Loose Fill Blown Insulation

[kevman]

Has anyone had loose fill insulation blown in to their walls or know someone who has? If so, what are the pros and cons of your/their experience? Did you go with fibreglass or cellulose fill? Can you recommend a contractor? What do I need to look out for?

Any insight from home owners and/or contractors that have experience with blown in insulation is appreciated!

[DuffMan]

well, the pros would be you don't have to rip down your drywall to take care of it.

that's all I got right now.

[hungryhun]

I am a contractor and I would not recommend loose fill blown into your walls. Gravity will eventually take over and the insulation will settle leaving you with the tops of your stud cavities uninsulated. In my experience go with what's trusted and that's good old batt insulation (plus it's MUCH cheaper).

[csnarpy]

To me nothing beats spray foam. I did my entire basement myself, just bought DIY systems from tigerfoam and lowes. If your going to remove your drywall then might as well do it right!

[cKy]

Holmes always seems to use the spray foam on his shows, so that is my advice only because he knows more then I.

[hungryhun]

Although approximately 80% of all the new (high end) homes I do now request polyurethane spray foam in the joist ends and cantilevers, I'm not sold on it. The jury is out on the toxicity of it in the case of fires. It won't necessarily kill you, but there can be many long term neurological side effects and it can make getting out of a fire much more difficult due to the thick fumes/smoke it produces. I realize polyurethane is in a lot of other household items regardless, but I'm not sure I would want an entire exterior of a house blanketed with it. R20 is R20, regardless of the product used. Yes you get a better seal with foam, but your house still has to breath and you will always have areas where air exchange will take place ie.vents, weather stripping, doors/windows. The cost sure doesn't appeal to me either....
As for Mike Holmes the guy is a blowhard who's show is likely endorsed by the manufacturers of spray foam (don't know this as fact, I don't watch him)....

[oilyfan]

Why is Mike Holmes a blowhard, how do you make that judgement if you don't watch the show?

[kevman]

Oops, perhaps I should have added it's an existing home where batt installation isn't really an option.

My walls look like this: Cedar Shingles -> Tar Paper -> Diagonal 1x6 -> Open stud space with loose "buffalo board" sheet -> "Buffalo board" -> Plaster

So as far as I know my options are to: leave it empty, blow in cellulose, blow in fibreglass or blow in foam....

*I don't actually know what "buffalo board" is, that's just what somebody told me it's called. It looks like a looser packed more fragile MDF product...

[4X4]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

Why is Mike Holmes a blowhard, how do you make that judgement if you don't watch the show?

You don't have to watch a show continually to decide something like that. Watch a couple/few episodes. It's obvious. Just like a couple hours of Charles Adler or a couple episodes of coaches corner.

But thanks for the typical troll. It sure added to this thread.

[oilyfan]

Not sure how your first response added to this thread either, you provided your opinion I asked you to clarify, no need to be an *** about it.

I like Mike Holmes, while I am not in construction I have done a few renovations and I appreciate his honesty and directness. A lot of what he says makes sense, some of the stuff goes overboard but a lot of times he showing what you can do if you had an unlimited budget. Doesn't meet my definition of a hack.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

Why is Mike Holmes a blowhard, how do you make that judgement if you don't watch the show?

While I do enjoy the show for it's info, Mike is a tad full of himself. Knows his s**t no doubt but not overly creative. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised that his show was heavily sponsored, hence the reason he can do $150k renos and not charge it to the owner.

At the end of the day, his show has good info in it.

[hungryhun]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

Why is Mike Holmes a blowhard, how do you make that judgement if you don't watch the show?

I have watched his show...but after a few episodes I couldn't take it anymore.
I don't consider myself a know-it-all, but I have been a contractor for around 15yrs and have a lot of experience in the trades. I know enough to be able to pass judgement on his construction knowledge or lack thereof.

[hungryhun]

Originally Posted by kevman

Oops, perhaps I should have added it's an existing home where batt installation isn't really an option.

My walls look like this: Cedar Shingles -> Tar Paper -> Diagonal 1x6 -> Open stud space with loose "buffalo board" sheet -> "Buffalo board" -> Plaster

So as far as I know my options are to: leave it empty, blow in cellulose, blow in fibreglass or blow in foam....

