Blowing up the walls

In preparation for the massive work we can finally begin, Jay went and opened a new credit card at Menards, which was having a 0% until 2006 deal going on anything over $300. So it was the perfect time to buy lumber, house jacks, electrical conduit, and cellulose insulation (which is treated, recycled paper).

It looked like STUFFING!!




Menards has a program where if you buy the loose fill cellulose from them, they give you the blower free for one day. This blower is basically a large shop-vac that operates in reverse with a large hopper to feed the cellulose, and a really long tube. We actually kept the blower in the back yard and fed the tube through a second floor window, and then throughout the top floor to fill in our uninsulated walls.


Mark came over and did a lot of prep work to make sure the stuff didn't blow straight through to the basement, while Jay worked up in the attic blowing the cellulose down through each wall cavity. Later, we fished the hose into the basement and filled up any cavities that we missed, or were below windows. We had to drill 1-inch holes in the wall to do this, but they will patch (or be covered) nicely.

It took a full weekend to work all the away around the house. We decided not to do most of the north wall of our house, since that is where we plan to do our dormer addition (still pending zoning board appeal). But since we did it, we've already noticed benefits:
- house is warmer
- basement is much warmer
- furnace goes on less
- VERY big soundproofing improvement


In all, we used 15 bags, but at $5 bag (total $75.00) it was a great deal. And Mark's favorite part about using cellulose was that it didn't leave you itching and scratching for the next few days, unlike normal insulation! :)