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After much research here, I finally wrestled dense pack cellulose in 2×6 walls totalling about 3000 sq ft. I used the 1/4″ netting glued to the stud face. My observations:
1. Boring
2. Messy
3. Boring
4. Messy
5. Hard on a marriage when helper is wife
6. Very nice final product
I am extremely happy with these walls. I used a 2″ hose bottled down from a 3″ hose. I ended cutting slits in the netting every 2 or 3 vertical feet. I averaged over 3 lbs/cubic ft. Quite firm when you push it. Very little bowing out; the drywallers even like it. Gluing the mesh was quite effective and not too time consuming. I had a double wall in the basement and stapled to the exterior wall; an incredible amount of bowing where stapled. Happy but glad it is over.
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Montana, Good for you!! Glad you got a good final result. Just a few comments.... I think you would have had a much better experience and a less messy one, if you would have had a better blower. That really makes all the difference. You should not have to make three slits in an 8' wall cavity. One works perfectly. You never need to remove the hose from the wall, just rotate it. That's where the majority of your mess comes from. A real powerful blower will allow you to easily pack up to 4# /cu.ft. without adding much air (which creates the mess) I'm sure you got a good job and I admire you for trying something different. Good luck!
*LaLonde:Your longstanding feedback was quite helpful. Thanks.Your response made me wonder if you were looking over my shoulder. The blower was a problem, but in the close-minded northwest, I needed to take what I could find. People here think I am insane. So does my wife.The learning curve for a novice was a little bit discouraging, but again I am quite happy with the final result.
*Don't worry....I've been doing this for a long time. Your wife will forget about this within a year or two and you won't hear of it again except for the praises of the warm , draft free new home!! It must be pretty brutal out in your part of the country about now.....
*You both think the net is better than using the drywall? I appreciate your insights.
*Bill, Using the mesh is foolproof and fast. If you've got a good blower, you can fill a standard 8' 2x6 stud cavity in about 45 seconds . I come out to almost exactly 4# / cu. ft. the way I do it. You can see to move the hose exactly where it has to go to fill around boxes, wires, pipes, etc. Blowing behind drywall is a fine line between not getting enough material in the cavity and blowing the drywall off of the wall. I've tried both and much prefer the mesh. When I'm done with a job, I know exactly how much cels are in the cavity and I'm sure there are no voids anywhere. This is a good DIY project if you enjoy working on your own house and saving some money.
*G.,The mesh method sounds great, especially since my inspector is not happy about drywall before insulation. I was hoping you could provide some more details: Manufacturer, type and cost of the mesh; same info on the glue and your method of installing the mesh. How do you make sure it's tight enough? At 4lbs/ft how much does it push the mesh out? If these details have been discussed before, I'll apologize in advance and thank you for your patience. I did a search, but only turned up this thread.Jerry
*Jerry, This has been the subject of much discussion here. You should be able to find lots of info in the cellulose discussions. For the particulars, look up Regal Industries in Indiana ( They are easy to find on the search engines). I believe they even have a video out now on how to do this. They can answer any question you may have on product availability, price etc. in your area.
*In my research, Regal has best prices on the fabric mesh.
*G. LaLonde.. .. i drew a blank trying to find the web site for regal industries..how about a web site address.. or even better a link..if you go to the website..do a "copy" of the location bar.. then just "paste "it into a post here..would appreciate it.. Mike
*Mike,Best I could do was this: Regal Industries9564 East 600, SouthCrothersville, IN 47229Contact: Tim CambellPhone: 812 793-2214Fax: 812 793-3432It was in a list of purveyors of cellulose on an EPA web site.Steve
*Mike, Sorry bout that.......Steve does have the right info posted
*http://www.regalind.com/
*Montanna. Interesting to hear about your gliuing the VDR to the studs. I talked to Richard Munson of ParPac about the gluing. He said he used it for a while--glue made by 3M--but abandonded it because it was temperature dependent. Went back to face stitching. GeneL.
*Gene, This is 1/4" nylon open mesh. You glue it with a light construction adhesive like PL 200. You staple it to the stud , run a bead of adhesive down the middle, and smooth it with a putty knife dipped in mineral spirits. Pretty hard to screw that up!
*g.lalonde... did i read that right ?do you glue the stud, apply the mesh, and then staple ? or just as you posted it..also... you're about as far from indiana as me (RI).. do you just buy the mesh from Regal Industries ?what kind of prices do you pay ? have you found the mesh anyplace else other than Regal ?
