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Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?
Posted by lnomm34 on 6/2/19 at 7:33 am10
I feel like I need some more insulation in my attic. Older house, built in 1969 and my A/C on the living room and kitchen side of the house is having a hard time keeping up when it gets really hot outside. I have the unit serviced so I feel like it’s not the unit itself.
Anyway, how hard of a DIY job is the blown in insulation? And how bad would it be to do this in the attic in june in Louisiana?
Anyway, how hard of a DIY job is the blown in insulation? And how bad would it be to do this in the attic in june in Louisiana?
quote:
FYI-Make sure you check the duck work and it isn’t leaking conditioned air into the attic
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.
This post was edited on 6/2 at 8:08 am
re: Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?Posted by fishfighter on 6/2/19 at 8:02 am to wickowick
OP, it's going to take two or three people. One in attic, one to feed the blower and one to haul bales of insulation.
Will need a good respirator too!
I'm fixing to do this.
Will need a good respirator too!
I'm fixing to do this.
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.
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.
re: Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?Posted by HighRoller on 6/2/19 at 8:32 am to lnomm34
My wife and I did this several years ago. Rented the machine and finished over the weekend. Not hard at all as long as you can maneuver easily in your attic. Gonna suck right now.
re: Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?Posted by bovine1 on 6/2/19 at 9:48 am to HighRoller
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.
Repair done. I bought some flashing material and cut it to size. Siliconed the edges of the patch sheet then put it over the hole. Then o screwed the hell out of the edges with small self-tapping screws. For good measure I put a TON of foil tape over the whole thing in an alternating pattern, multiple times. I also went around the whole unit to feel if I felt any other leaks. I found a joint where there was a small amount of leakage. I taped that up as well.
My wife kicked on the A/C while I was finishing up in attic. The temperature is falling in the living room now and we can feel the air flow finally. Looks like this was my major issue.
I do still need some insulation. But at least I’ll be able to wait until a better time of year.
My wife kicked on the A/C while I was finishing up in attic. The temperature is falling in the living room now and we can feel the air flow finally. Looks like this was my major issue.
I do still need some insulation. But at least I’ll be able to wait until a better time of year.
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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. I found my insulation had turned brown/black in these areas due to all the air leakage over the years.
I bought (72) 30lb bags and it took about 10 hours not including setup or clean-up.
I bought (72) 30lb bags and it took about 10 hours not including setup or clean-up.
quote:
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.
Did you DYI this? If so, how difficult was it to do with existing blown in insulation?
quote:
Did you DYI this? If so, how difficult was it to do with existing blown in insulation?
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.
There was very little existing insulation when I started, target depth was 14" over approx. 1800 ft2. Bit overkill but I needed more than 1 pallet from HD and at the time they didn't have individual bags.
quote:
Not too bad considering the attic had very little insulation
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.
re: Blowing in insulation: how difficult? And how much would it suck in June?Posted by ChenierauTigre on 6/4/19 at 6:14 pm to lnomm34
We did it ourselves, but it was in December. Anyone who would do this in June should be sent to the funny farm because you have lost your damn mind.
Oh, lucky you! Glad it was an easy repair and you don't have to insulate in summer.
Oh, lucky you! Glad it was an easy repair and you don't have to insulate in summer.
This post was edited on 6/4 at 6:18 pm
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