Looks like we found about a 100 sq ft area where the builder forgot to ever add attic insulation. There is no trace of blown in insulation behind a big air duct return. So I have 2 options:

1. Rent something from Home Depot and do it myself. Never done before and would love input from anyone that has tried this.

2. Fight with builder or hire someone. Main problem is how small the job is, I've already been turned down once since they won't do under 500 sq ft.

Is the area above the garage? Don't need to insulate above the garage.
Edit: and how old is the house. Is it still under warranty? Have the builder fix it if it's still under warranty.

It's 2 years old and it's over my master bedroom. It's causing lots of cooling problems.

I'm going to try to fight with builder but let's just say they are less than easy to deal with and I want this problem fixed ASAP.

I would tell the builder that they have until some reasonable date to get the problem corrected. After that date, you will hire a contractor to do the work and will seek reimbursement from them.

You might have to pay the third party for "500 sf" of service to get the job done, if it gets to that point... or just go the Home Depot route and charge the builder for your time and costs.

I made a threat like this in a similar situation and the builder finally got interested in doing the job and completed it the next week.

Good luck!

regarding option #1....i did this to add insulation in the attic of my ~2300 sq ft house this spring. it was a lot of work (especially the prep) and appears to be helping immensely with the AC this summer, but I don't think that will be cost effective for the size area you are describing. I think i had to buy 10 bales of the blown in insulation to rent the blower for free (for 24 hours). I think each bale was ~$80. Still doable though and you could knock it out in a couple of hours easy. No idea what the blower would have cost to rent.

That was my only concern, how hard is it to do myself. So you were able to get it into all areas and packed pretty well?

Helped my brother blow in some insulation a few years ago. Not terribly complicated, but definitely a two man job, or at least it seemed like it to me.

You can buy packages of R30 fiberglass insulation in roll or cut lengths at Home Depot. It comes in 15" or 22" widths. Check which will apply to your situation. Wait for a "cool" morning and get up there and lay it out. The easiest way to cut it is with a pair of extra long scissors. Wear a dust mask and long sleeve shirt. Easy job. It will make an immediate difference in your AC performance.

I went the buy it from HD and do it myself route. You will need 2 people, one in the attic and another feeding the machine.

That said, the Home Depot experience was not great.

• The insulation blowers are always broken
• You cannot reserve a machine
• It took almost 2 months after purchase before I got my hands on a machine
• They provided less hose than they were supposed to, I did make it work, but it added difficulty
• The hose had no connection to the machine. Fortunately, my nephew's girlfriend came with him and held the hose to the outlet on the machine.

I forget where the price discount begins on bags of insulation, but I needed less than that amount. It was still cheaper to buy 30 bags than the 24 I needed. I did go ahead and insulate over the garage. It has seemed to help a little. It's also nice that my closets no longer feel like saunas and I can keep chocolate in my pantry in the summer without fear of it melting.

I will never step foot in my attic again.

As others have said, the rental blower route from HD is pretty straightforward, especially if you have easy access to your attic, and room to walk around. For sure a 2 man job, as you need somebody to feed the blower. If you're gonna do it in the summer, suggest doing it very early in the morning before your attic is an oven.

There are a ton of you tube videos out there that will help too.

I had a similar situation with like 40 sqft I need to cover, which is less than a single bag of insulation. I looked into the machine and ran into similar frustrations that EMY92 described. Not to mention the huge cost and frustration for such a small amount of material.

My solution was a little more redneck. I took a 50 gallon trash can up to the attic, broke pieces of the insulation off in chunks. Used a high speed drill with a paddle-style paint mixer (Example) to beat and fluff the insulation, and poured it out and repeated multiple times. I ended up adding extra since the cost was so cheap. Didn't take long, fixed my issue, and saved a lot of money in the process. Definitely want to wear a respirator and long sleeves.

It may not be the right solution for you, but it's an option.

I know this might be odd, but if you have access to it and it's somewhat easy, just buy rolled R38 batts.

Wear long sleeves, gloves and a mask. You'll need a good utility knife and a scrap board to cut the rolls. Unroll and if you have extra, go 90 (orthoganally) to the original direction to get 2 layers. 100 sq. ft. is like 2-3 rolls. That should be a couple of hours, tops.

~egon

take this opportunity to seal around any light/fan fixtures in the ceiling, it is worth it.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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My solution was a little more redneck. I took a 50 gallon trash can up to the attic, broke pieces of the insulation off in chunks. Used a high speed drill with a paddle-style paint mixer (Example) to beat and fluff the insulation, and poured it out and repeated multiple times. I ended up adding extra since the cost was so cheap. Didn't take long, fixed my issue, and saved a lot of money in the process. Definitely want to wear a respirator and long sleeves.

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Solid DIY'ing sir.