Blowing in insulation - which companies do it best? Around Town, posted by Susan Strain, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Jan 24, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I rent an old cottage and propose to pay higher rent to be warm in the winter (and not too hot in the summer). Some companies (Eagle Shield, Bay Valley) won't give you an estimate if you aren't the landlord, so I'm not interested in them. Of the other companies, has anyone had a good or bad experience with them? Was the insulation worth the money? Did they leave the ceiling, etc., in paintable condition, or did you have to spackle? Were there any unexpected drawbacks?
Posted by janette, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Jan 25, 2008 at 6:02 am
I had blown in attic insulation put in many years ago, the company no longer exists. But they dragged the hose thru the trapdoor into the attic, no holes in the ceiling were necessary.
Now I would ask, is it better to have blown in insulation on the attic floor, or batts of insulation on the inside of the attic roof. The latter might help avoid heat buildup in the summer.
Posted by RS, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jan 25, 2008 at 10:20 am
Walls can be blown in, its more expensive, they have to drill 2 ~1 inch holes every 16 inches in the wall. So you have to plan on a paint job after the work is done. When I remodeled my barret and hilp house, there was no wall insulation. Since I opened up the walls, I could put in batts.
My house also used to have metal casement single pane windows. There are a lot of these in P.A. These are about the worst windows to have in terms of heat transfer.
These smaller houses were built cheaply when energy was cheap. There are a bunch of opportunities to make them more energy efficient while not sacrificing personal comfort.
Posted by RS, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jan 25, 2008 at 4:03 pm
"Now I would ask, is it better to have blown in insulation on the attic floor, or batts of insulation on the inside of the attic roof."
you can also do batts on the attic floor which is the easiest to self install. If you put the insulation against the roof the problem is with the roofing materials. If your roofing materials use the attic space air to dry out after a storm, you dont want materials trapping moisture against the roofing materials.
Another method to avoid summer heat build up is an attic exhaust fan, or lighter colored roofing materials that will reflect some heat.
Posted by RS, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jan 28, 2008 at 9:49 am
"Now I would ask, is it better to have blown in insulation on the attic floor, or batts of insulation on the inside of the attic roof."
oh something else I missed, it you were to put the on the attic roof instead of the attic floor, you would end up paying to heat an unused space as the heat from the home will still leak into the attic from below.
Posted by ginni, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 11, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I own an older Barret and Hilp home and have been experiening odd floor problems with moisture pushing the oak flooring upwards. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
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