Blown in attic insulation

[ronny]

Be sure to keep your soffits clear.

 

[Shadowrider]

Get fiberglass!

 

[inactive]

i added 30 bags of blow in recycled cellulose stuff from lowes when they had it on special for like 7$ a bag. its blows in very easily it also seems very air tight but a little dusty. i blew in almost an additional 18-20" over 1300 sq ft. after about 6 months it seems to have settled to like 12" wish i'd have done more bags, surely it'd have helped even more. my AC seems to stay off longer and i've seen some pretty good savings specially in the winter time. hard to keep our AC in with as much as me and my wife and the dogs go in an out. also we just bought a lot better thermostat that should be saving us quite a bit of money.

normal house temps while were home are set to 72, while away 84 takes about 30 minutes to cool down.

View attachment 22050

So one bag got you an extra 12" over roughly 40 square feet, after settling?

My house hit 78 inside Monday, and 77 yesterday. My roof is vented well and the A/C is rather new (5 years or so). But my windows and insulation suck (both are the original from the build in 1962). I'm trying to figure how much I would need for my house to get 18" of additional insulation. For 1650 square feet I figure about 62 bags. Sound about right?

 

[Shadowrider]

So one bag got you an extra 12" over roughly 40 square feet, after settling?

My house hit 78 inside Monday, and 77 yesterday. My roof is vented well and the A/C is rather new (5 years or so). But my windows and insulation suck (both are the original from the build in 1962). I'm trying to figure how much I would need for my house to get 18" of additional insulation. For 1650 square feet I figure about 62 bags. Sound about right?

I just had my attic blown. I used this stuff and found this while I was researching. It's pretty handy.
estimation-calculator

 

[Artic-Z]

So one bag got you an extra 12" over roughly 40 square feet, after settling?

My house hit 78 inside Monday, and 77 yesterday. My roof is vented well and the A/C is rather new (5 years or so). But my windows and insulation suck (both are the original from the build in 1962). I'm trying to figure how much I would need for my house to get 18" of additional insulation. For 1650 square feet I figure about 62 bags. Sound about right?

my house is from early 60's as well, your figures are pretty darn close to correct.

I wish i'd have done 40-50 bags, but i wasn't really even planning on buying any insulation when i went on that trip to lowes so i just got about the minimum to get free machine rental.

as everyone else said, Bad time of year to be doing this, id easily do this in the wintertime. it was 60 degrees outside when i did my house and i was sweating like a whore in church. Also you'll want to add a broom stick to the tip of the hose to help it reach into the corners of your house. be careful the tips not metal the static was crazy when i was blowing mine in, it'd spark about every 3 seconds with a nice loud pop that made you feel uneasy. Get a good respirator and goggles as well...

 

[trollkepr]

Two thoughts... You will need lights anyway in the attic and it will be almost 150 degrees during the day. Do it at night or better, before the sun comes up when it is coolest. It will not be any harder.

Once you are finished, if you have soffits, take a leaf blower and blow them out from the outside.

 

[bigfug]

I just had my attic blown. I used this stuff and found this while I was researching. It's pretty handy.
estimation-calculator

How much did that cost you? My house hit 80 yesterday.

 

[twoguns?]

Excellent point on summertime installation ...... we did it back in 1982 ...... 16" and more bags then I can count ...... Must have had 2 gallons of iced tea and water that day! Heat Stroke is not good for you ......

Wellll....actually the tea wasnt very good for you either....
For those of you who hire these jobs out...dont think that poor sob out there sweating wouldnt appreciate a glass of water....we do.

 

[Clay]

I had cellulose blown over the winter, and I'm so glad that I did. My bills are about quite a bit lower. 2011 May and June I paid $90.42 and $93.50. This May I paid $38.59 and June so far is at $56.48. They blew in 15 inches over the original fiberglass (probably only a couple of inches of loft left).

Who did you hire and what did they charge?

 

[Shadowrider]

How much did that cost you? My house hit 80 yesterday.

They quoted me $800, but I did some "horse trading" and I have $600 in it. I had roughly 8" of fibreglass loosefill up there and they were supposed to add enough to get it up to 18" though I don't think it's quite that deep. It probably is in a couple of areas but it probably averages 15" from the looks of it. If your attic has decent access it's really not a hard job, but it is a two man job for sure. One in the attic and one feeding the machine. I think you can get those Atticat bundles at Home Depot for about $25 or $29 apiece.