[modhatter]

I need some additional insulation blown in my attic. I went on Angies List to see who might be good and reasonable. I am shocked by the $ amounts people are reporting for just adding some blown insulation.

I just did this last year in my Florida home before I left. It was less than $450 for a small ranch home about 1000 sq. ft. (not $4,000) There's no difference in material cost here, and the area I lived in Florida was higher end than here (higher wages)

Anyone have blown in insulation added recently? What kind of costs were you quoted and is there anyone you would recommend?

[topaz420]

How much are they quoting you on Angie's? This is something I'd like to do, too.

I heard that you can rent the machine at Home Depot, but I don't trust myself with it

[macgeek]

WARNING FOLKS
The blown in insulation business is full of shysters

here is some facts for you all.

1) ANYONE can blow insulation into a attic, you can rent the machine for $75 a day @ home depot
Owens Corning Atticat Loose Fill Blown-In Insulation-L38A at The Home Depot
[you need 6-10 bags, depending on the size of a attic, AND you need TWO people, one to load machine, and one to blow in the insulation]

2) Southwest Gas -- offers incentives / rebates where you can get it done by a AUTHORIZED dealer for under $500

3) do not -- DO NOT --- DO...NOT.... Let them sell you on spray on reflective material.
it is a TOTAL scam, and just lines there pockets with cash.

4) MOST (not all YMMV) houses are already r16 Insulation, you want to bring it up to r30 (about 6-8" additional of insulation) to get best bang for buck.

5) Gable fans, Metallic bunting, etc are all MINOR improvements - the BEST improvements are VERY costly
(like reflective material on the OUTSIDE ROOF TILE) etc..

6) Energy audits are a scam... UNLESS they use a Thermal camera. the blower fan / hand held temp that they
charge you $500 is a total waste of money. -- and NVENERGY or Southwest Gas, have free energy audits
(it may take a month or two for them to get to you)

7) COMMON SENSE -- if it feels wrong IT IS WRONG --

8) Angies List -- I LOVE angies list, but a few insulation companies have "loaded" there reviews
(Meaning, Company "A" was a awesome company and had GREAT reviews, Company "B" BUYS company "A" and does CRAPPY work) but they still have all these great reviews... DM me for names..

Jonathan

[cre8lite]

We used Red Rock Insulation 702-531-9500, talk to Rebecca. We did the expanding spray foam in the walls of our master bedroom, but they also offer regular bat insulation as well. They quoted us $1200 to do our attic - R11 blown fiberglass, knee walls air barrier, air seal thru entire attic, R38 batt & weatherstrip attic access. Our house is ~1800 sq ft, with vaulted ceilings.

[Buzz123]

I did that to our first home and between that and digital thermostats, it really made a huge difference in keeping both warm air and cool air in and hot air out. WE need to do it in this house. The builders put the water pipes above the insulation so it takes forever to get hot water in the winter, and cold water in the summer. You can shower in the cold water in summer it is so warm. We don't have an attic, and there is just so much space between the roof and the ceilings, so I'm not sure how they'd get the insulation in there. But I've wanted it for a long time. Glad to know Southwest Gas offers incentives. Thanks macgeek.

[bayview6]

My two cents is that a radiant barrier stapled to the rafters is the best way to go for reducing the load on the air conditioners. Adding more fiberglass insulation increases the thermal mass which retains the heat for a longer period of time. Fiberglass insulation is for keeping the heat inside the house during winter time.

[MSchu]

I was wondering about that... blown.

I thought we had gotten away from blown insulation???

[tiger08]

I just used State insulation for my attic and they did a great job. I thought about using the machine from HD or Lowes but it would have cost me more in the end.
I took my house up to R49 and had them do the garage also, it cost us $1,060.00. Our house is 1835 square feet.
The other good thing about having a pro do it, is they add a small amount of water during the spraying process to help the stuff settle in its place. Cant do that with the rented big box machines.

[modhatter]

Yes, thanks MacGeek for that information. I wish I could do it myself, but can't. I enjoyed watching the video too. I wonder about the radiant barrier. I hear so many conflicting opinions on that, I don't know what to think.

So is blown in insulation a no no now? is the bat type much better? I'm sure it's more costly to have installed. My house is 1680 sq. ft. one story. It has blown in insulation, but found out after the electrician went up in the attic, they only did half of the house. I will check with the gas company on Monday and see what they say. I do hope they have some incentives.

[tiger08]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Yes, thanks MacGeek for that information. I wish I could do it myself, but can't. I enjoyed watching the video too. I wonder about the radiant barrier. I hear so many conflicting opinions on that, I don't know what to think.

So is blown in insulation a no no now? is the bat type much better? I'm sure it's more costly to have installed. My house is 1680 sq. ft. one story. It has blown in insulation, but found out after the electrician went up in the attic, they only did half of the house. I will check with the gas company on Monday and see what they say. I do hope they have some incentives.

You dont need to add bats, blown is fine. I go into a lot of attics in newer homes and I find the lack of insulation quite often.
Having some more insulation blown in wouldnt cost much at all and have them go ahead and raise the R value by adding more, you'd be amazed how much warmer and cooler your home will be.
We have the bats in our attic rated to R30 and I had them blow in the cellulose on top of that to take it to R49.

Our house faces west and even running the a/c at 71-72 for the last month and a half, even on the few hot days we've had, the a/c barely runs.
I know we've made a difference by just adding more insulation.