On Jan 20, 1:59*pm, (David Combs) wrote:
Am a bit confused about how one does insulation in the
attic. *I read here that for some attics, you insulate
the roof, and for other types, you do the floor.

Something to do with whether or not it's vented, I think.

Our house, 2-story (storey?), roughly 1940 or 35, has, we
believe, very little insulation.

I've heard that if the attic is all buttoned up, no air
from the outside flowing through, in THAT case one
insulates the roof -- between the rafters.

And, if there is flow, eg via soffits, then you do the
floor.

Is that true? * and WHY the "rule"

Our attic has NO soffits -- but it does have an attic fan,
maybe a yard in diameter (the circle made by the blades),
with louvers to the outside (fan blowing air out opens
the louvers).

Now, I had mentioned to a self-employed light-construction
guy that I was interested in maybe insulating the house (at THAT
time oil was 100 a barrel or so!)

And he said his brother did insulation.

So, just 30 minutes ago, unannounced, they rang the doorbell.

The brother went up into the attic (roughly 15 by 8 yards in area,
via my stepping it off), and came down and said he could do
it for $12,000. *(I had seen a show on the history channel's
modern marvels titled "insulation" -- how they made the stuff, etc
etc, and 10 min on doing a house -- sure looked easy nailing
that stuff up between the rafters (with plastic air channel
between it and the wood, avoiding moisture, etc)), so that
sure seemed a lot to me, and I said so.

He then said that he could do it, if we did it RIGHT NOW, for
10K$. *Still too much, I said.

Then he said that his men weren't busy this week, and that if
we did it RIGHT NOW (ie tomorrow, for maybe 4 or 5 days work)
he could do it for $8,500.

--------------------

Not considering the quality of his work (who KNOWS what it
might be!), are those dollar figures in the "ballpark"?

And, is his statement that you do the roof, not the floor,
correct?

(man, that tv show made it look easy!)

But he said it's a LOT of work -- no, you don't staple
it up, nor those plastic air-flow things -- you must
SCREW THEM IN, CAREFULLY. * etc.

It's my wife's house, and she'll be back from work in
three or so hours -- what, from you guys, do I suggest
to her? *

Haven't had time to get alternate bids yet -- will try to
do it via phone-only, asking for any wild-assed guess
they might have.

THANKS FOR WHATEVER YOU CAN COME UP WITH, advice, info,
etc.

DAVID

(PS: re those windshield wipers, bosh site says that theydon't nave
them for ford focus 2000. *But another site says they do! *Confused!)

As a number of people have pointed out, the estimate appears to be way
way too high. Insulation is not that expensive and not that difficult
to install. And almost always it should be installed on the floor of
the attic (between the joists, and/or on the floor if it is floored)
not up by the rafters. The rafter installation is only if the attic
is occupied (you've got a bedroom or office or something up there)
(which by the way is usually against some kind of local code).

A couple other points - (1) it sounds like you've never been up
there. You should go up there and carefully look around. Even if you
don't venture beyond standing on a ladder with your head in the attic,
you will learn something by looking and seeing what is already there.
That knowledge can be helpful when researching the project and talking
to contractors about it. For example it would be good to know how much
insulation is already there. (2) The way this unfolded should be a
lesson. The fact that the person kept dropping the price and urging a
quick decision should raise a red flag. A big red flag. Find ways to
get reputable people with references when having work done on your
home. (3) The attic should have some kind of ventilation besides that
fan; for the fan to effectively move air, the air has to come from (or
go) somewhere. Is there a vent at the other end of the attic from the
fan? Are there any "mushroom" type vents that stick up from the
roof? If there really is no venting, that should be corrected in
addition to having the insulation added. Good luck -- H