Blown in Insulation

[Marvelsaws]

My house was built in 1964. It has no insulation. I have talked to a few local contractors about getting the blown in insulation in the walls and attic. I have received a couple of negative opinions on it that have me concerned. A hole will be drilled every 16" and a fluff like substnace blown in. One contractor quit doing it all together because he said that over time it will settle and not only leave a 12" or so unprotected area at the top of the wall, but it compacts and conducts the cold air. I have already primed and painted my entire interior and am not too keen on this being done inside which means that my alternataive is holes drilled in my original wood siding.[V] This will be a large expense that was not in my budget.

Please, if anyone has dealt with this let me know how you feel about it.

Thanks a bunch.

[HayZee518]

should have thought about insulation "before" priming and painting the walls. If its clapboard siding or shingles One or two courses have to be removed at the top and midway on the wall to allow 2 inch holes to be bored out to allow the tube of the hose to blow in the insulation. The holes are just taped over and the clapboard is replaced. Several cellulose contractors need be contacted and you should be presented a warranty on the job with regards to settling of the product. Maybe also in due time have them come back to "top" off the product.

[LazyPup]

Some larger home supply centers have the machine to blow the insulation in, and if you buy the insulation there, they will either rent or loan the machine for a short period of time to install the insulation. This is becoming quite popular in this region to install insulation in the attic space, however, based upon a recent experience while doing a major rehab on a rental property, I would not wish blown in attic insulation on my worst enemy.

Before installing blown in insulation in an attic space great care must be taken to examine the attic space and make some preparations for the insulation, by example, If you have soffit vents you must first install some blocking to insure the vents are not covered. You must then locate any and all recessed lighting fixtures or bathroom vent fan fixtures and install blocking around them to insure they are not buried in the insulation. (Burying electrical fixtures will trap the heat in the fixture which will result in premature failure of the electrical device and could cause a fire.)

While I am personally totally opposed to this idea, none the less, some plumbing codes permit drainage vents to terminate in the attic space. In this case great care must be taken to insure the top of the vent pipe will remain a minimum of 6" above the finished insulation. In order to do so the vent piping may need to be extended prior to blowing the insulation. Also, the top of the vent pipe must be covered while installing the insulation to insure the insulation will not go down the vent pipe and clog the vent.

Once blown in insulation has been placed in the attic it is nearly impossible to trace wiring or in some instances water lines that may run through the attic space.

The house i recently worked was a one story on slab construction. Originally they had copper water lines set in lightweight concrete to achieve an infloor radiant heat in the kitchen and bathroom. In a period of about 12 years the copper lines corroded as a result of being in direct contact with the concrete so the infloor radiant was discontinued and new hydronic water lines were run through the attic space and dropped down to baseboard heat units. (It is very common to run water or hydronic heating lines in this fashion when reworking a slab construction.) In this case one of the hydronic lines developed a pin hole leak which was buried under the insulation and went undiscovered until it had saturated the insulation in about an 8 foot diameter, which then resulted in saturating the sheetrock in the ceiling, and the entire section of the ceiling fell in from the water damage and additional weight of the water.

In my humble opinion the homeowner would be much better served to have roll or batt insulation installed in the attic space. In this manner the installers will have a more direct contact with the installation and can take the appropriate actions to protect electrical fixtures, plumbing vents, soffet vents and other items that would need attention. When roll or batt insulation is installed it is also much easier to lay the insulation aside temporarily to troubleshoot plumbing, HVAC or electrical systems in the attic space.

[Marvelsaws]

Thank you LazyPup that was precisely the type of feed back I am looking for.

Note: I did not know that the house was deviod of insulation until I received my first heating bill well after it was all painted. I am not living in the home as of yet, the heat was set as low as it could get without actually being off, because I was working there periodically and needed the water to be turned on. I am a single female and am trying to do this all on my own. I only have a certain amount of money and am wanting to get the maximum benefits out of it.