Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?

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FYI-Make sure you check the duck work and it isn’t leaking conditioned air into the attic

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Oh! Good call. I do need to check that.

ETA:

Son of a bitch. Thanks for the reminder. I forgot that I had found an issue on my air handler last year. I taped the piss out of it with the foil tape. Just went check it and it had popped the tape. Stuck it back down for now and I can feel much better air flow in the rooms in question. Heading to Lowe’s now to get some more supplies to make a better repair.

You'll need at least 2 people to do this. One to keep the hopper filled with the bagged insulation and another in the attic to blow it in.

Doing this in June would not be nice, but starting at 4 a.m. like suggested will get the neighbors up in your face more than likely. That hopper that delivers the insulation by hose is not quiet by any means.

Depending on how high you plan on insulating, how big your attic is, and how difficult, or easy total access to the attic is, it could take a few hours to complete.

I had a company come by years ago after pricing batt insulation that I'd put down myself as opposed to blown in and the price was very close, so I had them come out to do it.

Get prices from installers and you may be surprised at the cost and whether it's worth your time and sweat to do it yourself. And believe me, I'm a DIY guy and I passed on it just to save a couple hundred dollars.

I did it in June because I'm stupid and impatient. Didn't realize it til I was through and climbed down out of attic but I got really hot. It took 3 days to recover. Don't cover up the soffit vents.

Thanks again, brother.

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If you decide to blow in insulation, I'd recommend you go get some spray foam and seal the gaps between your top plates and sheet rock.

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Did you DYI this? If so, how difficult was it to do with existing blown in insulation?

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Did you DYI this? If so, how difficult was it to do with existing blown in insulation?

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Not too bad considering the attic had very little insulation and i could see and walk on the joists. Move the insulation to the side, spray, and cover back up. Doing the perimeter may not be worth it in hindsight, had to lay a piece of ply to crawl on and even then could barely reach the exterior top plates. I had to be a bit more generous with the foam here since i could barely see what i was doing.

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Not too bad considering the attic had very little insulation

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Thanks, I have R-30 but it’s settled over the years but still over the rafters and would like to bring it up to R-38/R-40. I know my ceiling drywall seams, top plates, electrical lines, pipe vents, recessed lights are not air sealed. I’ve considered doing the air sealing myself, later this fall when it cools, but I’ll likely get estimates before making any decision on this.