Ice Dams and Aging Insulation

After 30 years, many of our home's attic insulation is beginning to show its age.

In my house, after a few remodeling jobs that required me to venture up into the attic and disturb or pack down the insulation, I knew the time was now to add some additional cellulose insulation.

First, I measured various areas of the insulation's thickness. What should have been around 12" of insulation in many areas was less than 6". So, I went to Lowe's and estimating my home's 1200 square foot foundation size, I estimated I wanted to add a minimum of 6" of insulation through-out the attic. The salesman at the commercial desk told me I should order 30 bags of cellulose insulation (22 pounds each). Since I want to over-insulate rather than under-insulate, I ordered 50 bags and the blower which came free for 24 hours with a 20 bag purchase.

Going up into the attic, especially on hot summer or cold winter days is NOT my favorite activity! Add to that, the thought of blowing insulation and the resulting dusty conditions -- yuck!

The blower and insulation arrived on two pallets which were placed in our garage near the attic access. The blower looks like a large shop vac and has around 100 feet of 4" plastic hose that you drag into the attic with you.

You'll need:

-two people (one in the attic and one at the blower to feed the bales of insulation)

-a measuring stick to keep track of how thick the insulation is as you're blowing it

-walkie talkies or some other method to communicate between the two people

-flashlight or troublelights in the attic

-dust mask and goggles

It took us around 5 hours to blow 41 bags of insulation into the attic which included time to fix 3 stoppages to unclog the blower unit. The blower only blows the insulation around 10 feet from the end of the hose so you'll want to start at the far reaches of the attic and move toward the access hatch. Be careful not to cover or clog the vent chutes at the edges of the roof line. It's too early to tell how much energy we'll save but I'm certain the $300 cost will be well worth it.