Long time lurker, first time poster, here.
Kind of a dumb question, and I'm pretty sure the answer is "no", but I can't find any information to the contrary.
We have recently purchased the second floor of a condo, that was an old (mid 1800's was the inspectors best guess - old enough that the original portion of the basement has rough-hewn logs as some of the joists for the floor above) building that had been apartments for quite some time. Not the best shape, but it's ours.
There was an awful built-in the main room, with an odd bit rising out of the top of it to the ceiling line. From the attic, it became evident that this was the painted-over remnants of a chimney. At some point, the chimney was removed to below the roof line, the hole covered, and the visible remnants below turned into a built-in.
After removing this, it came to our attention that the wall cavities behind the built in where not insulated when the rest of the walls and floor of the attic had cellulose insulation installed. (Presumably because there was a fireplace or woodstove there, and a chimney.)
My question is, considering that I'm looking at only insulating one and half (the half because the joist spacing is irregular in that area) wall cavities, for a room that has ceilings just under 7.5', is it possible in any way to install the insulation by hand without a blower?
There are no top plates on this exterior wall so the insulation would be easy to put in there by hand (if this is possible) The house may be balloon framed - if it is ballooned framed, there is at least a firestop between floors.
So what's the verdict? Am I stupid for even contemplating this? Just seems like I ought to be able to bring some insulation up to the attic, fluff it up, insert it into the wall, tamping it down somewhat to make sure voids are filled, and avoid having to rent a blower for such a small area.
Kind of a dumb question, and I'm pretty sure the answer is "no", but I can't find any information to the contrary.
We have recently purchased the second floor of a condo, that was an old (mid 1800's was the inspectors best guess - old enough that the original portion of the basement has rough-hewn logs as some of the joists for the floor above) building that had been apartments for quite some time. Not the best shape, but it's ours.
There was an awful built-in the main room, with an odd bit rising out of the top of it to the ceiling line. From the attic, it became evident that this was the painted-over remnants of a chimney. At some point, the chimney was removed to below the roof line, the hole covered, and the visible remnants below turned into a built-in.
After removing this, it came to our attention that the wall cavities behind the built in where not insulated when the rest of the walls and floor of the attic had cellulose insulation installed. (Presumably because there was a fireplace or woodstove there, and a chimney.)
My question is, considering that I'm looking at only insulating one and half (the half because the joist spacing is irregular in that area) wall cavities, for a room that has ceilings just under 7.5', is it possible in any way to install the insulation by hand without a blower?
There are no top plates on this exterior wall so the insulation would be easy to put in there by hand (if this is possible) The house may be balloon framed - if it is ballooned framed, there is at least a firestop between floors.
So what's the verdict? Am I stupid for even contemplating this? Just seems like I ought to be able to bring some insulation up to the attic, fluff it up, insert it into the wall, tamping it down somewhat to make sure voids are filled, and avoid having to rent a blower for such a small area.
