To cut insulation, I use either a snap-off utility knife with the blade
extended about as far as it will go, or for other types of insulation I have
found that a very large (12") pair of scissors are good, I have even used a
sharp pair of hedge shears to trim insulation.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
Now that I have all the wiring done in my basement I'm installing
insulation in the walls. It's pretty straightforward but there are a
couple of things I wanted to know.

None of the studs in my walls are evenly spaced. I think one section is
actually a standard space apart ( whatever that is, 24" or something), the
rest are too close together and one is about 1.5 times wider than normal.
This is due to the cross beam placement in the ceiling I suspose. How do
I know it's too close together - when installing the insulation I have to
bunch it up in the space. Is that a bad thing to do? Right now its all
scrunched up in there, nothing too tight, but definitely compressed to
some degree.

When working insulation around boxes, should I cut the insulation short of
the box, then mold a bottom piece of insulation to fit around the box, and
continue down the wall? I have a notion of just shoving it in there, but
I've been warned about hotspots by doing that.

Lastly, in some sections I have romex running down the stud from the
ceiling to outlet boxes and such. Should I do anything with the
insulation along the stud where the Romex is routed?

One other thing, is it easier to work with insulation with a pair of
scissors or a cutter? I'm using a cutter, but I notice that while the
paper is cut evenly, the insulation is typically raggedy. The pink stuff
isn't the best medium for a box cutter.