for maximum benefits and savings

Add some more vents to the inside of your Attic

@MrBigtime1986

Жыл бұрын

Yeah no baffles or vents

It's hard to imagine houses existing that don't have some sort of attic insulation.

No baffles or vents?

@defy2598

Жыл бұрын

diy at its best

@Johnny-es1wl

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah, there is that.

@johnathon007

Жыл бұрын

Not all houses have soffit vents. Gable vents and ridge vents are common in some areas.

@defy2598

Жыл бұрын

@@johnathon007 obviously you know more about this than me

Part of the reasons why you pay the professionals is because the pros know how to prep the attic before the addition of the insulation. As mentioned in a previous comment you need to add rafter baffles and dams at the soffit to maintain air circulation, also air sealing measures to seal up any penetrations into the attic space from below will help conserve energy. The pros will also use measuring cards throughout the attic to ensure they are adding an even and adequate amount of insulation. So that money you saved on doing it your self will probably cost you much more in the future.

I would’ve replaced the ductwork first, then I would’ve done a attic seal to prevent it from getting into the home.

My insulation guy would have done this job for less than $800. And he carries a million dollar general liability insurance policy...

@joeydover

Жыл бұрын

@Fire Plug Yep. Your R30 in the ceiling becomes R12 pretty quick.

Soffit vents! Thus is what happens when the DIY crowd doesn't know what they don't know. Next lesson will be moisture and mold remediation followed by new roof

@enlightened69

Жыл бұрын

100% correct.

@enlightened69

Жыл бұрын

WELL SAID. !!!! this is job security for us in the trade. as long as these diy videos and hg tv shows keep comming out we will.always be in business. 300 to diy.....cost to have professional in to fix all the damage and mistakes....priceless

I helped my friend do this in his house. He dropped the hose while I was loading up the hopper but I couldn't hear. Kept pumping cellulose into the kitchen for a solid 30 seconds.

As someone in the insulation industry, fibre glass is way easier to work with if you are trying to DIY your insulation. Home depot has the same deal with their fibre glass insulation and machine. You use way less material using fibre glass and the clean up is a ton easier than cellulose. Still going to take you a good 4 hours to get done with their machines. Still recommend using an actual insulation company as they can make sure your attic functions properly. Yes your attic can actually not work.

@TwirleyCard

Жыл бұрын

Also hope they got more than 20 bags. That wont properly cover 1700 square feet

Air seal first or your in for some surprises

@Tilethoughts

Жыл бұрын

💯 air sealing is far more important than people realize.

Best insulating material fir the attic is simple pink rolls. It won’t infuse your house with dust. And no big machinery needed

@J-Mac8

Жыл бұрын

What about price comparison

@candoitistoit9244

4 ай бұрын

Best in what way though?

How to make any electrician instantly hate working on your house part one

Two knee boards (1/2” osb 2’x2’ will keep you from falling or wobbling of trusses. I am in thousands of attics every year removing bats…

Before you consider doing this, consider the fact than anyone who you hire to do any work up there is gonna charge you 3x as much because it sucks to work in 😂

You can spread it around without the machine. Ended up doing half of it manually anyway.

To get better bang for your buck. While the insulation is out, air seal all of your ceiling penetrations like pipes, light fixtures and wall headers.

People paying to remove that crap...

@ttgk8506

Жыл бұрын

My neighbor paid me $1500 to remove blown insulation from his attic. Took me and a home depot helper about 5 hrs to remove all of it. I'll never do that again though

I don't see any vapour barrier above your sheetrock (drywall) ceiling. Also, soffit vents are important.

Baffles would be good, as mentioned, for good airflow. Also code in my area requires R49 which is about 16” of blowin insulation. Looks like you have about 6” which is R15. You might get better results with more insulation. Just a couple tips. Hard work for sure. Way to go!

I respect the fact you did this on your own. You missed a great opportunity to air seal all the top plates/pipe chases etc while the attic was bare. Also make sure your soffit is vented with propa vents/baffles. Watch out for mold growth on the roofline in the upcoming future as well.