*Mike, My best friend is a major reseller of Regal products. I get everything through him, but many times have had to deal directly with them to arrange shipments etc. You can deal with them directly. They have their own fleet that delivers or they ship mesh etc. by UPS. You could use any type of blow-in cellulose but they supply the blowers and I have never seen a better blower. We have over 20 of them available with all different setups.The mesh comes in 8' widths and costs about 10 cents a square foot. You staple and stretch it onto the wall and then run a bead of construction adhesive down the center of the vertical studs (only) after it is stapled. The purpose of this is not only to hold the mesh onto the wall tightly, but to prevent cels from getting between the face of the stud and the mesh. I have a one quart air gun for applying the adhesive and your helper follows immediately behind you to smooth it out. This mesh is very strong and once it's glued to the stud faces it will take quite a lot of force from the blower. And believe me, these blowers put out the material in a hurry. You work up a sweat keeping up with them. I might add...I'm not saying this method is going to replace fiberglass in the building industry. It's still much faster to do a 1/2 a**ed fiberglass job and most contractors probably will continue to do so. I personally have not put a piece of fiberglass insulation in a house in many years. But if you want to do a superior job on a home and do it yourself, this is the way to go.We do all of his installs as a side business. We go through about a semi load of cels a week. It's an alternative to both fiberglass and wet blowing cels.
*g.lalonde..ordered a roll of the 1/4 mesh today (250 x 8 ft)and bought an air-powered caulk gun...the caulk-gun is english with variable air-pressure regulator..where has this been all my life...?i'll let you know how we make out with the mesh.. they were pushing the Insul-mesh .. i guess that is the perforated material that you can't see thru.. so i took your advice and bought the old style.. time will tell..
*Mike, Just saw this....It's 6 am, gotta run...will post a few tips tonight
*Better late than never.....The mesh comes folded in thirds, so it's easy to cut to approximate length. It's very important to keep it straight and aligned with the framing or you will get wrinkles or soft spots. We always use two men/women to install the mesh... one to stretch and one to staple. This works very well. Staple about 8 or 10 feet evenly across the top and then pull (hard) straight down along the face of the stud and staple. Don't try to pull and staple more than 2 or 3 feet at a time. Work down diagonally from the stud where you started. A little practice and it should be very tight and even before you apply the construction adhesive.Be generous with the staples.Your air gun will save you lots of time and make the job easier. Make sure you use a big enough bead to cover the ENTIRE face of the vertical studs when it is flattened. Follow up immediately with a putty knife dipped frequently in mineral spirits.A good blower will make all the difference in your results. We set up in one place and do the whole house to minimize mess in other areas. I prefer to use a 2 1/2" hose on the last 10' because it's easier to maneuver. Try to use as little air as possible and you won't make much of a mess. Cut a piece of plywood about 20"x 24" and hold it against the bottom of the stud cavity with your foot when you first start to fill it. This will minimize blowout and mess. Keep the end of the hose buried as you go up. We use 1 slit about 5' off the floor as an entry point. When you get to that point, just rotate the hose and move up to complete the fill. We use a helper with a remote blower switch who stands beside the person handling the hose. When he sees it's the proper time to shut the blower off, he does so and then the hose is pulled out. It's hard for one person to control hose and blower without making a mess.Pack it as tight as the machine wants to go. This should give you the right density. Push on the mesh after the cavity is filled to make sure it is packed in behind the face of the studs and doesn't interfere with the drywallers. Good luck!! Let us know how you made out!!
*g.lalonde... we're getting trusses delivered tuesady .. so we're still a ways off on the insulation..but i'll let you know what happens...in the meantime.. the air-powered caulking gun is doing yeoman duty on the advantech decking....this is the first time we've used anything other than 3/4 T&G, P&TS fir....
*Mike, Nice heh! Don't have to bend over, get sore hand etc....I am going to be able to get Advantech for the first time this spring. I am very interested in what you think of it because I think it sounds like the solution to a lot of our problems. Keep us posted.
*
After much research here, I finally wrestled dense pack cellulose in 2x6 walls totalling about 3000 sq ft. I used the 1/4" netting glued to the stud face. My observations:
1. Boring
2. Messy
3. Boring
4. Messy
5. Hard on a marriage when helper is wife
6. Very nice final product
I am extremely happy with these walls. I used a 2" hose bottled down from a 3" hose. I ended cutting slits in the netting every 2 or 3 vertical feet. I averaged over 3 lbs/cubic ft. Quite firm when you push it. Very little bowing out; the drywallers even like it. Gluing the mesh was quite effective and not too time consuming. I had a double wall in the basement and stapled to the exterior wall; an incredible amount of bowing where stapled. Happy but glad it is over.