# Loose fill insulation without a blower?



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Most places, like HD or Lowe's, will allow you to use their blower free of charge provided you buy a quantity (small) of their insulation. Have you looked into that? I would not attempt to spread it by hand.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

JMHO, it's such a small area, why not use fiberglass, and skip the loose blown mess all together?


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## Murdy (Mar 5, 2011)

I'll look into the free option. I suppose I could use fiberglass, but there's already some older loose insulation there (rock wool, I think), so I figured I'd just add to it.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

You'll have to buy more bags than you intended to get the free rental BUT that would make for a great time to add more insulation to the rest of the attic - most houses will benefit from more insulation.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

I tried to fill a couple of wall cavities rather than removing the drywall, didn't work at all. Impossible to fluff the cellulose back to anything like it would be if blown. Remover drywall and did it right.

Is current insulation below the tops of the joists? How much?

Once you fill between the rafters flush to top then install batts of choice perpendicular for a better job.

Bud


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I did it that way once. I can't say I would recommend it. I fluffed it first and the spread it with a snow shovel. The fluffing room looked like the day after the bombs dropped. 

I used the loose fill to level the old to the top of the joists and then ran unfaced fiberglass batts across the joists.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

LOL, just thinking since you have experience. Would it work to take a 5 gallon bucket, center a hole in the top so you can feed a paint mixer up through, then do a handful at a time using your drill? Might be slow with 5 gallons at a time but might also limit the mess.

Side note, when you have 5 gal buckets the lids can be a pain to remove. I take a utility knife and drag the blade backwards over the lip of the lid. That way the pids go on and off without removing my fingertips.

Bud


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I used a hay fork. The cellulose stuff is sorta hard to break up.

I have bucket opener for the buckets. Best 3 bucks I ever spent: Linzer 5 Gallon Plastic Lid Opener-5425 - The Home Depot


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## Murdy (Mar 5, 2011)

Thanks everyone, I've never used the product before, always just used rolls. I wasn't considering the fluffing factor. Supposed I'll just rent one.


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## APA (Jul 13, 2018)

I know this post is old, but the 5-gallon bucket and the paddle stirrer is a pain in the ass. It is slow and you can never break up the insulation like that Attic Cat can. You will save SO much time charging the amount of insulation it takes to get free rental, taking what you need, then returning the rest for a refund. I do this all the time and Lowe's never complains...


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## Knucklez (Oct 21, 2007)

i've reno's my 125 yr old house for 10 years. what i learned is you save so much money by DIY that it is worth it to buy/rent the right tools to make the project go smooth and easy. it just isn't worth it to cut costs so much that it takes 10x as long to complete. $0.02

ps. i should also point out my wife helps renovations too, and in fact as i write this she is painting the pine plank floor


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## motorapido (Jan 27, 2019)

Murdy said:


> I have a relatively small area I'd like to insulate with some sort of loose fill insulation. Is it worth renting a blower for maybe 300 square feet? Is it possible to do it by hand?


I used a garden blower/vacuum to fluff the cellulose. My technique was to open a bale of the tightly packed cellulose and then by hand break it into chunks just a little smaller than the intake on the blower/vac. The impeller/shredder fluffs up the cellulose, and I would open the blower/vac bag and dump out the fluffed cellulose into a large contractor bag. I did this for about 8 bales of the cellulose. Took a little time, but it was easy to do, and the cellulose was thoroughly fluffy.


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