@traxxedout3019

Жыл бұрын

then they call me to dig through the cellulose to seal what a bitch i hate it haha

@michaelvoyer3844

Жыл бұрын

@@traxxedout3019 hahaha I feel your pain!

I probably need to do this. This summer one of my AC’s went out. Called the repair people and they were up in the attic replacing the broken unit. We have a golden doodle that just barks constantly at men he doesn’t know so I had my kiddo watch the dog in a room upstairs. I’m downstairs doing dishes when she FaceTimes me and says “mom there is a man dangling through the ceiling.” She has the best sense of humor so I assumed it was some sort of joke and then she said “no really, his legs are just kicking” and she turned the screen to face him 🤦🏼‍♀️ apparently he thought it was a beam but says it was just a loose board, though I’m not sure why a loose board would be up there 🤷🏼‍♀️ they sent out a painter that mostly fixed the ceiling but they didn’t put any of the insulation back. When we were finally able to get the guy out there was insulation every where. I picked it all up but not sure what to do with it. The man was ok. Just scared. I wasn’t mad about the ceiling, stuff happens and the first thing I did was make sure he was ok and help to get him out. If I’d have to guess I’d say the particular man that fell wasn’t here legally (I’m in Texas) and vehemently refused any sort of medical care but insisted he was ok (at least that’s what they told me he said)

@rjmac3001

Жыл бұрын

Accidents happen tbh. Seems believable lol, ive almost went through a ceiling the same way. Thought it was a beam when it was just a scrap of wood lying parallel to the actual beams

@Danman1972

Жыл бұрын

Board was likely there as a plank to move around and walk one up there so you don't mistep and through the ceiling.

@daaneel

Жыл бұрын

Just so you know, emt personnel are not immigration and don’t care if you’re here legally or illegally. The only thing is that he probably doesn’t have insurance

Thanks you just turned my attic into a oversized rat nest

You did several things wrong, 1. You should never spread out blow in insulation if possible because that causes it to settle and you loose R value. 2. You need vent strips from your soffit to a level above your insulation or else you block the air flow and cause the attic to sweat. I’ve worked in an improperly vented attic and it was literally raining inside the attic space. 3. You didn’t put enough insulation in your attic 4. The proper installation technique is to start by blowing into the hard to reach areas around the edge and work your way to the middle.

Yeah, it might be cheap now, but that stuff is gonna come back to bite you when no electrician wants to work on your house.

@TechTokOffical

Жыл бұрын

Well then they will watch a 15min youtube video on "how to be an electrician" and just do the work himself....and burn the house down.

@not_yet_nifter-6423

Жыл бұрын

​@@TechTokOffical That is why the rest of us pay so much house insurance.

@johnwells920

Жыл бұрын

Clearly you don't live in cold climates

@Christopher_Gibbons

Жыл бұрын

@@johnwells920 I do, which is why I paid for to be done right.

@johnwells920

Жыл бұрын

@Christopher Gibbons I also live in cold climate. Blown insulation is an extremely common thing.

Wow that's awesome

*No air sealing done :( *No ventilation baffle installed :( The insulation was applied wrong, missing those two steps I said, I will lead you to have hot/air conflict and then mold. You tried saving, but it will cost you in the future. This kind of insulation needs ventilation to breath, it’s not like sprayfoam. I run a Insulation business all over New England.

This is the ONE project I don't mind paying a professional to do.

This was the cause of my allergy. I replaced it all. The blown in insulation sucks.

I'm going to stop watching backwards. hahaha. but cover it with plastic please. I just have bad health problems from things like this. it's too late now. GOD BLESS

@randybobandy9828

Жыл бұрын

Not from cellulose..

Put on baby powered before hard helps with the itching as it clogs pours first and inso can’t.

For those that have 1950-60s houses that have very little or no insulation: call up the gas company. They likely have a program that pays for it. That’s right. Free insulation. And you don’t have to be anywhere close to the poverty level

@harrycorrea2547

Жыл бұрын

I will definitely give them a call, even some financial help I’ll take. Mine was built in the 50’s and got trash insulation almost none

Ive heard cellulose is really bad with moisture retention, supposedly someone did a bunch of Victorian houses and it was a disaster.

