Insulation "Splicing"

[Spudland_Dave]

Lowes has the 15"W R-30 Attic & Ceiling insulation for 11.87 a roll, which translates to $0.38 a sq/ft
Problem is, trusses are framed 24" OC... No prob..I figure the 23"W stuff is comparable price wise...nope, comes out to $0.88 a sq/ft

I've already installed my floor in the attic space and because of some framing I had to do for the garage doors, at least one or 2 stud bays will need to be rolled in prior to me strapping the underside. THEN, I can debate blowing in the rest...was gonna ask you guys in another post the feasibility of blowing into an area already sheathed on both sides...Anywho, so my thought was to take advantage of the screamin deal on the 15" roll, and just riping an 8" strip and installing a 15+8" strip.. I know theres more labor involved, but how about performance?

For the sake of numbers...at that sale price on the rolls, even blowing in is more expensive..
Blowing in Fiberglass: $0.48 sq/ft
Blown in Cellulose: $0.56

 

[L5wolvesf]

If you split the 15” for an 8”, (23” wide). You will have a waste strip of 7”. Does that offset the difference in cost?

If you split the 15” in half you get 7.5”, which makes it 22.5” wide. You will have gaps on one side of the rafter.

L

 

[Spudland_Dave]

If you split the 15” for an 8”, (23” wide). You will have a waste strip of 7”. Does that offset the difference in cost?

If you split the 15” in half you get 7.5”, which makes it 22.5” wide. You will have gaps on one side of the rafter.

L

I wouldnt do the entire garage with it, I think I'd like to do the 12' wide section where the attic floor is already on...But there are some nooks & crannies where I could stuff the 7" "Waste"...heck as I'm typing I'm thinkin...I could just lay all the "waste" strips in some truss "cavities" and blow fiberglass over it when the time comes no?

 

[Falcon67]

Depends on how much you need to do. Slicing a few batts isn't a big deal, but it gets old quick. And hard to cut on a straight line. That's R-13. I would not even mess with R-30, I'd just buy what fit and get on with it. My time is worth something and the hassle of cutting and fitting some thick insulation would make it not worth it to me, personally.

 

[nwav8tor]

If you split the 15” for an 8”, (23” wide). You will have a waste strip of 7”. Does that offset the difference in cost?

If you split the 15” in half you get 7.5”, which makes it 22.5” wide. You will have gaps on one side of the rafter.

L

With 24" OC trusses, each bay is only 22.5" wide between the trusses (need to subtract out the width of the truss from the OC spacing). Therefore, splitting one roll of 15" insulation would be able to pair with 2 full-width rolls with no waste...

Personally, I wouldn't bother. I'd just buy the proper width.

Paul

 

[Coloradotrailrider]

Funny that you should ask because this is exactly what I have started insulating with in my garage attic with 24" OC trusses. Its going in fine for me, a little extra work sure but the price difference is worth it to me. I try and save where I can within reason.

 

[Burtonrider10022]

$11.87 is the regular, everyday price for R-30 15" at Home Depot. Can you wait for a good sale? You should have done this while they were still accepting $50 off $100 coupons...

 

[Spudland_Dave]

$11.87 is the regular, everyday price for R-30 15" at Home Depot. Can you wait for a good sale? You should have done this while they were still accepting $50 off $100 coupons...

For some areas, ya I can wait...for others not really. How much less will it be?

As for if its worth it...To go "correctly sized" width means .88 a sq/ft where the 15" wide = 38 cents a square foot.
On 1500 Sq/ft thats a price difference of $750.00....translating to something the wife understands, if I take the time cutting & piecing the insulation together, I can do the cieling sheetrock for "free".

 

[DMARSHALL]

Thats the same problem i was having my walls and trusses are 24 oc after going to lowes and homedpot i called a supply house here in town and the price was almost 1/2 the price 1000 sf of r30 faced and 500 sf of r 19 $750.00 out the door. Glad i called around.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Thats the same problem i was having my walls and trusses are 24 oc after going to lowes and homedpot i called a supply house here in town and the price was almost 1/2 the price 1000 sf of r30 faced and 500 sf of r 19 $750.00 out the door. Glad i called around.

$0.50/sq ft for R30 isnt bad at all...
I called my building supply...Got 14 bundles of R38 23" wide Kraft Faced for $.30 a sq/ft, and scored 32 sheets of 54"x144" 1/2" Drywall for 3.00 a sheet...
Things are going much faster & cheaper then I had planned on.

