Adding insulation to attic - fiberglass or cellulose?

[fuzzywuzzy555]

I'm going to add insulation to my attic. The home was built in 1967 and the current insulation is pretty thin. Should I add fiberglass pads or blow it in using cellulose? It's about 900 square feet to cover.

Thanks!

[twstanley]

I would vote for the cellulose, we blew a dozen bags into the attic of our in-laws house that is about the size you are talking about, it seemed to help quite a bit.

I am thinking of doing some to our attic as well, just try and do it when it's cold out and not baking hot in the attic.

[Bob]

Cellulose is quicker, but way messier. Fiberglass can be removed and replaced if you need to do work in the attic. My attic had some cellulose. I covered it with thick fiberglass.

Bob

[louie]

I'm a fan of cellulose. As long as you do the proper prep-work (put vent baffles in for eave-vents, pre-mark your desired insulation depth on the trusses/rafters, use plenty of plastic sheeting to isolate the rest of the house from your work to keep the dust out, etc.), it's not difficult for a DIY'er with a helper. The helper has to be JUST smart enough to be trusted to keep their fingers out of the blower (a tiny bit smarter would help, but isn't 100% necessary).

[SQLit]

Call some insulation contractor before shopping. I had R-30 installed for less than it would have cost me to buy the material at the box stores.

August's electric bill for a/c was half of July.

[C & E]

One cautionary note on the cellulose. It compresses over time and with that it loses some of its R-factor. When I bought my 1970's vintage home in 1984 they had recently had an additional 6" blown in on top of the batts. That has steadily reduce to about 4" over the years. I can't tell if the loss of R has had much effect since I have long since changed over to a heat pump. Just an FYI to factor in. If you don't plan to stay 20 yrs it's not your problem and the next guy probably won't think of it.

[Stormin Mormon]

Also helps work on a day when it's not raining. The folks at the store really get miserable when you bring their machine back dripping wet. And the cellulose sucks up water, and gets lumpy.