Insulation?

[nottoolatetostart]

We have a ranch home. Heating/cooling bills not too bad. However, we get terrible ice dams if there is snow on our roof, which I want to prevent and even the temperatures out from room to room (some bedrooms are warmer/colder than others). Looks like we have R6-R11 in our attic now.

I got quote from HVAC company to do littany of things for $6k....sealing with spray foam insulation around gaps, removing attic fan/drywalling over area, sealing duct work for AC carrier, blowing in insulation to R49, building catwalk for HVAC folks to reach the AC unit for annual maintenance, soffit venting/rafter vents, etc.

Anyone have similar experience? Or ideas? I am not opposed to doing work....its only 1600 sq ft to do. I would hate to hand that kind of money over. I did get another quote and they were just gonna blow insulation up there for plus soffit vents for 1900. I feel like a sucka for hiring this out.

How meticulous have you all insulated your attic? Did you seal every single gap where drywall meets joist? Or did you blow insulation up there and call it a day?

My local electric company offering $100 rebate on adding insulation and I know big box stores offer free hoppers uf you buy a certain number of bags.

Thanks!

Thanks!

[CptCool]

We have a ranch home. Heating/cooling bills not too bad. However, we get terrible ice dams if there is snow on our roof, which I want to prevent and even the temperatures out from room to room (some bedrooms are warmer/colder than others). Looks like we have R6-R11 in our attic now.

I got quote from HVAC company to do littany of things for $6k....sealing with spray foam insulation around gaps, removing attic fan/drywalling over area, sealing duct work for AC carrier, blowing in insulation to R49, building catwalk for HVAC folks to reach the AC unit for annual maintenance, soffit venting/rafter vents, etc.

Anyone have similar experience? Or ideas? I am not opposed to doing work....its only 1600 sq ft to do. I would hate to hand that kind of money over. I did get another quote and they were just gonna blow insulation up there for plus soffit vents for 1900. I feel like a sucka for hiring this out.

How meticulous have you all insulated your attic? Did you seal every single gap where drywall meets joist? Or did you blow insulation up there and call it a day?

My local electric company offering $100 rebate on adding insulation and I know big box stores offer free hoppers uf you buy a certain number of bags.

Thanks!

Thanks!

I personally would hire it out, so it can be done in a single day or a couple days. Insulation is hot, dirty, itchy work and can be hired away relatively cheaply as anyone can do it as it is mostly unskilled labor. To help with the cost, check with your state and your utilties companies as they often will give rebates for insulation work. You can also get a federal tax credit if you haven't already taken it in years past.

I think the 6k quote might be a little high (it is for my area at least) so you might want to get a couple bids to compare

Regardless of whether you hire out or DIY, the #1 most important thing is proper air sealing. This is what usually makes a house feel cold and racks up the heating/cooling bills. There should be air sealing around windows, doors, the floor, and the ceiling. Make sure all edges where the ceiling/walls meet are caulked or filled with spray foam, along with any other gaps. Recessed lighting is another air sealing problem area. If you have them and can access the ceiling or attic above them, I'd recommend making a box with scrap wood around the fixture so it can be air sealed, then piling the insulation on top of that.

[nereo]

We have a ranch home. Heating/cooling bills not too bad. However, we get terrible ice dams if there is snow on our roof, which I want to prevent and even the temperatures out from room to room (some bedrooms are warmer/colder than others). Looks like we have R6-R11 in our attic now.

I got quote from HVAC company to do littany of things for $6k....sealing with spray foam insulation around gaps, removing attic fan/drywalling over area, sealing duct work for AC carrier, blowing in insulation to R49, building catwalk for HVAC folks to reach the AC unit for annual maintenance, soffit venting/rafter vents, etc.
...

Insulation is a very easy thing for a person with moderate DIY skills to undertake. The biggest drawbacks is that it tends to be messy (especially if you are using blown cellulose) and you'll likely be working in cramped spaces.  If its very hot outside it can be uncomfortably warm when laying insulation.  Other than those inconveniences, insulating is pretty easy to do.  Wear a good respirator though.

It's important to seal all gaps and ensure that soffit vents don't get blocked.  Some canned foam and extenders will take care of those.   Prep those first and before laying down your insulation.  When I last did this with my dad we used fiberglass batts which made it less messy and were very easy to lay down, but aren't biodegradable and cost a few hundred$ more compared with cellulose.  If I were to do it again I'd probably do blown cellulose.  I've never done blown cellulose but I'm told you need a 2nd person to load the hopper and to have some walkie-talkies to communicate.

It's a weekend project and will probably cost you <$1,000 to insulate a 1600sqft attic... you're looking at 50-100 bags depending on how thick a blanket you want (50 bags will get you to roughly R20)

How insulated you want your attic to be depends on your climate, but once you decide to do the job (whether contracting out or DIY) the cost of increasing the R-value is relatively small - most of hte time/labor/expense is with the prep work, sealing and cleanup. Might as well shoot high.

