Attic Insulation - Hire Out or DIY?

[Getanet]

My attic needs more insulation. Now that the temps are cooling off I'm getting myself psyched up for it. Watched enough Youtube videos to be dangerous, bought a bunch of baffles and am ready to drop a decent chunk of coin on blown-in cellulose insulation at one of the local hardware stores.

Then my wife goes and bursts my bubble by reminding me of how a few other DIY projects turned out, and how I could have saved myself a lot of aggravation by just hiring it out in the first place.

So, is there much I can screw up (other than slipping off a rafter and putting my foot through the ceiling?) Putting in the baffles seems rather straightforward. So does blowing in the insulation. The main question I have would be about sealing any air leaks - particularly how to find the right spots to seal. There is some insulation up there now, but not much...

Anyone have a general ballpark of what hiring a project like that out in the Twin Cities would run? Attic is about 1,000 sq ft.

I'm estimating in the range of $500-600 to do it myself. That's for baffles, the blower rental and the cellulose insulation.

[NoWiser]

I vote to go for it! I did my own when I put an addition on and it wasn't bad at all. I think it was about 1,900 s.f. of house and 600 s.f. of garage. Get a buddy over and give him a 6 pack to keep him busy while loading the hopper. 2 way radios would help for communicating. I ended up buying too much insulation so I think my attic is about R-70. I figured I'd rather blow it in than return it as long as I was up there.

The baffles could be a pain depending on how flexible you are and your roof pitch.

[eyeguy 54]

Last fall we bought roll out batts for my daughters place. inexpensive and easy to do. added r30. got at the home depot. I am not a fan of cellulose.

[Jameson]

Pick a rainy day, or cold winter day, so it isn't too hot up there and go for it. Take your time, watch where you place your feet, and where you bang your head.

[delcecchi]

I hired mine done last addition. It would probably be fairly simple to get a quote and also to calculate how much you would spend to do it yourself.

[loadmaster]

Thinking of the same thing. DIY or hire out. From what I found out fiberglass blown in is the way to go. Pros and DIY stores all said glass is alot less messy. Costs a little more but I think less material. Those that did it, would you recommend some type of mask or respirator. Going to get some estimates before deciding

[Hoey]

My wife and I added to ours a couple of years ago. I went with cellulose since somewhere along the line I was told you should match what is up there. HS 20/20, another guy I talked to questioned why we did not top off with the blown fiberglass. We did 1,700 sq ft, used existing baffles, two-way radios, had easy access to the attic area, etc... and probably spent 6 hrs or so doing it. The store we got the cellulose from did not have a working blower, at no charge as expected. Had to rent one from their competitor. So a bunch of prep, dorking and fiddling. I'd go with the blown fiberglass, because when we were finished, it was definitely a Dirtiest Jobs episode.

[Hoey]

...That too. The fiberglass will settle less than the cellulose.

[mn_bowhunter]

I saved a buck a bag hiring it out. I had fiberglass blown in and was quoted $1 less per bag installed than I could buy it for. It's worth looking into. I did do the baffle vents myself since that did save money. I'm glad I asked an insulation guy in passing what he'd charge.

[Tom7227]

Another thing that could go wrong is that your light could quite and you'd be in the dark.

Check out the cost of getting it done. A while back NSP would finance it for nearly nothing in finance charges and just add it to the bill. But I don't think a DIY would qualify. Might want to check with your utility and see what all they offer. A home energy audit with a blower door test and Flir photos really showed me a lot of what I could do to tighten things up.

Dealing with recessed lights can be an issue. Study up on it if you have any and make sure to do it correctly.

[delcecchi]

Your energy supplier almost certainly has rebates on insulation

Here is mine

Quote:

By improving the air sealing and insulation in your home you can save on your heating and cooling costs all year long. The rebates provided by Minnesota Energy Resources help customers with natural gas heating improve the sealing and insulation in an existing home. New homes, defined as built in the last 2 years, are not eligible for this program. Homes that participated in the Home Energy Excellence program may not participate in this program.

Please Note: All air sealing and insulation work must be completed by one of our Authorized Insulation Contractors in order to qualify for a rebate from Minnesota Energy Resources.

