got a quote for ~1700 sq ft of blown in insulation that I think is high....just looking for a sanity check

I can't help you but I am curious as to the quote because I'm interested in having the same thing done.

$3300

Did this include vacuuming out the old insulation?

I got a quote for I think around $600 for 1600 sqft. I think it was 2-3 inches. Vacuuming out the old insulation first was another $1500.

Just a comment about attic insulation:

I've been moving away from this because it creates a "hot attic" than can damage HVAC ducts, equipment, and other issues. Been recommending sprayfoam insulation and radiant barriers for remodels. Some of the best money spent right there to make a house last, IMO.

+Pablo

A few variables here but
$1 or less per insulated sq ft

You can DIY For ~ .50 sq ft by purchasing the insulation from Lowe's and machine rental is free. It's a 2 person job.

update - estimator did something wrong on the estimate....estimate now $2300 for ~1760 sq ft.

getting more resonable

CapCity12thMan said:

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update - estimator did something wrong on the estimate....estimate now $2300 for ~1760 sq ft.

getting more resonable

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Tell him to look at it again!

PabloSerna said:

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Just a comment about attic insulation:

I've been moving away from this because it creates a "hot attic" than can damage HVAC ducts, equipment, and other issues. Been recommending sprayfoam insulation and radiant barriers for remodels. Some of the best money spent right there to make a house last, IMO.

+Pablo

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If I were building a new house or doing a major renovation, I would go through the process of sealing the attic and making it semi-conditioned. I just makes so much more sense to have the equipment and the ducts inside the envelope...

Where are you located?

If an older house, you biggest efficiency savings will come from re-ducting the HVAC system - but it can get expensive. The positive is you get nice cool air in your house but still have a hot attic. Most cost vs benefit is adding blown in. Then radiant.

Spray foam if you just want a semi-conditioned attic. Spray it in and you HVAC with old ducting will leak enough to keep your attic cool.

30 year old house in Austin TX. We had to add a return into the master bedroom a few years ago and re-duct, as there was one 12" duct splitting off a cheese wedge into 4 smaller ones - two 8" (MBR) and two 6" (MBATH/closet). There was no return originally so air was never getting pulled out. We added the return, and then instead of one 12" supplying 4, we did I think a 12" that split into 2 8" for the room and another 12" (or maybe a 10") that split into two 6" for the bath. Solved the problem.

Now with covid, and both of us likely not heading into the office for at least the summer, we bought a desk and put it in the guest room for a second office. With the door closed for office privacy, getting the same stuffiness in there working all day. Sure enough there is one 12" spitting off a cheese wedge to 4 others - 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms...no returns.

Debating on re-ducting, or just adding a return to the one room that is the all day problem. The other bedroom is fine, since it is not occupied 12-14 hours per day, but only for sleep and the baths are not an issue either.

The best thing we could do is get more insulation and new windows - they're drafty

If you buy 100 bags at HD, you get the contractor/bulk price, and then when you return the unused ones, they don't adjust the price for getting back down below 100. I made some mistakes in my assumptions calculating and thought I'd need something like 85. Figured I'd just blow the extra 15 somewhere.

Well because of my math problems, I am now worried about the ceiling coming down from all the weight and I know how the returns work.

CapCity12thMan said:

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30 year old house in Austin TX. We had to add a return into the master bedroom a few years ago and re-duct, as there was one 12" duct splitting off a cheese wedge into 4 smaller ones - two 8" (MBR) and two 6" (MBATH/closet). There was no return originally so air was never getting pulled out. We added the return, and then instead of one 12" supplying 4, we did I think a 12" that split into 2 8" for the room and another 12" (or maybe a 10") that split into two 6" for the bath. Solved the problem.

Now with covid, and both of us likely not heading into the office for at least the summer, we bought a desk and put it in the guest room for a second office. With the door closed for office privacy, getting the same stuffiness in there working all day. Sure enough there is one 12" spitting off a cheese wedge to 4 others - 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms...no returns.

Debating on re-ducting, or just adding a return to the one room that is the all day problem. The other bedroom is fine, since it is not occupied 12-14 hours per day, but only for sleep and the baths are not an issue either.

The best thing we could do is get more insulation and new windows - they're drafty

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Could consider some cross ducting between the bedrooms. Somewhat surprised at supplies going into the bathrooms. Not even that typical in new construction unless a large master bath. Of course, all our bedroom closets in new houses have supply registers which I know makes my dad roll in his grave. Gave up on telling the 10yo to close the closet doors, which earned me some belt whips growing up.

