Hey Guys, I need to get insulation blown into my attic. I have next to nothing up there since the house is about 50 years old. The price difference between R-19 and R-38 is about 400 dollars installed. Should I get the R-38? R-26 is 80 bucks more, R-30 is 200 bucks more. I don't mind paying extra if it does in fact get me some energy savings. I live in a 50 year old house that is horribly energy inefficient. My bill on the hottest summer month is $250. That is because my wife is at home and the AC must be on most of the day.... and again our house is pretty inefficient because of the lack of proper insulation. Before I have you all tell me to do it myself I am going to have a company my friend used do it. The will do it in an hour to an hour and a half and this is a job I don't want to take on. Thanks!
You might also want to spend some extra cash and get some radiant barrier paint sprayed on your attic roof. I wish I would have had that installed before my home was built. I haven't gotten around to having the paint sprayed yet.
I would go with the R-38 and get a radiant barrier also. While I did my own insulation, I would not recommend doing it yourself this time of year. The attic is now too hot for that kind of do it yourself work and should be done by professionals.
Definitely you should not do it yourself this time of year...I had my brother and brother-in-law help me during the summer and it sucked... THe higher grade the better IMHO...
I would go R-30. You are smart to have someone else do it, too. Usually there is very little savings to doing insulation yourself. Insulation contractors buy the insulation much cheaper than you can, and labor is cheap for them, since it is virtually unskilled. If you don't have a powered gable vent, that would help a lot, too, if you can get power in your attic. They're not too hard to install yourself, and it really helps to move that super heated summer-time air out of the attic.
I believe you can do a tax write-off on that, too. FYI - I'm interested in doing this in my house, too. Would you be willing to email the name of the company you're using, and how much it's gonna cost? droxford(at)comcast.net
DO IT YOURSELF. It is insanely easy AND fast. If you buy 20 bundles at Home Depot/Lowes, they will let you have the blower for a day. All you need is two guys and a truck to get the blower and insulation back and forth from Home Depot/Lowes. One guy climbs up in the attic, the other feeds the blower. Tip- Duct-tape a broom handle to the end of the hose. It's easier to aim that way.
I added some blown in at my previous house, Home Depot had a sale that if you bought x amount of bags you get the blower free for a day to do the install.. Long story short, it was the worst $200.00 I ever saved in my life, to me it wasn't worth it and I should have gone with one of the guys I got a quote from..
Two of my friends have used these guys and said they are very reasonable compared to others and do a very good job so I am skipping getting 2 other quotes. They will quote you over the phone. You tell them your address and they look up the specs on your house online and give it to you in 2 minutes. There is a website you pay for that rates contractors (my friend has a login) and 5 people rated them 5 stars out of 5. Stevenson Insulation 713-771-2011 They are a mom and pop company and the owner comes to your house when the work is being done. They said they usually finished in an hour to an hour and a half. This is how nice they are. I asked if they could come friday(tomorrow) or Monday at 8am. She said they are booked but they could call some people and see if they would be willing to move their time to accommodate me. I said that was not necessary and that I just wanted to get it done ASAP. They are coming on Wednesday.
Hey Guys, The insulation guy came and he did a great job. Super clean. Took me up and showed me everything that was going to be done. It may be in my head but the house feels colder already. If you need him email me at shervinj at hotmail.com so I can give you my info for referrals. I get a gift card for each referral.