Air Sealing & Attic Insulation R44 and 25% Reduction** Performed by a licensed BPI Certified Installer. $650*

So $650 (or half the cost if less) to have a pro do it

Sounds like a deal to me. Looks like centerpoint is not currently rebating insulation if that is your company, unfortunately

[NoWiser]

Thinking of the same thing. DIY or hire out. From what I found out fiberglass blown in is the way to go. Pros and DIY stores all said glass is alot less messy. Costs a little more but I think less material. Those that did it, would you recommend some type of mask or respirator. Going to get some estimates before deciding

I did the blown fiberglass in my attic. The mess was not bad at all. A respirator is absolutely necessary in my opinion. I wore a really good one along with a tyvek suit they sold next to the insulation for a few bucks.

[Getanet]

Another thing that could go wrong is that your light could quite and you'd be in the dark.

Check out the cost of getting it done. A while back NSP would finance it for nearly nothing in finance charges and just add it to the bill. But I don't think a DIY would qualify. Might want to check with your utility and see what all they offer. A home energy audit with a blower door test and Flir photos really showed me a lot of what I could do to tighten things up.

Dealing with recessed lights can be an issue. Study up on it if you have any and make sure to do it correctly.

I did have CenterPoint out for the home energy audit with the blower door test, Flir camera, etc, last fall. The two biggies were air sealing and more insulation. The guy describe the attic as having a "thin stocking cap" in the middle of winter. I do have a few recessed lights, so I'll be sure to look into that. Otherwise, there was only about $300 worth of rebates total for air sealing and insulation, which had to be done by an authorized service company, which they bench marked would run about $1800 for both air sealing and insulation. It doesn't appear Centerpoint currently has any rebates available.

[BoxMN]

We did my brother's garage attic, and then used added a few bundles to my house attic while he had machine. It was piece of cake. I can't recall which type we used, honestly, but think cellulose. Just have light up there, but also a head lamp on, and make sure you know where to the step as you work your way OUT and even a caveman could do it

[nofishfisherman]

Blowing in new attic insulation is a very simple process and just about any one could do it. The only thing that I think would limit someone is their ability to work in small dark spaces.

When I did my attic I had to squeeze into some tight areas between the roof framing and had to army crawl across the joists to get into some areas. Same deal when I did my mother in laws attic.

If you do take on the job just have a friend or two down by the hopper loading the insulation for you. Make sure to wear a respirator and have a head light on. Also prepare to get very dirty. I usually use the cellulose insulation and I always come out covered in the stuff since it sticks to your sweat. Its a very dirty job.

When you go pick up the blower have them load it into the back of a pickup truck and then drive the truck to an area where the hose will reach the attic access through a door or window. That way you can leave the blower in the truck and then just work out of the truck bed. The blowers are crazy heavy and you don't want to load and unload them more than you have to.

One additional tip is to watch your head. Most attics have low head room and its common for nails to be sticking out through the plywood on the roof. I bumped my head on a couple of those in my attic and it wasn't enjoyable.

I don't recall exactly what it cost me to insulate my attic but I think it was only a couple hundred bucks in insulation. The blower rental was free with purchase of insulation.

[crothmeier]

Fiberglass would be the way to go. Zero dust, and doesn't settle like cellulose does.

[Getanet]

Blowing in new attic insulation is a very simple process and just about any one could do it. The only thing that I think would limit someone is their ability to work in small dark spaces.

I guess I'm not as worried about blowing in the insulation. More about the air sealing. Most of the videos I've watched and articles I've read claim that if you don't have proper air sealing than just blowing in a bunch of insulation won't help much.

But otherwise I think I'm set. Have helpers, have a good mask, am going to buy one of the cheap disposable suits. The tip about keeping the blower in the truck is a good one!

[LightningBG]

IMO, if you already have insulation in there, and aren't planning on taking it out, then there isn't really any way to air seal the attic. You're only option is insulation and other small fixes like caulking around windows and doors, foam inserts in electrical boxes, etc.

I recently put in about R-38-42 over 700 sq feet with cellulose and it cost about $300 or so, for the 50ish bags of cellulose and the machine rental. Took about 2 hours or less. Backing up a truck to a window near the attic access is a great idea. We hauled the machine inside and it weighs a ton.

[Surface Tension]

Pick a date, get the machine reserved for free use where you buy your insulation.

Its easy to do but there is a learning curve. What you want to avoid is plugging the hose.

The guy loading the hopper needs to break the chunks loose as he feeds the hopper.

Otherwise the insulation won't have the loft and you stand a good chance of plugging the hose.

When you start up close the feed and turn the blower on and leave it on.

