Blew In Attic Insulation Today-what A Day LOL

IHI

Got over the Brother in laws at 8am so we could blow his attic full (he has none up there in this farm house he just bought) he had bought all the cocoon cellulose from menards so got a free blower rental. Got it all set up and the thing was barely moving any insulation through the tube, I mean slooooowly-30minutes results in maby 1/2 bag going through. So we checked it all over and torn unit apart figuring crap was stuck in blower motor-this blower motor was no bigger than average sized coffee tray-literally. Blew it out, cleaned everything up and tried again. worked better than before but still slooooow!!! just drizzled out of the tube at best when it did'nt clog itself up from no no pressure and the insualtion bridging inside tube.

Called my buddy at the rental store since Menards had no more blowers until tomorrow we had to do what we had to do. Pick up the new hopper assembly and motor was LOUD-literally had to wear hearing protection. everything was loose and sloppy from motor locked into the hopper body and also where hose locked onto blower motor-this model had motor outside hopper and looked like a turbo charger. Well, this unit worked better than the menards one, but no where close to units I've used in the past. 3 hours later and only 1/2 pallet used up Luck was on our side as we got a nice spark show coming out of the blower motor before it finally blew a breaker. Called rental buddy, told him what happened and headed back in for hopper #3.

This musta been a less used item as everything went together tight, and when we fired it up it worked better than any hopper I've used to date. We started at 8am and finally we heading to my house to blow my attic at 3:30pm 7hrs for 68bags of blown in. Garage was a mess with insulation all over the floor, house was FULL of dust and insulation

We get to my house now that we have it all figured out about 4pm. 1hr 15minutes later we wnet through 48 bags, outside cleaned up, floor vacuumed, and equipment loaded back up....bad day overall but since we had a few of us working on this project it just turned funny with constant bad turn of events And for the record even though it's not brutal cold outside, the house feels MUCH warmer already!!! made crawling around getting itchey worth it.

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Tscarborough

When I die, if I go to Hell, I envision it as me being an insulator forced to blow in insulation 24/7, with my yearly 2 week vacation consisting of doing roofing in August.

IHI

I dont do it veery often, and every time I do do it, it reminds me of why I dont LOL!! Have to say my house went as smooth as any that I have ever done and my mrs. was happy it did'nt leave much mess.

Did I mention my azz still itches from that woll getting in my drawers army crawling in the attic

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Gordo

I always sub blown insulation jobs. Seems they can do it cheaper (materials and labor) than I can for just the materials. Is it different your way? Oh yeah, I had the same experience the first time I did a blown insulation job.....what a joke. I'm cured of insulation jobs.

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Looks like some pros were here.

IHI

This get better. I dropped off the blower this morning, went to reach for my wallet...not there After much looking I concluded it's in my attic I was wearing an old set of pants, crawling around like a monkey and in the past I've had my butt push my wallet up and out-kinda like popping a zit

Spent 2hrs in the newly installed DEEP fluff trying to find a 3"x4"x1" wallet in 1200sqft of attic space with insulation 14-16" deep-deeper in some spots....yeah, not a chance in hell. Luckily it only had both my debit cards, contractor card for menards, $60 cash and a $30 rebate/gift certificate, plus hunter safety card and driver licsence...rest of the stuff was just crap that could be thrown away, but what a PITA now.

FWIW, 3 of my buddies had their insulation blown in and to install chutes plus blow in 12" it comes to $0.90-$1/sqft of attic space. sO mine would've been $1200. Considering I had to rent a machine since free one was broken I had $21 for mahcine rental, $110 for poly chutes, and $253 in insualtion. Saved myself $815 for a few hrs on my time, and furnace has not run half as much as it used to along with house staying more comfortable...now wife wnats to turn down stat even further cheap azz woman would rather freeze than spend the $20 extra a month to stay comfortable

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mrrodgersnot

Sorry but cellulose is the wrong way to go!!!! I don't care what anyone else says. Look at the facts! Atticat Fiberglass blown-in insulation is 10x better!!! Atticat will NOT grow mold, it will NOT settle, and it will NOT burn!!! Cellulose will DO all those things!!! The cost is the same because it takes 3 bags to equal 1 bag of Atticat!!!
I started using atticat about a year ago on all my jobs. I could not be happier and either could me clients! Plus using the machine is so easy! It does NOT make dust like the cellulose machine does. The clean up is nothing!!!

