Sewnoma

My DH's childhood home was built in the 30's, and his mom had insulation blown in, sometime in the 80's. Then in the 90's DH & I moved into that house ourselves. It was a drafty house because all the windows were original (and falling apart) but overall fairly cozy. DH told me the house used to be freezing all the time when he was little; it was pretty comfortable for us. No central heat or air in that house.

Whoever did the job didn't do a great job of it cosmetically, though - the siding was wood shingle and they just cored out holes right through the singles and then plugged them with plastic plugs that they painted brown. By the time DH & I moved in the paint was chipping off of the plastic plugs and it just looked weird and cheesy.

I don't know what kind of material was blown in. I think they have stuff that is shredded fabric now, I want to say old jeans?

It'll definitely warm the house up but make sure you do your research. Ask for references, all that stuff.

nativetexan

I've seen shows where they make holes inside the house between the studs and blow insulation in. outside is new to me.

Jakers1

I bought a duplex in 1991 and live in the lower. My outside walls were so cold in the winter that you could not touch them. I had insulation blown in, and they cut hole in the house under the siding. I did not see it. The walls were so much warmer that they were the same temp as the inside walls, to say nothing about the lower heat bill Just be sure the contractor is licensed and insured and get more than one bid.

nativetexan

my husband said they could most likely go up in the attic space and make holes over each wall section, blow in insulation and plug holes there. Good luck what ever you decide.

miriam

We just did ours yesterday. We went to a big box store and bought 24 bales of insulation and they let us borrow the blower. There is some way to calculate how much you need. I dumped the bales in the machine and DH installed. We already feel a huge difference. Even if you don't get all of it into the walls it helps a whole lot more than none or very little. Ours had some blown in the walls but not enough and not enough in the attic. It looks like this was made from recycled cardboard and plastics. It was not terribly messy. Temp dipped to teens last night and we were still warm. I think we spent $150 or so on the attic and the machine was free. Blowing the insulation in the attic took about 2 1/2 hours then some clean up time. We've done it before so there wasn't any learning curve. (Allow time for learning.) It isn't rocket science but you need two or 3 people. One or two to load the machine and one to work the hose in the attic - maybe one of the people can yell between the person in the attic and the person loading. I learned to crush the bales a little, cut around the half line of the bales, break them in half, then load broken bits loosely into the machine. It doesn't work to just put the whole bale in the machine. One time we broke up the bales into a garbage can and dumped it into the machine. DH did the hose in the attic part - he started on the farthest part and worked to the hatch. We still could take out the window trim and fill in where they didn't insulate when they replaced the windows but that is a lot more work. At least it is warmer now.

Last weekend DH put some 2 inch thick foam board insulation in part of the crawl space. I cut it to size and put it down the access hole to him and he installed it. He measured it and I just cut it with a utility knife. He mostly wedged it in or nailed it to the back walls. It is toasty warm above where he did that. Then he also used some of the foam to fill in the crawl space vents for the winter. There are places down there we can't really access enough to insulate like it needs. We only used the foam boards under the kitchen and bath. It was about $90 for DIY.

caspharm

We added insulation in the attic space of our house. They put in enough to cover the duct work and it has helped lower our HVAC costs. Just get several quotes.

redcardinal

We have never used this type of insulation so I don't have personal experience. I do know that after Sandy hit the Jersey Shore some people were using it. However, we were told that if you are in a flood prone area and this stuff gets wet and it has to be removed to remove other damage.........it is a mess to deal with. I also did hear that it is hard once the house is built and drywall is installed to make sure you get the foam insulation in all parts of the walls because you can't see exactly what you are doing and they have to get it in all the bays between the studs. Here is a link to an article about the pros and cons...maybe it will help you decided for your situation. http://www.ehow.com/info_12038911_pr...nsulation.html

miriam

We just used the brown paper stuff and it works just fine.

donna13350

Our home had it done in the 80's, and it settles over time, so now only 2/3 of the way up a wall actually has insulation in it...like another poster said, it's better than nothing, but I wouldn't do it again.

QuiltNama

Beginner10,
Two summers ago, my DH, father and friend, drilled holes in our wood siding and filled our 100 year old house with blow-in insulation. They filled the attic first then drilled holes for the walls on the outside. Blew in the insulation, filled the holes with plastic plugs and then put the vinyl siding back up and no one was the wiser. Your house will be so much warmer and you will see a saving on your heat bill. There is some mess involved but well worth it. Good luck