[lthenderson]

In my experience, the majority of ice dams are caused not by inadequate insulation but inadequate ventilation. Many of the ranch style houses built in the 70's and 80's had very little in the way of ventilation through the eaves. I usually triple the amount of openings and the ice dams immediately go away. It is much easier to allow excess heat to escape more easily than prevent excess heat by sealing up every nook and cranny. However, it is still important on your pocketbook to have a well insulated attic. I would see what your ventilation situation is before dropping $6k on insulation you might not need.

[nereo]

In my experience, the majority of ice dams are caused not by inadequate insulation but inadequate ventilation. Many of the ranch style houses built in the 70's and 80's had very little in the way of ventilation through the eaves. I usually triple the amount of openings and the ice dams immediately go away. It is much easier to allow excess heat to escape more easily than prevent excess heat by sealing up every nook and cranny. However, it is still important on your pocketbook to have a well insulated attic. I would see what your ventilation situation is before dropping $6k on insulation you might not need.

Good points.  Sufficient ventilation is important. However, if you live in a climate where you experience ice-dams, and if you attic is currently insulated to only R6-11, then insulating the attic will certainly save you a bundle on your heating and cooling bills.
Do both (ventillation and insulation).  Neither is hard for the DIYer, but contract out if you'd rather not bother.

[Emg03063]

Definitely DIY able, but if you want to contract out, don't pay more than $1-2/SF for blowing in insulation.  You can seal the gaps and blow in yourself easily if you're not uncomfortable working in your attic.

[Frugal Lizard]

We had huge icicle problems that are now fixed.  Since part of our house involves heights we paid someone to do eaves and soffits.  We also paid to have the attic insulated as well as having all the old insulation removed prior due to a mouse infestation and dodgy wiring in other parts of the house. Would we have done things differently post MMM? - yes.
First off we still would have paid to have all the insulation removed for the piece of mind.  We would have done the insulation halfway through the soffits and gutters job though.  It would have been more effective to have all the soffits open to daylight and have the insulation guys have more flexibility putting in much longer baffles than the soffit guy did.  I would have had the roof guys last.  Hindsight is 20/20.
Hubs did throw some vapour barrier over all the ceiling lights in the attic that he could get to.  The slope of the roof is so low that there isn't much room to work in so.  Also a large section of the roof is a cathedral ceiling so it gets very little insulation. 
Soffit guy removed all the plywood soffits around the house.  We were also advised to have him cut out large holes in the soffits under the gable ends.  Can't have too much air flow. 
We paid a lot more than $6000.00 but Canadian prices are steeper than US.  It did fix all the problems and greatly reduced our heating cost. Having the eaves trough and downspouts all work properly has also resolved a moisture issue in one part of the basement.

[nottoolatetostart]

Hi all - OP here. The work is finally done! What really drove the timeline is that our A/C was not blowing hardly any air to most of our rooms and it was not very cold. I just feel the money being spent on running that A/C just going up in smoke.

Agree with all that venilitation really important, but also I had a lot of gaps between my main floor and attic that were no doubt causing the attic to be so abnornally warm.

I bought a white plastic work suit for 10 bucks , a good mask and got to work. I ended up navigating around my attic and sealed all the ductwork (some of my AC ducts were not even attached to the main ductwork in attic - so we were blowing cold air into the attic rather into our home). I sealed holes in flooring. I learned that my bathroom vents were not vented externally in first place so got that done (thank you, Youtube!) using insulated duct to avoid condensation. Luckily, no damage due to that issue (ventilation was not previously used much, but it will now!). I removed and added new flexible duct work for A/C where the duct insulation was missing. Even made sure my kitchen vent was going outside (again, also major holes between main floor and attic , as well as  from vent to roof).  I did contract out the final soffit work and the blown-in work, but did nearly all prep work myself. I now have about 18-20" up there now (R49+). I did so much prep work but super glad I did it myself because I could check in on the guys doing the blown-in and they could tackle the things I couldn't (I am small female). I was able to double check their work and remind them of what to do so I know that saved us money rather than just waiting downstairs for them to finish ignorantly. I think we saved about 3k from my first, all encompassing quote.

I just could not believe what shoddy work had been done before (almost certain it was hired out since previous owner would have been 90 years old when HVAC was installed).

Thanks everyone for your comments. Fingers crossed for no ice damning next winter.

[nereo]

I just could not believe what shoddy work had been done before (almost certain it was hired out since previous owner would have been 90 years old when HVAC was installed).

Never ceased to amaze me how shoddily done many homes are that appear ok at first plus.  In-laws have had foundation/drainage problems and just spent a bundle getting that addressed; found the 'drain' in both the basement and garage led literally no where, and what was supposed to be an 8" concrete slab was more like 2.5".

Nice to hear you did so much of the prep work yourself.  Dusty work but now you know it was done right with no shortcuts.