I missed out getting enough R38 to do the entire attic, so I'll just do the cut & splice R30 on the balance.

 

[JakeKohl]

Lowes has the 15"W R-30 Attic & Ceiling insulation for 11.87 a roll, which translates to $0.38 a sq/ft
Problem is, trusses are framed 24" OC... No prob..I figure the 23"W stuff is comparable price wise...nope, comes out to $0.88 a sq/ft

I've already installed my floor in the attic space and because of some framing I had to do for the garage doors, at least one or 2 stud bays will need to be rolled in prior to me strapping the underside. THEN, I can debate blowing in the rest...was gonna ask you guys in another post the feasibility of blowing into an area already sheathed on both sides...Anywho, so my thought was to take advantage of the screamin deal on the 15" roll, and just riping an 8" strip and installing a 15+8" strip.. I know theres more labor involved, but how about performance?

For the sake of numbers...at that sale price on the rolls, even blowing in is more expensive..
Blowing in Fiberglass: $0.48 sq/ft
Blown in Cellulose: $0.56

Get contractor quotes before you buy anything regarding insulation! I've found that contractor pricing (installed) was very very close to the price of buying it and installing it myself. It was a nobrainer to write that check.

 

[DirtRoad]

My trusses are also 24" oc. I was shocked when i seen 23" wide insulation was in some cases three times the cost of 15" wide insulation.

 

[Jrican]

Go to the PRO Desk at Home Depot with a list of everything you still need, (insulation, Drywall, screws, staples, mud, the works). If the total is over $2,500 they can get the prices adjusted. Some times it's a huge savings, sometimes not, but it is worth your time. I'm sure other retailers do the same.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Get contractor quotes before you buy anything regarding insulation! I've found that contractor pricing (installed) was very very close to the price of buying it and installing it myself. It was a nobrainer to write that check.

Nah, I'd prefer to pay more and do it myself if thats what it takes. NOTHING in this world is cheaper when you pay someone else to do it. Period. I cant see how they can buy it, install it and be cheaper.
Sure it may not "Cost as much dollars" now, but i'll probably end up with shoddy work, etc. Doing it myself, if it takes me 2 days to insulate a single 30' long truss cavity, it will be done right and I'll sleep great at night knowing its perfect.

All that being said, its too late now. I've got 700+/- sq/ft of R38 which will be delivered tomorrow AM along with my sheetrock.

 

[Coloradotrailrider]

but i'll probably end up with shoddy work, etc. Doing it myself, if it takes me 2 days to insulate a single 30' long truss cavity, it will be done right and I'll sleep great at night knowing its perfect

I couldn't agree more, I'm tired of peoples workmanship these days. I would rather take the time to make sure the insulation is tucked under and over obstructions and wiring without being compressed or having air gaps under it, resulting in lost R value.

I just have 600 sq ft I'm currently insulating with the R30 15" wide. Blown in insulation and machine rental couldn't compete with the R30 roll pricing either.

 

[kert]

Nah, I'd prefer to pay more and do it myself if thats what it takes. NOTHING in this world is cheaper when you pay someone else to do it. Period. I cant see how they can buy it, install it and be cheaper.
Sure it may not "Cost as much dollars" now, but i'll probably end up with shoddy work, etc. Doing it myself, if it takes me 2 days to insulate a single 30' long truss cavity, it will be done right and I'll sleep great at night knowing its perfect.

All that being said, its too late now. I've got 700+/- sq/ft of R38 which will be delivered tomorrow AM along with my sheetrock.

I think if I hired a contractor who spliced 15" insulation to fill a 23" space, I'd be complaining about his shoddy work. No offense.

 

[nwav8tor]

I think if I hired a contractor who spliced 15" insulation to fill a 23" space, I'd be complaining about his shoddy work. No offense.

Touche!!!

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I think if I hired a contractor who spliced 15" insulation to fill a 23" space, I'd be complaining about his shoddy work. No offense.

As would I...

BUT I could counter that with... A shoddy done job installing 23" batts would probably still be worse performance wise then a perfectly done splicing job. Added to that, if you paid someone to come in and insulate & sheetrock, how would you even know if thats not what he did? or if he blew in enough where it doesnt show..etc..Thats my problem with paying people. No sense of pride in their work, only want to bang it out to see the check.

