Attic

Now that the electric work is done I am moving forward with the final insulation.  Many of the wires are ran through the attic and I did not want to bury them in insulation. I found someone to help me with installing the insulation.  I have enough material to do behind the knee wall.  That is where I need the help as I am too large to get behind the knee wall and crawl around there.  When we tore out the ceiling a mountain of blow in cellulose insulation fell down.  It was a terrible mess; animals had been living and dying in it when the house was abandoned.  There were signs of racoons and by signs I mean pile of racoon poop.  The previous owners put mouse poison up there which led to many mouse skeletons.  We have cats so hopefully they will control the mouse population.  It is much cleaner up there now as I removed as much of the old mess as I could.  Jim worked with me for a day on that where we swept and shoveled it into bags.  Between that and what Paul helped me clean up off the floor we must have had enough to fill a 20 yard dumpster.  Recently I have been cleaning up the finer dust and the nooks and crannies with a shopvac.  The new insulation is r19 fiberglass between the ceiling joists with unfaced r30 laid across the top.  According to the United States Department of Energy, which creates no energy, recommends r38 to r60 for my region.  My attic will have around r49 with both layers.  I am looking forward to having a more energy efficient house.