Blown-in insulation, and the other jobs

Blown-in insulation is loose fill installed with a hose on a vented attic floor. It is not spray foam.

Batts fit a stud bay. An open attic floor is a blown-in job. The gaps are the difference.

New fiberglass is about R-2.5 per inch. New cellulose is about R-3.6. Weight and the ceiling decide it.

About 15 inches of new fiberglass, or about 10.5 inches of new cellulose, from a bare ceiling.

Dry, settled fill stays and gets topped to R-38. Wet or rodent-soiled fill comes out first.

Loose fill settles. Old fiberglass is figured at R-2.2 per inch, not the new-product number.

Do not blow over a wet deck, a live roof leak, rodent contamination, or a non-IC can light.

The hose covers the ceiling. It does not seal the top plate, the cans, or the hatch.

The eaves have to stay open. Baffles keep the blow out of the soffit.

IC and IC-AT cans can be covered. A non-IC can cannot. Burying it is not an install.

The price follows attic size and the depth already there. A common 1,800 square foot gap is a planning range, not a bid.

It slows heat through the ceiling. It does not fix the ducts in the attic or promise a dollar off the power bill.

Barrel tile does not change the job. The attic is still vented, and the fill still goes on the floor.

Look, seal, blow, check the depth. Most dry top-ups are one day.

The rental machine is the easy part. The seal, the cans, and the soffits are the part people skip.

Dry fill lasts. It settles. Water, animals, and a roof leak are what end it.

A few inches of settled fill, a bare hatch, and rooms that stay hot in the afternoon.

The energy code treats the hatch as ceiling. Weatherstrip it and put a cover on the stairs.

A knee wall is not an attic floor. A bonus room under the rafters is a foam job.

Three real shops. Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Jupiter. No invented addresses in the other cities.

The boundary is the ceiling. Seal it, keep the soffits open, install to R-38, mark the depth.

On a vented attic the rooms are insulated at the ceiling. The roof deck stays outside.

R-38 on the ceiling leaves the air-conditioner ducts in the hot attic.

Blown-in is the vented attic floor. Foam is the roof deck. They are not substitutes.

Open-cell fills a deep bay and stays vapor-open. Closed-cell is the vapor retarder and the metal-building product.

The smell is the cure. People and pets stay out until it is done. Blown-in does not do this.

A vented attic with a flat ceiling is a blown-in job. Foam belongs on the deck you are bringing inside.

Top plates, wires, chases, fans, and the hatch. The blow covers this. It does not replace it.

Seal the ceiling. Leave the soffit vents open and baffled.

A fan that stops in the attic is a moisture problem on the roof deck. Insulation around it does not fix the duct.

Dry and thin stays. Wet, moldy, or full of rodents comes out. Removal is priced alone.

Removal is a vacuum and bags. It is priced on its own, before any new blow.

Dry, settled fill stays and gets topped. Wet fill, mold on the insulation, and nesting come out.

Treatment of the bare deck after contaminated insulation is removed. Not mold remediation downstairs.

Spray on top of dirty insulation does not treat the deck. The wood has to be bare.

The smell is usually fill that was left, or a hole that is still open. Treatment is not perfume.

Commercial attics in Zone 1 are R-38 on the attic-and-other row. Not a return-air plenum.

Loose fill in a ceiling that is the return-air path ends up in the unit.

The markers still face the opening, about one every 300 square feet. A pile at the hatch is not R-38.

Same climate, different table. Zone 1 commercial attic-and-other roofs are R-38.

Zone 1 houses have an R-30 ceiling minimum. The commercial attic row we use is R-38.

The blow is loud. Occupied floors get a time, not a surprise.

Metal studs and framed cavities. Not an open attic floor. Unfaced unless the assembly needs a facing.

The batt is the cavity. The stud is still a thermal bridge. An open attic is not a batt job.

Zone 1 does not get a polyethylene sheet as a habit. A facing goes in only when the wall calls for it.

Foam puts the space inside the building. Occupied rooms need a thermal barrier. Two inches is not the finished R.

People under exposed foam need gypsum, unless that product is listed to stay bare.

Closed-cell at two inches is about R-13. The attic row is R-38. Above-deck roof insulation is a different table.

Closed-cell against the steel. The Zone 1 prescriptive roof is R-19 plus R-11 liner, not a drip coat.

The panel gets hotter than the air, then it hits the dew point. Closed-cell goes on the steel. Open-cell holds water.

Zone 1's prescriptive metal roof is R-19 plus R-11 with a liner. Foam is a different assembly and still has to meet the U-factor.

Closing the holes roof rats use. Not traps, not poison. Contaminated insulation still comes out first.

We close the holes. We do not trap and we do not bait. A pest company gets the animals out first if they are still inside.

Fascia, soffit returns, plumbing stacks, gable vents, and the air-conditioner lines. A gap the size of a quarter is enough.

Cardinal Insulation of Boca Raton. One shop, 4263 NW 1st Ave. Blown-in is the first job.

A vented Boca attic is insulated at the ceiling, not the tile. R-38 after the leaks are sealed.

Foam is the roof deck. A normal vented Boca attic is still a blown-in job.

Dry Boca fill stays and gets topped. Wet fill, mold on the insulation, and rodent nesting come out first.

Cardinal Insulation in Delray Beach. Walk-in shop at 955 S Congress Ave. Blown-in is the first job.

Vented Delray attics are insulated at the ceiling. Tile does not do that job.

Foam is for a Delray roof deck. A vented attic over a flat ceiling is blown-in.

Dry Delray fill stays. Wet fill and rodent nesting come out before any new blow.

No Boynton shop. The walk-in is 955 S Congress Ave in Delray Beach. Blown-in is the first job.

A vented Boynton attic is insulated at the ceiling. The tile does not do that job.

Foam is a Boynton roof deck. A vented attic over a flat ceiling is blown-in.

Dry Boynton fill stays. Wet fill and rodent nests come out before a new blow.

No West Palm shop. Calls go to Cardinal Insulation of Jupiter, 17628 Brian Way, (754) 253-9607.

Vented West Palm attics get an air seal and blown-in to R-38. The crew is the Jupiter shop.

Cardinal Insulation of Jupiter. 17628 Brian Way. Blown-in is the first job. Call (754) 253-9607.