What's the lifespan of cellulose and fiberglass insulation? Is it that necessary to vacuum out instead of just adding?

texan12 said:

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What's the lifespan of cellulose and fiberglass insulation? Is it that necessary to vacuum out instead of just adding?

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I have this same question as well. Current insulation is almost 20 years old and has plenty of mouse **** all in it

Unless your insulation is really bad, I'm in the camp of DIY radiant barrier foil. Install it over the winter yourself over 5 or 6 weekends, fewer with a helper. I did this a couple winters ago and my annual KWH usage went from 25,000 KWH to about 19,000 KWH. Saves about $50/month not to mention wear-and-tear as the upstairs AC does not run non-stop from 1PM to 6PM in the summer.

I considered re-ducting but the foil performed so well, the ducts are much cooler. Check for kinks and leaks while you are up there, rehang everything and tape everything up real good, no need for new ducts unless badly kinked / torn.

Now, after laying that plywood all over the rafters to install the foil, the existing insulation is nice and flat and ready for some more blown-in, so I'll do that next.

What's the benefit of vacuuming out the old insulation? My home was built in 1964. I don't know if it's original to the home, but the existing attic insulation looks like a blown in type and is primarily white & black in color. It's coverage is not very good and you can even see the DW ceiling in a few areas. On a positive note, I've been in the attic probably 20 times over the last 3 years of owning the home and haven't noticed any evidence of rodents.

I assume vacuuming it may help with the "old house smell" that many of the homes in my neighborhood have when you walk in to them, but are there other benefits?

I would think it's only necessary if it's damaged by water or rodents. I just blew in new on top of the old based on what I found when digging around about it 10 years or so ago.

There are 2 main benefits to vacuuming out the old.
1. You get an opportunity to air seal openings, penetrations, and joints in the ceiling that were never air sealed before new insulation is blown in.
2. Old insulation is likely full of mouse crap and other nasty stuff along with being compressed and losing insulation value.

If you don't have rodents, don't care about air sealing, and have fairly "fresh" insulation, there is no need.

In Waco. Just had our AC system replaced and had them include bringing up the attic insulation up to 12". Our home was built in '86. They quoted $1100 based on approx 1500sq ft x 6".

Got mine done for $650 in Fort Worth. 2250 sq ft

Building a new house now and just got that quote. The blown in attic portion for r-38 of around 2,500 sq ft is 1,078.

Those are some low quotes. The insulation itself is about $450 for ~1000 sq/ft from Lowe's. That's an R value in the low 20s too.

Blown in Insulation = Whatever the Insulation at Lowes or Home Depot Costs + about $500 to $1,000 depending on Half Day or Full Day.

Takes two ppl and about a gallon of water per person.

lawless89, who did you use in Fort Worth?

blown in insulation sits on the ceiling of the rooms below, insulating they living spaces. Does this suggest that insulating the roof between the rafters with fiberglass batts is no longer the way to go. Or do you do both?

Does anyone have someone they like for this in Dallas? Pest control company showed me evidence of rodents in my attic and I would eventually like to have it removed and replaced (also need to find and fix methods of ingress/egress). Their price quote was $7,000 for removal/sanitation/replacement for a <2,000 sq ft house so I don't think I'll be going with them.

Also, how much more is closed-cell foam insulation vs cellulose or fiberglass?

Chris Edwards
214-864-5422

We had him do it in phases. He sucked all the old stuff out and hauled off for ~$2000 since the house had a rodent issue. Then another ~$1200 or so to completely replace it and get it up to R38. This was for a 2400 sq ft house just doing the HD standard blown-in insulation.

how disruptive was it to the living areas of you house? dust all over or relatively no impact.

It's hard to say. We were doing a pretty extensive remodel at the time, so I'm not sure...at least on the removal.

He didn't blow in all the new stuff until about a week before we moved in. Took maybe 20 minutes to clean everything up.

aggiemike02 said:

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how disruptive was it to the living areas of you house? dust all over or relatively no impact.

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If your attic access is in the garage, you should see little to no dust inside your home, depending on how well sealed your ceiling penetrations are. If you have attic access inside your home, they should put up a temporary enclosure around it to keep the dust from spreading.

Dirty attic insulation isn't really something you want to be inhaling extensively.

Thanks. Our opening is in an upstairs hallway so temporary enclosure it is! I've sealed around all the registers when I replaced them and the canned lights where we have LED retrofits are next.