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My house is about 50 years old. Who knows how long the blown-in insulation has been up there but it’s not even and incredibily dirty. So I am thinking of pulling it all out, clean up the attic and lay down new batts.
So what is the best way to get to clean it up? You can barely stand up in the middle. It’s a shake roof and I intend to replace it with composite next spring/summer. Should I clean it up when the shakes are off? Or should I get it done before hand so I am not in the way?
Thanks,
steve
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Steve, with a shake roof, there'll be alot of debris fall down into that space when you tear off the roof. Whatever you do should possibly wait. You are undertaking quite a job, most would go over the existing. If you should take that road, think about tarping w/visqeen the attic space to collect all the falling crap and dispose. Best of luck.
*Why not scrub out the septic tank while you're cleaning house?
*That's a good thought, tearing up those shakes probably won't make me happy if I clean first. Any thoughts on how to clean? Is there a vacuum service that could handle something like this? I know they have them for septic tanks...Thanks,steve
*Steve:A few years back I did a major remodel where we removed blown-in insulation because we were removing the drywall ceiling in a large portion of the house. We talked to an insulation blowing service and they were actually capable of reversing their hoses and sucking the stuff out. We ended up using a laborer with a short handled rake, a resperiator, some large trash bags and a shop vac for the little stuff. That was cheaper than the minimum for the vaccum service. The insulation company's experience was that working under a shake roof would reveal a lot of hose cloging splinters, even with an intact roof.That being said, please consider what you want to acomplish. We removed the insulation to ease demolition. Your plan seems to be to remove insulation and then put some back. It seems to me that you are trying to fix somthing that is not broken. Just my observation.Good luck,Ross
*Ross,Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like I may need to rake most of it and toss it out. I am also remodeling and need to replace wiring, put in new recessed lights and bathroom fans, etc. It's hard to find anything in that dirty mess.So since I need to clear it out anyway I thought I would clean it up at while I was at it. steve
*I forgot one important reason for wanting to clean the attic. When we moved in, the interior walls and ceiling were covered with soot. We have not been able to find where it came from but we are cleaning and priming. And to make sure it doesn't come back we are cleaning up everything we can. Maybe it is the septic tank...steve
*Is the insulation dirty from the soot only, or are there other concerns? We did exactly what you are talking about in our 180 year old house. Many families of mice (and rats) lived in our abode before our arrival. Maine in the winter is not a place to have poor insulation, and the existing stuff was TOO far gone. We bagged it and vaccumed the remains in a very cramped attic space (5' headroom) It took a couple of weeks for these weekend/afterhour warriors, but I CAN MARK THAT OFF MY LIST...Question is, where is the soot coming from? Establish the source of that. If it is old, and no longer a concern, and you want that stuff out, try to remove just the top layer. If you find more undesirables (as we did), take as much as you want to out. Then do your lighting, etc. but a 1/2 dozen or so large cans of spray foam, and seal all pipe and wire chases when your through. Look at the area around the chimney, while you at it. We noticed snow always melted around ours, and we found we needed to add some interior, fireproof "flashing" to reduce heat loss. We also had to seal up many open bays between joists before the blow in. Then we blew in 12" cellulose, and added an additional layer of miraflex insulation to keep things from moving (we have an attic fan, our Maine air-conditioner) Lotsa luck!!!
*Have you had your furnace exhaust and plenum checked about that soot source?
*Kurt,Sounds pretty much the same situation I have. Soot was my first concern but there have been rats, insects, etc. Basically I want to get rid of all concerns of allergies, etc. Plus there is plenty of work to do while it is clean and empty including, like you said, seal everything. We don't get a lot of snow here in Seattle but plenty of rain so I want to check for moisture problems too.steve
*Piffin,We've checked just about everything including the furnace. The furnace was replaced 4 years ago. I had them out a couple of times to check it and I just had it vacuumed again. Fireplaces have been cleaned. I plan to convert them to gas. We have wiped and primed the inside of the house. Only thing left is the attic. I just took over the house. The person before me burned lots of candles. Right now everyone's guess is that may have been the cause. If it comes back however, it's getting a torch. Fortunately insurance has taken care of a good chunk of the cost. steve
*Bingo!Candles were the culprit!I had a buddy that his wife burned candles all the time ....until he discovered the soot. Now no candles ...or very little candle burning is allowed in the house. I didn't believe it until I held my hand over a burning candle (out of the flame) and saw the soot coming off.My 2 cents,John
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My house is about 50 years old. Who knows how long the blown-in insulation has been up there but it's not even and incredibily dirty. So I am thinking of pulling it all out, clean up the attic and lay down new batts.
So what is the best way to get to clean it up? You can barely stand up in the middle. It's a shake roof and I intend to replace it with composite next spring/summer. Should I clean it up when the shakes are off? Or should I get it done before hand so I am not in the way?
Thanks,
steve