*I don't actually know what "buffalo board" is, that's just what somebody told me it's called. It looks like a looser packed more fragile MDF product...

Well then I would likely recommend filling the cavity with loose fill insulation. I think it's your best bet and most cost effective. Most of your heat is actually lost through your roof as heat rises. You may consider upgrading your roof insulation to R60. That is an investment you will see a return on.

[REDVAN]

BUMP

We're building a house and I am considering spray foam, but I'm not sure how much more expensive it might be.

I know of the theoretical benefits and drawbacks- has anyone recently built a house with spray foam and wished they didn't? How about the other way around- and what would you guys recommend today for a brand new house?

[DFO]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

BUMP

We're building a house and I am considering spray foam, but I'm not sure how much more expensive it might be.

I know of the theoretical benefits and drawbacks- has anyone recently built a house with spray foam and wished they didn't? How about the other way around- and what would you guys recommend today for a brand new house?

I think the increased cost of spraying our entire house was ~12k. The spray insulation coupled with good windows produced an efficient house IMO - heating bills over the winter were low and the place didn't heat up too much this summer (don't have the AC hooked up yet). Keep in mind fiberglass insulation loses it's effectiveness as it gets really cold out.

[surferguy]

I have been thinking about the whole spray foam thing for a while now. Because I do small renovations I can't help but think of situations down the road when you may need to get into the walls and switch things up (ie electrical or plumbing)

Having never been around the stuff and judging only by what I see on tv, I cant help but think options are very limited once it goes in.. They just blast this #### in and cover everything. If you ever needed to re run a wire or add more outlets or something down the road it will be a huge issue to get that done.

Somebody with more experience with this product Id love to hear your thoughts regarding renovations down the road and how to deal with this product.

Personally I am not sold on it yet.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I have been thinking about the whole spray foam thing for a while now. Because I do small renovations I can't help but think of situations down the road when you may need to get into the walls and switch things up (ie electrical or plumbing)

Having never been around the stuff and judging only by what I see on tv, I cant help but think options are very limited once it goes in.. They just blast this #### in and cover everything. If you ever needed to re run a wire or add more outlets or something down the road it will be a huge issue to get that done.

Somebody with more experience with this product Id love to hear your thoughts regarding renovations down the road and how to deal with this product.

Personally I am not sold on it yet.

This is what I am really worried about- since it is a brand new cookie cutter house, we may want to run wires etc and customize a few things in the next few years. Spray foam = a big hassle taking it out to run a few wires :-(

I've also read that the heating/cooling costs can be 50% as much, which seems like a stretch for a new house, but enticing in the long run.

[Rathji]

I think 50% savings on heating is well worth the hassle down the road.

[ken0042]

The other consideration is fire rating. I know current building code requires a fire break on the side of the house, but I would think the added protection of having something like Roxul in the walls would be a benefit.

As opposed to spray foam, which during a fire produces toxic smoke. That's what scares me more than anything else.

For the cost difference, I would upgrade the attic to R60 as mentioned- and upgrade the furnace to ultra high efficiency.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I think 50% savings on heating is well worth the hassle down the road.

Does it acutally produce that against R20 vs R20. Is eliminating gaps at the studs worth that much?

Also in terms of payback period 12k is an awfully long time. Without looking at my bill I think I average about $1200 to $1500 per year in heating with my summer bill being about 20% of the gas used on my winter bill. So I assume that 20% of the total gas used is used to heat water. About 30-40% of the bill is fees that are not dependant on gas used. So to heat my house I am using about $600-700 worth of gas per year. Even assuming gas price doubles you are looking at a 20 year payback asuming the 50% is accurate and doesn't account for the time value of money. At 5% interest on the 12k you would never pay off the investment.

So before committing to spending the 12k on spray foam I would do some efficincy calcs based on a variety of different things you could spend the 12k on. Roof insulation, Window improvements, Furnance improvements, On Demand hot water, Insulating the basement, Geo Thermal heat pumps, Solar Hot Water, Solar Panels, etc and figure out the best bang for you buck. Or maybe even going to a better than R20 insulation.