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Blown-in fiberglass?

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  joasis 
#1 ·
I got some insulation quotes for a rehab project... and have questions about blown-in fiberglass. How does it compare to batts? I remember hearing that the old blown-in material had a problem with settling/sinking over time. Does blown fiberglass have the same problem?

To elaborate, I got quotes for batts, blown-in fiberglass, icynene. Batts is the base price, blown-in is 2x the price of batts, and icynene is 3x the price of batts. I'm strongly considering blown-in. The tech/salesman claims it has a higher r-value than batts or icynene and it packs into crevices, providing some of that air-infiltration-sealing benefit that icynene would.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Don
 
#3 ·
last year i blew in loose cellulous ourselves. we had a home energy efficiency pro come in and give us suggestions on how to improve our home, and this was his suggestion.

since we needed to paint all our rooms anyway.. we cut holes at the top between each stud on exterior of house, both stories. rented the machine and in 2 days had the entire project done. cost was something like $500.

our heating bill dropped noticeably to the point that it paid for itself by th end of the winter heating season.

only thing is there is no vapour barrier .. but can't be perfect. but the cellulous is treated chemically to be anti-flame and anti-mold. so should stand up to time. with blown in, the wall packs up pretty good. its not like you're dropping it in with your hands.. the machine blows it in quite strongly.. so even if there is some shrinkage, it cant' be that much (though i don't know for sure.. not a pro).

if you do this yourself.. here's some tips
- remove ALL electronics form your body as the static electricity in the tube while blowing the stuff in there is intense.
- clean the air filter of the machine every so often.. you can work at much faster rate if you got good air intake.
- takes 2 people to do this job
- have all your walls prepped before you rent the machine
- buy more insulation than you need and just blow the extra in your attick
- wait for good weather because you want to leave the machine outside. it ways a tonne. and makes a mess with insulation on the floor.. so just leave it outside. the hose is like 100ft. long, so it will reach.

hope this helped.

Knucklez
 
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