If I were insulating my house, I wouldnt even be debating this. "Cost is no issue" on a house because you'll get it back in short time here in Maine... I'm insuating a garage/shop which will only be heated when I'm working in it.....and even then, 50 degrees will probably be as high as I'd go. Thats why I hate to be spending 1.00 a sq/ft and such..

 

[JakeKohl]

Nah, I'd prefer to pay more and do it myself if thats what it takes. NOTHING in this world is cheaper when you pay someone else to do it. Period. I cant see how they can buy it, install it and be cheaper.
Sure it may not "Cost as much dollars" now, but i'll probably end up with shoddy work, etc. Doing it myself, if it takes me 2 days to insulate a single 30' long truss cavity, it will be done right and I'll sleep great at night knowing its perfect.

All that being said, its too late now. I've got 700+/- sq/ft of R38 which will be delivered tomorrow AM along with my sheetrock.

You must be under 30. I used to be that way. I've since realized that my time is important to me so I hire what I can (especially the easy stuff like insulation) and I supervise and become "that guy" to these contractors to make sure it's done right. I then grin when stuff is done right and in about 1/10th the time it would have taken me to do it myself. If you ask them intelligent questions, you'll quickly weed out the posers. There are professionals out there that are very good at what they do and ~gasp~ may know more about it than many of us (like how to insulate 24oc). I'm just saying that you might be surprised if you got a couple of quotes and are picky about the contractor. I know I was.

I had my entire 1800 sq ft two story garage (upstairs, downstairs, attic, and between the floors) insulated with blown in cellulose for about $300 more than it was going to cost me to put in fiberglass bats. I ended up with a much better insulation that was installed very well.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Over the weekend we met up with one of her friends who's husband is a builder and he pointed something out that was way too obvious for me to think about, LOL...24" wide batt = 48" long so by virtue of using batts, i'll end up with all kinds of seams anyways. He said they splice all the time. Also gave me some tips on how to rip the entire roll down in 5 mins.
So would a professional know to use "correct width insulation" it can be debated..

 

[Coloradotrailrider]

Over the weekend we met up with one of her friends who's husband is a builder and he pointed something out that was way too obvious for me to think about, LOL...24" wide batt = 48" long so by virtue of using batts, i'll end up with all kinds of seams anyways. He said they splice all the time. Also gave me some tips on how to rip the entire roll down in 5 mins.
So would a professional know to use "correct width insulation" it can be debated..

Thats kinda what I was thinking. After all is said and done I now have the exact same R30 value and end result as using any other shape insulation, period. So if someone wants to pay more, go for it.

The end result is a substantial cost savings with the 15" wide rolls with a little extra labor, well worth it in my opinion.

 

[hmbemis]

Fiberglass is air porous, so the seams, as long as they are tight, don't seem like a big deal...

If these are faced, I'd tape every seam.

That said... I hated having to cut the length of the 8' tall batts I bought--I had to contend with the fact that my overzealous carpenter friend liked to double up on studs here and there to make drywalling easier, but resulting in the bay being 1.5" narrower than the batts... Even w/ the trick of using a 2x4 as a straight edge to stop it down and cut a clean line I still ended up tearing the FG and generally having ratty edges.

If I could spend a little more and not worry about the width of the majority I was laying down, I would.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

If I could spend a little more and not worry about the width of the majority I was laying down, I would.

Oh same here...key word being "little" more... Difference is $0.50 a sq/ft, which equates to $750.00. $750.00 is more the a little bit more.

 

[Imcrazy]

Also gave me some tips on how to rip the entire roll down in 5 mins.

Ok, you've got my curiosity here. What are the tips to rip the entire roll in 5 mins?

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Ok, you've got my curiosity here. What are the tips to rip the entire roll in 5 mins?

Leave the entire roll intact as purchased. Then using a Serrated Bread knife (longest you can find) have at the roll...Said you can pretty much slice all the way around the diameter and have not much left to slice inside...once done around the perimeter you can open it up enough to get your hand & knife in there to finish it off...voila, "factory" quality cut down the entire roll length.

Of course, this assumes you'll need the entire roll ripped in half, as I would. And he said it works best on ROLLED insulation, not batts as the batts arent packed tight enough and when you start slicing batts, they bust open by themselves. The roll will stay tight the whole time.

 

[Coloradotrailrider]

Great idea, thanks for sharing. I'm not done yet so I will give that a try.