I'm getting ready to do blown-in insulation in my walls and have a bunch of questions. My first step was to get a price for a contractor to blown-in fiberglass at $3500. The price of cellulose material to do this job is 1/10 of this so I have decided to do it myself. I have a
100-year-old Dutch Colonial that is 36 feet long and 24 feet wide. My location is Lexington Massachusetts.Cellulose vs Fiberglass?
A fireman friend of mine told be not to use cellulose because the fire proofing treatment can leach out over time, especially since there is no vapor barrier. Is this true? He said to use fiberglass just because of the fire proofing aspect of it.
If I decide to use fiberglass, can I rent the equipment and get the material do this job myself? A lot of what I see on the web seems to suggest "professional use only" and I haven't seen the material anywhere. I have experience working with hazardous materials and know how to do the job safely, I just don't know where to get the stuff. I've checked a few local lumber yards and the Borg (Home Depot/Lowes) with no success.
If I go with cellulose, where is a good source for that? I found that Lowes sells Cocoon brand and rents a machine but no one there knows anything about it. The machine they have seems to be set up only for blowing stuff in your attic and not the walls. The hose is 2.5 inches in diameter and only 35 feet long. Their web site talked about drilling 1 1/8 holes through the plaster at the top of the wall cavities but they only offer this short 2.5 diameter hose with no adapter or reducer. They also talk about leaving the machine outside of the house yet they only offer a 35 foot hose? It would probably have to be more than twice that length to do a two-story house. Can any one recommend another source besides Lowes?
Also, is it possible to blow insulation into a stud cavity with only a hole at the top? The stud cavities are air tight and this seems trying to blow up a paper bag that is already inflated ? you just can't blow up any more than full or it will pop. How does the air escape?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Scott