# Covering blown-in insulation in attic?



## Lightfoot (Jan 16, 2011)

A Little preface to the problem:
House is 12 years old. Great room is open to second floor. Attic has certainteed insulation blown in all the walls in attic. House is very tight and i have been thrilled with the heating bills since we bought the house three years ago.

Problem is, the blown in insulation is held in place by a certainteed fabric called optima. This fabric has become very very crumbly. I mean you can just brush up against it, and it crumbles. Where it has crumbled away in the past, some of the insulation has began to loosen and fall out. I contacted Certainteed about this problem and they informed me that the optima fabric should have been covered with some type of sheeting, either plywood or chipboard. Looks like to me this wouldn't let the insulation breathe, but what do i know. I think they are b.s.'ing me just to avoid dealing with it. They were awfully quick to answer so i am guessing i'm not the first with this problem.

I'm thinking of covering the remainder with tyvec or something similar to hold it in place and prevent any further issues, and it would still allow the insulation to breathe.They would not recommend doing this because tyvec is not a product of theirs and they did not offer anything. Can you say- NO HELP?????? They make a house wrap, but would not recommend it for this purpose because it wasn't designed for it. In other words-screw you, it's your problem. I'm not about to have all the insulation removed and redone just to fix a few places, so i'm looking for a way to solve the problem on my own.
Anyone see any problem with doing that?


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## Marky82 (Dec 17, 2015)

I believe the fabric is supposed hold the insulation in place until you put up drywall. Are you talking about the fabric being on top of the insulation in the attic? If so, it isn't really doing anything except making it look neat and tidy. Lots of blown insulation jobs in the attic don't have a cover.


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## Lightfoot (Jan 16, 2011)

Marky82 said:


> I believe the fabric is supposed hold the insulation in place until you put up drywall. Are you talking about the fabric being on top of the insulation in the attic? If so, it isn't really doing anything except making it look neat and tidy. Lots of blown insulation jobs in the attic don't have a cover.


Thanks for the reply Marky.

Yes, i am talking about the fabric on the top of the insulation. It's blown in the vertical walls, and has began to fall out where the fabric has crumbled. Bad part is, that is where our only attic storage is, and we can see anytime we are in there (only a couple of times a year), we notice more has fallen out. I noticed more when i was getting out Christmas decorations this year.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Insulation does not need to breathe.

Insulation is to block airflow, and heat transfer.

So putting up any wall board, (Tyvek, sheetrock, plywood, etc) is preferable, especially on walls , even the floor of the attic will benefit, if your fabric is over the fill.


ED


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## Lightfoot (Jan 16, 2011)

de-nagorg said:


> Insulation does not need to breathe.
> 
> Insulation is to block airflow, and heat transfer.
> 
> ...


that answered my question. thanks Ed.


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