Hey everyone! Today I’m sharing the seven things Eric and I learned when we insulated
our attic with the AttiCat machine and expanding fiberglass blown-in insulation.
1. There’s a lot of prep work. While actually blowing in insulation
is fairly easy, there’s a lot of prep work to do first. Eric spent two months
air sealing the walls, spray foaming around fixtures, adding ventilation
holes and installing baffles to protect the holes from getting clogged with insulation.
Our attic didn’t have any kind of walkway, which makes it hard to maneuver without putting your
feet through the ceiling, Clark Griswold-style. So Eric also built this walkway and insulated
underneath it before the big day when we finally blew in the rest of the insulation.
2. Use all the safety gear, and maybe even more. Even though this insulation has way less dust than
other types, don’t let your guard down. There are lots of particles that end up in the air,
and they can be hard to see. Eric was the one in the attic
blowing the insulation. This requires safety gloves, goggles and a mask. Eric upgraded to
disposable coveralls and a full-face ventilator, and as you can probably guess, he was glad he did!
Meanwhile, I was in the basement inserting half bags of insulation into the machine,
which also requires safety gloves, goggles and a mask. Since the room looked virtually dust-free,
I thought my eyeglasses would be good enough, but after a couple
of bags I was coughing and my eyes were scratchy. Also, I took my mask off when the machine was off,
not realizing the dust that I couldn’t see was still very much in the air. I should
have worn full safety gear whenever I was in the room with the machine.
3. Bungee cords are a big help! The AttiCat insulation blower has
a 100-foot hose that loves to flail around when all the insulation is blowing through!
We used bungee cords to help hold the hose in place around our staircase railing and in the
attic entryway, so it wouldn’t fall back into the house (and blow insulation everywhere!).
Eric also used bungee cords to attach a broomstick to the end of the hose,
which made it easier to reach nooks and crannies in the attic.
4. Don’t over-stuff the machine. Another mistake on my part! I was
under the impression that my job was to keep the insulation blower absolutely stuffed at
all times to keep things moving. But it’s kind of the opposite of that.
Since the insulation expands so much when it releases from the bag,
if you over-stuff the machine it can make it hard for the insulation to break up and move into the
hose. You actually want to wait until you can see the paddles in the bottom of the machine before
adding another half-bag of insulation. We pre-cut a bunch of bags and staged
them on a table, which made it easy to slide them into place.
Here’s a closer look at the paddles and other parts of the AttiCat. There’s a quick start
guide on the front, and easily accessible “start” and “stop” buttons on the side.
Another thing to pay attention to is this cutter. The plastic bag needs to catch on that to open
up as you insert the insulation. If it seems like the plastic doesn’t want to break free, make sure
you’re sliding it close enough to that cutter. The whole process takes a lot of oomph!
Here are the paddles you want to see before adding another half-bag of insulation.
5. Get ready for a cotton candy explosion. There’s no low or medium setting. The machine
is either off, or in fire hose mode. I think our low attic ceiling might have also increased
the effect, with insulation bouncing off every surface and going all over the place.
The pressure was so strong that when Eric aimed the hose directly where he wanted the insulation,
sometimes it would blow too far past the goal. So he used his gloved hand to guide and slow down the
insulation. He also sometimes aimed at the ceiling so the insulation could gently fall into place.
That is why he was so glad he wore the coveralls.
He suggests aiming the hose parallel with the bays. If your attic doesn’t have a walkway,
plan your route and start at the farthest point,
so you don’t have to walk back over the insulation to get out.
Have everything you need ready before you turn on the machine.
Eric set up handy string lights and had extra bungees and an extension cord nearby just in case.
Whatever you do, don’t drop anything! Our broomstick is
now buried somewhere in these 15 inches of insulation, never to be seen again.
Also, the AttiCat comes with a remote control so the person in the attic can turn it off if needed.
When we rented the machine, the sales associate said the remote control had full batteries and
was ready to go. It was not. So you might want to have them test it in the store before you leave.
6. Use a concrete mixer to whip up extra for touch-ups.
After you take the AttiCat rental back to the store, you might still have spots
in your attic that you need to fill in later on. When we blew in the insulation,
we kept it out of the area where we wanted to eventually install a fan. So after the fan
went in, Eric used a concrete mixer to break up additional insulation and insulate around the fan.
Of course, this method isn’t nearly as efficient as the machine,
and it doesn’t break up the insulation quite as nicely, but it works in a pinch!
7. Use your vacuum in reverse. When you’re all done blowing in insulation,
your attic might be very messy like ours was. Some of the insulation had blown into our baffles,
blocking the ventilation holes, which is not good. Eric used this makeshift rake to level out the
insulation and help clear it off the walkway. The rake was okay, but our Shop-Vac—in the
magical reverse setting—was indispensable. Eric went outside the house and put the vacuum hose
against each of the ventilation holes to shoot the insulation out of the baffles and back into
the bays of the attic. Then he used the vacuum to blow insulation off the ceiling and walkway,
inside the attic, making everything nice and tidy.
Here’s the end result. We achieved R-44 insulation, which is about 15 inches deep.
The house has been noticeably warmer, and we’re looking forward
to seeing our utility bills go down!