Having this crap in my entire house, I HIGHLY recommend AGAINST using this insulation for a variety of reasons. 1-not pest or rodent resistant 2-if it gets wet, it stains the ceiling and would need all the insulation that got wet to be removed and replaced which is not easy 3-it compacts and settles poorly so you end up with uneven insulation which takes even more work to fix

@BuyAndReview

Жыл бұрын

Which one is resistant

@ssaw88

Жыл бұрын

For batt style insulation roxul is a great option that is also water resistant unlike cellulose and fiberglass. For blow in there are a few blow in fiberglass options but again you run into the issue of water ruining it. A good option is to use a foil insulation stapled up to the roof rafters in a way to shed water away from the insulation and then blow in the fiberglass.

I'm renovating my bedroom and the worst part of the entire process has been pulling the ceiling down and cleaning up all the blown insulation. I replaced it all with fiberglass batts

@robertm5969

Жыл бұрын

Why are you pulling your ceiling down?

@disintegrate894

Жыл бұрын

@Robert M there were a few reasons - the wall separating my bedroom from the bathroom and the closet was not framed well, it was crooked and didn't have a base plate so I ripped that wall out, whenever the house was built they never installed a vent for forced heat in the bedroom despite the fact the duct runs over the bedroom, so that was fixed, and there was a spot I thought might have water damage so I took that down to inspect above it - at that point it made more sense to me to take it all down and replace all the insulation since I was already doing the rest of the room anyway. I'm happy I did, I was losing a lot of heat on the exterior wall side of the house and it's much better now

In an effort to save money 1. Your attic isn’t insulated up to code so you won’t see much of a change in your heating bill. 2. It doesn’t seem like you added any ventilation, no low roof vents or high roof vents. And you covered your soffit vents with the cellulose, unless you have a finished attic and you’re blowing into slopes. Still you’re going to end up getting mold growth because the humidity has nowhere to escape. 3. You didn’t airseal your attic before blowing insulation so now you’ve still got a lot of heat loss there and the cellulose will end up creeping it’s way into your living space. Try looking for government programs that provide incentives for insulation so that way you can save. Here in Massachusetts there is Mass Save and single family homes occupied by homeowners get 75% off on insulation and airsealing is free. And multi family homes receive free insulation all around 100% off.

That stuff is nasty.....use the pink panther one it's grate

@icuinthelight

Жыл бұрын

Pink Insulation is made with formaldehyde, the chemical used to embomb the dead, it can causes health issues. The product used in the video is natural, no off-gassing of poisonous gas.

@shannond7437

Жыл бұрын

😹

Iv got this insulation., and all it does is cause mice nests please don't do it

hahahaha, this is a great how-not-to video. Thanks!

One of the most intense environments to be in imo

That's at most 5 inches. Code (in most of the u.s) is r38. Thats like r19

Even if you don't need that much just buy that much so you can rent the machine for free and then return the extra

Just did this myself. Blowing is the easy part and the 4 days of removal prior to this part were the worst days of my life. Hire the pros for the removal of old stuff if you need to.

@fighter5345

Жыл бұрын

As a "pro" who does removal and reinstall, it may be pricey but it's done in a half a day for a decent sized house, and if you didn't skip out would also have any animal hazards like waste, mold, and general trash taken care of and sealed so they cannot get back in. Nothing worse than getting an attic inspected 5 years later to find all that new insulation ruined by bats, mice, and squirrels moving back in.

