DIY Blown-In Insulation: 7 Tips We Learned While Insulating Our Attic

hey everyone today I'm sharing the seven things Eric and I learned when we insulated our attic with the attic cat machine and expanding fiberglass blown in insulation number one there's a lot of prep work while actually blowing in insulation is fairly easy there's a lot of prep work to do first Eric spent two months air sealing the walls spray foaming around fixtures adding ventilation holes and installing baffles to protect the holes from getting clogged with insulation our addict didn't have any kind of walkway which makes it hard to maneuver without putting your feet through the ceiling Clark Griswold Style so Eric also built this walkway and insulated underneath it before the big day when we finally blew in the rest of the insulation number two use all the safety gear and maybe even more even though this insulation has way less dust than other types don't let your guard down there are lots of particles that end up in the air and they can be hard to see Eric was the one in the Attic blowing the insulation this requires safety gloves goggles and a mask Eric upgraded to disposable coveralls and a full-faced ventilator and as you can probably guess he was glad that he did meanwhile I was in the basement inserting half bags of insulation into the machine which also requires safety gloves goggles and a mask since the room looked virtually dust free I thought my eyeglasses would be good enough but after a couple of bags I was coughing and my eyes were scratchy also I took my mask off when the machine was off not realizing the dust that I couldn't see was still very much in the air I should have worn full safety gear whenever I was in the room with the machine number three bungee cords are a big help the attic cat insulation blower has a 100 foot hose that loves to flail around when all the insulation is blowing through we used bungee cords to help hold the hose in place around our staircase railing and in the Attic entryway so it wouldn't fall back into the house and blow insulation everywhere Eric also used bungee cords to attach a broomstick to the end of the hose which made it easier to reach nooks and crannies in the Attic number four don't overstuff the machine another mistake on my part I was under the impression that my job was to keep the insulation blower absolutely stuffed at all times to keep things moving but it's kind of the opposite of that since the insulation expands so much when it releases from the bag if you over stuff the machine it can make it hard for the insulation to break up and move into the hose you actually want to wait until you can see the paddles in the bottom of the machine before adding another half bag of insulation we've pre-cut a bunch of bags and staged them on a table which made it easy to slide them into place here's a closer look at the panels and other parts of the attic at there's a quick start guide on the front and easily accessible start and stop buttons on the side another thing to pay attention to is this cutter the plastic bag needs to catch on that to open up as you insert the insulation if it seems like the plastic doesn't want to break free make sure you're sliding it close enough to that cutter the whole process takes a lot of oomph here are the paddles you want to see before adding another half bag of insulation number five get ready for a cotton candy explosion there's no low or medium setting the machine is either off or in fire hose mode I think our low attic ceiling might have also increased the effect with insulation bouncing off of every surface and going all over the place the pressure was so strong that when Eric aimed the hose directly where he wanted the insulation sometimes it would blow too far past the goal so he used his gloved hand to guide and slow down the insulation he also sometimes aimed at the ceiling so the insulation could gently fall into place that is why he was so glad he wore the coveralls He suggests aiming the hose parallel with the base if your attic doesn't have a walkway plan your route and start at the farthest point so you don't have to walk back over the insulation to get out have everything you need ready before you turn on the machine Eric set up handy string lights and had extra bungees and an extension cord nearby just in case whatever you do don't drop anything our broomstick is now buried somewhere in these 15 inches of insulation never to be seen again also the attic cat comes with a remote control so the person in the Attic can turn it off if needed when we've rented the machine the sales associate said the remote control had full batteries and was ready to go it was not so you might want to have them tested in the store before you leave number six use a concrete mixer to whip up extra for touch-ups after you take the attic cat rental back to the store you might still have spots in your attic that you need to fill in later on when we blew in the insulation we kept it out of the area where we wanted to eventually install a fan so after the fan went in Eric used a concrete mixer to break up additional insulation and insulate around the fan of course this method isn't nearly as efficient as the machine and it doesn't break up the insulation quite as nicely but it works in a pinch and number seven use your vacuum in reverse when you're all done blowing in insulation your attic might be very messy like ours was some of the insulation had blown into our baffles blocking the ventilation holes which is not good Eric used this makeshift rake to level out the insulation and help clear it off the walkway the rink was okay but our shop back in the magical reverse setting was indispensable Eric went outside the house and put the vacuum hose against each of the ventilation holes to shoot the insulation out of the baffles and back into the base of the attic then he used the vacuum to blow insulation off the ceiling and walkway inside the attic making everything nice and tidy here's the end result we achieved our 44 insulation which is about 15 inches deep the house has been noticeably warmer and we're looking forward to seeing our utility bills go down

Channel: Hammer & a Headband

Views: 26,115

Keywords: attic, insulation, atticat, home depot, blown-insulation, air sealing, energy efficiency, climate friendly, eco-friendly

Id: PKRqplUscbw

Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 21 2023