Anyone who uses cellulose can be sure to go back and do it again in 5-7 years. You can also look forward to getting mold!!! Good luck!

6stringmason

HA! I have the same vision.

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RayGoerdt

If thats true, his wait is half over, that post is over three years old

joasis

It is not true, but then, he probably hasn't been doing this 20+ years either.

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DallasDeckard

It's great that you like fiberglass, but your information is incorrect.
1. Fiberglass does settle and when it does it loses R value, unlike cellulose which maintains much of it's R value even when compacted.

2. I've have had cellulose in my attic for 15 years and it has not molded and it does not burn, even when I use a propane torch on a sample. I have tested Green Fiber's cellulose and it is definitely fire proof. It is also treated with a substance which keeps the mold and pests away.

3. A little-known-fact about fiberglass is that it's R value is only good at certain temperatures. At high or low temps it loses it's R value. For example, above 130 degrees Fahrenheit fiberglass ceases to be a insulator and becomes a conductor. In southern states like Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and parts of California it is very normal for attic temperatures to rise to 130° and higher. When this happens, fiberglass becomes a conductor of heat, not a barrier, which is a very bad thing. At those temperatures the fiberglass is essentially conducting heat from your attic directly into your house. Not only is it not insulating, but it is actually doing exactly the opposite, it is acting as a (very effective) bridge between the heat in your attic and the interior of your home. This phenomenon occurs at the lower temps too. Below 40° fiberglass conducts cold instead of being a radiant barrier - it conducts the cold in your attic into your home. If you live in one of the southern states that reach the upper 90's and 100's, or the northern climes where it gets below 30°, the fiberglass in your attic is acting like a conductor for the hot or cold in your attic, for days, weeks or months at a time. Frankly, fiberglass is not even an option for folks living in those areas.

4. Another study has just come out that confirms earlier studies that fiberglass is a carcinogen, a cancer-causing agent. Makers of fiberglass, like Owens-Corning argue that fiberglass is only a carcinogen when it's airborne and enters your lungs. That isn't very comforting for the folks installing it, or for homeowners days and weeks after the installation when the fiberglass fibers are still floating int he air. Even if you use a mask and are very diligent about using it, chances are you're going to breathe some of that into your lungs. Why risk that when cellulose offers: a better R value at the same depth, maintains most of it's R value when it settles (fiberglass loses R value when it settles, and it does settle), maintains it's R value at temps above 130 and below 30 degrees in your attic, doesn't itch your skin when you install it, and is a product that is eco-friendly?

5. Fiberglass does not provide a draft-proof barrier. When you run your air conditioner or furnace, the air pressure in your home rises higher than the outside pressure. If the insulation in your home is fiberglass, it can allow the pressure in your home to equalize with the pressure outside, basically allowing cold or warm air to pass through the fiberglass, and out into the world.

Fiberglass supporters will tell you that if you install "battens" (fiberglass in a roll) over the blow-in material, this will create a barrier that resists airflow. That is all fine and well, if you don't carrying a bunch of bulky rolls of battens into your attic, crawling around in all that blow in fiberglass and then unrolling, cutting and fitting in battens. Why do all that when you can just blow in cellulose which naturally provides a barrier to any airflow and has a better R value per inch than fiberglass?

PSG

That's funny stuff!

dayexco

nothin like waking a 4 yr old thread from the dead, huh?

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

JustaFramer

NC BUGMAN

How does mold grow on a borate? The borate on it makes it not burn. TAP insulation is the best cellulose insulation to use.

NC BUGMAN

Get Terminix to blow in TAP insulation in the attic. It's got enough borate in it that it requires it's own pest control label.