we had it done in our ceiling and the difference was amazing. Of course it was heat we were keeping out. But blowing in is great and there are no fumes, I think its' the liquid foam that has the smell

We did it to our house two years ago. Made a BIG difference in the temperature of the house as well as a huge saving in the monthly bills.

Had an old home down in Florida with no insulation and only wood siding. Had blown insulation put in by drilling holes at the top as you described. They put the circles back into the holes when done, caulked around it to seal them up. Had no problems the whole time I had the house. I now live in cold, cold Iowa with another old house with no insulation but I'm looking into having foam insulation put in about the same way. This house at least has vinyl siding on top of the old wood siding so if I've been told correctly, they just remove the vinyl piece, drill thru the wood siding and then replace it, seal it and then put the vinyl siding back on. More expensive though.

We had Shelter Shield ("Cellulose") blown in back in the 80's. About a month ago I had R38 rolls put in the attic - And so far in the cold Fall season, it has kept us warm here in the house. I don't know if you are having the walls done or the attic. Check and see if you can have the cellulose blown in from the inside. It would be so much neater as far as the exterior of the house is concerned. I don't think I would want any siding taken off . They can blow it in from the inside.

I am 76 and I ca feel the difference for sure. I am sorry, but we have siding and I won't let anyone drill into the siding or take the siding off to drill a hole in the wood siding (cringe for sure). You can have sheet rock put in where they drill the holes to fill the interior walls. And when that is fixed, it can be painted (providing you get a good guy to do it right) or you can wallpaper it, or panel, whatever. Maybe have the holes put in at a chair rail height and no one will be any the wiser.

That has been my experience - in other words, the cellulose will eventually pack down - ours packed doown from 14" to about 2". So I opted for rolls. I had to to do this on my own...my husband died in 2013 and it just had to get done and so with the help of the world's greatest handyman (and I got him) he did it right and good and didn't overcharge me. couldn't be happier.

OK, now I lam going back to the Minnesota Ohio game - Yay! So far! Edie

Thank-you everyone for all your comments/help/info!! I will be checking in each day to see anymore help/information.
I will definitely get 2-3 different bids and recommendations. Sometimes I don't feel I can trust the recommendations from the contractor's previous jobs (skeptic, paranoid??) I wish I would have done this a couple of months ago. Oh well, next year will be warmer in this house, as I sit with a shirt and sweatshirt on-lol.
Have a great weekend!

I have blown insulation in my attic. I live in a concrete block home and it helped with warming/cooling the house. Been 15 yrs since I've done it. Just don't open the attic door though !

You usually can't notice the small holes in the siding which are covered when they are done...It is good insulation...

I had blown-in insulation done in the eighties at my house in California. Loved it. They don't HAVE to drill holes in the siding or stucco, they can go from inside the house and go through the plaster/drywall. I think the inside holes are easier to cover and fill, but might be hard to match paint colors or wall paper. I don't see how they can fill the entire wall space by only removing top siding. Most houses have a cross beam between all of the two uprights that help support the wall from bending. My house had two holes drilled in each 16inch section, one at top and one just below the center line so both top and bottom sections could be filled.

my question is-why don't builders insulate homes before they are finished? Just put it in the price. everyone would be happy.

They do now. But my house is 85 yrs old and I don't think they worried about insulation as much as they do now.