Adjust the feed, again for loft and not to plug the hose. Its going to take longer to blow with a slow feed but you end up with a better job. The mess happens when you take the hose outside to unplug it. Respirator, radios, and goggles are good to have. The radio to tell the guy at the hopper for more or less feed.

[SteveD]

My house was built in 1975 and back then insulaltion requirements were not as well understood as today's standards. There is more to it than just blowing in insulation if you are trying to insulate your whole house. I had an energy audit and then a scope of work done by a reputable insulation company. Here is what I ended up having done:

- Install air tight Thermax boxes over 7 recessed ceiling lights.

- Foam seal base of all accessible PVC waste vent pipes.

- Foam seal wood framing at lower chimney & silicone pipe to tin draft stop.

- Foil tape seams in the kitchen exhasut duct and foam seal base, install a metal sheet collar and seal to bottom of roof vent. Wrap pipe with fiberglass blanket.

- Install approximately 46 - six foot long polystyrene air chutes, 1 per rafter space.

- Hand pack the existing fiberglass under the air chutes at outer wall plate area.

- Add 1 black metal roof vent by kitchen exhaust and fireplace flue pipe.

- Install foil vaced insulated sheathing over lower kneewall batting and seal edges with foam.

- Seal shut unused kneewall attic access with foam. Replace missing fiberglass in kneewall pocket.

- Install R38 fiberglass blanket, insulation dam and foam gasket on upper access opening.

- Add R30 blown in fiberglass over existing fiberglass to provide R50+.

Total cost of the insulation work was $1,900.

After the insulation work was done I then replaced all my soffits to improve soffit venting to add sufficient attic air circulation through the whole house. Replaced all recessed light bulbs with LED lights. I'm hoping this will help with the ice dam problems if we have another tough winter.

Hope this helped you with your decision.

[StillwaterAaron]

Here is an illustration to go with part of what Steve was talking about.

The first image is one I use often for anyone to understand how the ventilation works. If you plug of the vents you will be more likely to get ice dams. Steve has some great info in the post above.

[Surface Tension]

If your blowing insulation chances are you don't have an energy trusses.

That would be the extra space created by the band joist in the picture.

Instead your left with the thickness of rafter or truss cord.

You might have blown 24" but not over the top plate.

The heat loss at the top plate not to mention the cold air blowing in from the soffit isn't a good thing. The pic shows a baffle with its width spanning both trusses. It isn't necessary to span the trusses with the baffle and in this case not what you want. All you need

Make and air dam for the top plate. Essentially stopping the cold air for the soffit from hitting the top plate. In this order 1st being best for air dams and insulation at the plate. Closed cell spray foam, Closed cell foam(sheet), and faced fiberglass batts.

Cellulose settles. Yes it does and not enough to matter R value wise.

In the case of blowing toward the top plate. What little bit it dose settle is what you want.

Remember that baffle I said you don't need spanning truss to truss?

All you need is enough baffle to create so many sq inches and not fill the soffit with insulation. When the cellulose settles there it won't be touching the roof deck and increase your air flow. On hint when blowing toward the soffit and avoiding filling it with cellulose.

Aim the the blow up toward the roof deck. The cellulose will be deflected and rain down where you want it instead ff filling the soffit.

[SteveD]

The point that Aaron's drawings are trying to show is that you are not trying to keep your attic warm. You are trying to keep your attic cold. Ice dams are caused by heat escaping through a host of openings up through your house frame - chimneys, wall frames, plumbing vents, kneewall openings, recessed lighting, kitchen stove exhaust vents, etc. This escaping heat causes snow on your roof to melt from underneath and then freeze when it hits the cold edge of your roof causing ice dams. You need to seal all of these openings into the attic space to prevent warm air from escaping into the attic.

My recommendation is that before you blow any insulation into your attic is to seal every single opening you can find from your heated living spaces into your attic. Tape them, foam seal them, cover them.

Then put the air chutes into every single rafter space so as to allow air circulation throughout you entire attic. You want cold air from the outside to get into your attic space and keep it as cold as the outside air. Make sure all your roof soffits have ventilation openings that are clean and clear to allow air flow. Over the years mine had been painted over and had lost almost all their ability to facilitate air flow.

Then blow enough insulation on top of your ceiling joists to create a nice barrier to hold your heated air in. You want that air between your ceiling and your roof to stay cold and dry. This allows the snow and ice to sit on your roof and not melt from underneath.