Fun fact, rats, pack rats and birds also love the insulation

It really is that easy. My wife and I bought blown in insulation at Black Friday 2018. We put the job aside until we were ready to do it and the rental was still free. My wife needed to work quickly about opening the bags and loading them into the machine. For us it was not as dusty as this video shows. We went quickly enough that we didn't put it down and walk away. Or home is a 3 bedroom ranch and it was about $600 to go R... 38 I think? Our insulation is about 2 feet high, not small like this video shows. That price included materials to seal lights, holes for electrical, and some thin plywood to build walls separating the attic from house and garage. I also built up a wall around our attic fan so it didn't dump on top of the vent. I'm so glad we took the time to do extra steps! Watch other videos explaining about protecting the airflow to your soffit vents. Blocking your soffits could be a costly mistake but KZread can help fellow beginners with this task. I'd rank it a straight forward early spring or fall project. Edit: use old doors or sheets of plywood as ramps to help keep you from falling thru the ceiling. We grabbed some free ones off Craigslist, then left them up there over the garage. Our garage isn't heated or cooled so we didn't bother insulating it. Additionally, we recovered the costs of the project within 2 years of doing it.

@ChinaChuck

Жыл бұрын

Read Randall Smerna's comment. He has more tips than I remembered to include in my post.

In Texas Oncor will pay for some companies to insulate your attic if you are below a certain level. I had my entire attic blown in to 19 inches for $800. I didn’t have to do anything.

It also depends on where you live, the climate, and your expectations for insulation. To meet the local recommendations on r value in my area for efficiency you need roughly 18-22ish inches of insulation in the attic. I've gone into a lot of attics with 6 inches or less. Rarely ever seen someone actually close. Only only seen over the value 1 time.

Doing HVAC installs in attics this is the worst insulation to deal with when moving around up there. I’m sure electricians will agree too. Basically making a designated area for mice to move in

Using that machine for the loft insulation reminded me of an episode of 911 i think it was

A lot of states offer programs that will even do this work for free through government programs. I use to do it for people in California!

Did my reserch,got the insulation and rented the machine for a weekend.took a few hrs to complete,returned the machine,and my light bill in florida for ac went from $ 700.00 a month to $175.00 a month for the hottest Florida months.

“Fire safe and most importantly inexpensive” the guy would rather be on fire then waste money 😂

I personally would use this product at all. If you decide change up your lighting in the rooms below it will ba complete mess. I'd recommend rock wool which has a very high fire protection rating. Like someone else said here walking planks make it easier. Venting the attic with a fan is a great idea as well.

I once did legit 4 square acres of cellulose insulation. I put roughly 3 semi trucks of cellulose into the rafters of a commercial chicken barn and my biggest recommendations for if you do this yourself are put a fan next to the machine that you load the bags into. And get yourself a p2/N95 respirator. That stuff plugs a filter in about 2 hours. Overall it was a pretty fun job. It's like working with a firehouse that shoots cotton candy.

We recently bought a house with blown in insulation and its a nightmare every time I need to get in the attic. It compresses over time and loses R value. Any time you open the attic it falls into your living space. If baffles werent installed it wants to settle near the soffit vents and block your airflow. Had put wood over the joists so I could crawl around to fix the condensate drain and bunch of ductwork. Ended up getting a bunch of nail pops in the ceiling below since the blown in settled and compressed unevenly. Im now debating whether or not to just have it all sucked out and replaced with fiberglass. If I could do it over from scratch Id put faced fiberglass batts between the joists, then plywood over to make moving around the attic easier. Then unfaced batts perpindicular to the joists for a total R value of 48+. Do it right the first time and never worry about it again.

I did my attic my self but I used pink insulation because the cellulose fibers will settle down over time loosing up to half of there insulation properties that's the main problem with that type of insulation and if you look at your home Depot a lot of them have a fake wall they build with plexiglass on one side to show how the cellulose will compact over time, but to each there own

Dude you are like a foot short of what is needed

@fratricidefrank

Жыл бұрын

Dude, it depends on the climate you're in

@Tilethoughts

Жыл бұрын

Based off him saying it only cost him $300 I don't even think he got to r-19.

@Tilethoughts

Жыл бұрын

​@@fratricidefrank it does but r38 is the minimum code pretty much across-the-board.

@fratricidefrank

Жыл бұрын

@@Tilethoughts not where I am from. Most of the time, if you build your own, there is no code anyway because the weather is good to go. Plus, how can you honestly try to tell the R value of a KZread short based on price lol

@Tilethoughts

Жыл бұрын

@@fratricidefrank easy,math Guy says he spent $300 Per manufacturer product he used yields 49 sf per bag at r-19 . 1700 sf ÷ 49 is 35 . That product locally at home Depot is $17 per bag so it would be more like $600 for r 19 .

