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Loose-fill cellulose, no soffit vents

DonBurgard's picture

Loose-fill cellulose, no soffit vents (post #205257)

DonBurgard on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:53
in

My attic is insulated with fiberglass batts, but I'd like to install loose-fill cellulose over them. My problem is what to do about the eaves. The house, a late 1950s ranch with a low-pitched roof, has no soffit vents. For ventilation, there is a gable vent on each end of the attic and a whole-house fan in the center. I've thought about spraying foam into the eaves, then blowing cellulose into the rest of the attic, but the eaves are so tight that getting my body into that space to do the spraying would be difficult. I've only had a problem with ice dams once—last winter, when New England got pummeled with snow—and I've since bought a roof rake and done a lot of air-sealing. Can I simply blow the cellulose into the eaves? 

-A +A

Yes (post #205257, reply #1 of 2)

by JoeH in reply to DonBurgard [original] on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:27

Stick a piece of pipe into your hose so you can reach the end of the bay and start blowing there. Pull pipe toward you as it fills. You'll know when it's getting dense in the restricted area, pull back a bit then and continue until it's just blowing loose. PVC or whatever you can find to fit the hose. Duct tape the joint.

Joe H

It would be best to block off (post #205257, reply #2 of 2)

by DanH in reply to DonBurgard [original] on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 19:08

It would be best to block off the eaves somehow, if you could.  The eaves are apt to get wet from wind-blown rain, and having insulation stuffed in them would promote rot.  And there's no point in insulating the eaves.


Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.  --Herman Melville