Attic Insulation

General Off Topic
1

About to do some attic insulation in my single story home. What little was there is now removed and I have a clean slate to start with. My questions and\or concerns are; hire someone to do the blown loose stuff or rent the gear to do it myself, or should I use the blocks or rolls of the pink stuff, with or without paper backing…
Pro’s and con’s for either?
What R rating should I use\get?
It’s a small home just under 1000 sqft.

Any suggestions, ■■■■■■■■, or insight will be appreciated!

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”

2

Go conditioned attic space. Spray foam for something that small that you have already prepped should be fairly affordable.

“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson

Wilderness Ride 115

3

I did spray foam in my roof at the advice of some of the guys on this site and I am happy I went that direction. I wouldn’t even think about doing this dirty job myself.

4

That’s quite a do it your self project, either batts or blow in! Get a bid on the blow in I bet it wont be much more than doityourself. The best way, not the cheapest, is like Geronimo and Skinnee J did. You can’t spend much time in an attic this time of the year and for months to come! Good luck, any type is better than none

5

1000 square feet and we’re recommending that he hire it out? We’re doomed.

6

You can buy the blow in stuff from lowes or home depot and they’ll rent you the machine for free if you buy enough of it. As far as how much, I’d blow it in as deep as possible, just take care if you have a ridge vent and soffet vents to not block the eaves so air can flow.

'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki

7

Bingo on Tigerfin. If blown in, don’t plug the vents!!

NN

8

I’d wait until late August to do it.

“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?

9

We did our house (1050 sq ft) with blown in stuff from lowes. You get the machine rental free if you buy 25 bundles or more. Think it cost $350 all said and done, maybe 4hrs. Super easy job, but messy!! Mark the rafters (maybe they are called something else) with a marker so you know how high you want to go.

10

Excellent ■■■■■■■■ y’all! Thanks for the heads up. Got a couple quotes coming for the spray foam stuff and will look in to the ‘do it yourself’ way with the blown in stuff from lowes…Pod, don’t worry, some of us can still handle doing manual physical labor…We are still doomed though! LOL

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”

11

skinnee and the trustfunder bunch on here throw $ around like a sailor on a 3 day pass, like a kennedy at a pub, like a democrat on a spending bill, like bonzo on the paperclip aisle, like 40"er at a white braid sale.

next think ya know, they’ll all buy specialized boating shoes

12

energy guy here, if you can afford to foam it that’s the deal, if not use blown fiberglass

as stated, Lowes’ has it all - machine, hose, fiberglass, eye protection, dust mask and a Tyvek disposable suit, install R-38, install some kind of sticks so you know the depth to go to, once you start blowing you’ll loose all references, CRITICAL - do not let it blow into the eaves and block the ventilation, most peeps install baffles to prevent that, if you have any holes in the ceiling into the attic - around pipes, vents, etc. - get some spray foam and seal those, they are easy to see from the attic looking at the ceiling with the lights on in the rooms, super easy at night

do all the prep work before getting the machine and fiberglass, now is the perfect time, do it early and it won’t be too hot, the savings on the power bill will pay for the costs in less than a year

I’ve done the blown fiberglass myself, it’s a 2-man job, one at the machine and one on the hose, the store doesn’t provide much instruction, if you overfeed the machine by shoving a bundle in it it will clog up, break the bundles some and feed the chunks in, if you have some 2-way radios that will be helpful, the end of the hose has an on-off switch but it helps if you can communicate

you’ll want to start in the corner and work back to the exit, make sure you blow the full depth before moving on, you don’t want to have to go back and compress what you’ve already done

if you have any work to do in the attic - repair eave vent screens, plumbing pipes, electrical, add bathroom vents, etc, get that done first, if you will need to go up there later install walk boards, or if you have storage - for both, install joists to get the deck at least 10" off the attic floor, blow in some extra in this area then lay the decking down

it’s not a difficult job just takes time, dress right, have patience and do it right the first time

Pioneer 197SF

13

What nobody talks about as far as the blow in Schidt is that if you wanna use that part of your attic for storage it makes it useless. Something to consider.

14

on the storage thing

most attics will have 2x6 ceiling joists, if there are trusses it may be 2x4’s, before adding the insulation, install 2x6’s across the existing joists, put them 16" OC, the length and number of supports will be dictated by what size 3/4" plywood you can get into the attic

put the decking into the attic and lean it somewhere that you can easily get to, blow the insulation 3-5" higher that the supports, then install the plywood

it’s usually easier to do this part first then go to the farthest corner and start the rest of the work

I do the prep work sometime before the insulation work, once you have the machine you won’t want to get held up with other tasks

Pioneer 197SF

15

Good points! Thanks for all the ■■■■■■■■! I have 2 quotes for the foam stuff this week…will explore the other options from there…

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”