I had a repeat customer nick in okc who I rented a machine to him weekly until he was able to get his own

As a worker who has to go into attics fairly often, I fucking hate this shit. Can't find any of the electrical cables or data cables cause they've been covered, and I have to dig through so much of the shit that I inevitably track it back inside the customer's home. Best part is that I don't get issued PPE for this shit, so I just get to sit there and breathe it in.

Would have spent the money on a leaf rake! I like to fill the attic with at least 3 feet because the cost is pretty reasonable

Food for thought. Cellulose settles and you loose R-value over time, it is fire resistant until those chemicals that make it fire resistant evaporate over time.....do yourself a favor and use blow in fiberglass. It is stornger than it weighs, no settling after the initial settle, and typical house fires don't get hot enough to melt it, let alone burn. Blown in fiberglass costs a little more, BUT it is so much better in the long run. Information I got from insulation companies when I used to sell insulation.

This is a great suggestion, but keep in mind if you need to blow insulation into walls, that machine will not do it. It is not powerful enough. The machine the pros use has quite a bit more gusto .. but simply blowing insulation up an attic it does an awesome job.

The overall cost to insulate is not the material its the labor (obviously). Take your time (including drive time) and multiply that by $25 per person add material including PPE to get closer to your real cost and savings. Sometimes a 30-40% premium paid to the pros is worth the time and trouble,

Where are you vent baffles? Maintaining roof ventilation is super important for keeping your attic cool.

That's not a promotion that's been that way for 20 years lol. They just say it's a special.

Add a little water (just a little) every bag or so to help keep the dust down.

Go back up and add pest control and check it 3-4 times a year. Rats and mice love nesting in that stuff

I prefer the white stuff it looks like snow it doesn't make fine dust And at Lowe's you buy one bag you can get the machine with the deposit you return it get your money back

@tgeliot

Жыл бұрын

Rock wool?

That's not a promo, that's an everyday deal.

I got fired from taking calls from home depot before I even taken a call . Trainers super sensitive and I said a word that they did not agree with but I was really looking forward to this job but shit happens . Anyway I know some things about home depot now that really helps .

@dickbutt7854

Жыл бұрын

What

Down here where I'm at it cost approximately fifty to sixty cents a square foot to heaven r38 value blown in. On top of that power company usually offers rebates which make it even cheaper. They mask everything off so you don't have a mess and you don't need to waste time doing it.

Yeah. Spent 1 week taking out 145 garbage bags of saw dust out the attic of our 130 year old house. Then got the entire attic sprayed with 3 inches of spray foam, then put fiberglass insulation on top of that. Also put some vents to keep air flow

It's not actually a promotional deal at home depot, I used to work there and they always rent it out for free when you buy a certain number of bags. You just have to ask how many because it might be different between stores

You can do it all by yourself with an electric mulching vac. I installed 40 bags in 1700sqft for $300 a few years ago.

I got this done for free by my gas company. Made a huge difference in my old house.

You need to go to construction site ask around. I got a very friendly Mexican that does industrial hvac $200. $150 in insulation. Whole job was done for $350 and i hooked him up to helping my neighbors.

Thats a never ending rats nest 😂

Spray foam around electrical boxes vent pipes and sheet rock joints first to stop drafts.

Not really insulated if it not compacted together, in the uk we put rolls of the stuff between ceiling joists and then over so you get about 300mm

Cellulose is not "fire resistant". It's shredded cardboard.

After that, go find the junction box over the back room…. moisture caused a short. Good luck

Its all about prep. Rafter baffles if you have vented eaves and ridge. I box out all can lights and fire putty electrical boxs. I also cut pink board and foamed them into the gap between the rafters under the baffles around the perimeter to keep insulation out of the soffits. Air leaks reduce the efficiency of your insulation and ventilation is critical for your attic to avoid mold or to prevent ice damming that degrades your shingles