Is it possible to put blown insulation into the walls by hand (no insulation blower) through the holes?

Question

the previous owners of the house left the holes in the wall and bags of Roxell blown insulation all over the house. They had to foreclose before it was blown in. Do I really need to rent a blower or can I raise the kids allowance and get them to stuff the holes? (of course they will be wearing protective clothes and their in their teens)

Answer 1

you need a blower to do it properly..you are not just filling the holes - you are filling the area between the holes so that the whole wall is full(8 ft high by 16 or 24 inch wide sections(blown is not really the best for walls as it will settle down over time leaving a half full wall.. batts are better.
You can trade the blown bags for batts from the insulation companys(generally) You may be able to get the blower from there too.
Proper way is to open the wall and put in batts and then a vapor barrier and then drywall and paint. Done. It is not that hard, just lots of manual labor work. Insulation works for summer(keeping the house cool) as it works for winter(keeping the house warm).
And you can do it in sections (Wall by wall room by room.)Teens are perfect. Legal laborers.
And you are only worried about outside walls for insulation - so one or two walls in a room.
That way, you can catch internal wall rot or leaks from the outside.

Answer 2

I have never heard of anything like that before, but I imagine it would take a long time to do it by hand, even if you have a lot of kids. If you use a machine it depends on how big the holes are and where they are located at on the wall. then you have to figure in the wiring and plumbing, when the insulation is being blown in it will probably get hung up on those items in the wall and keep piling up there and not be evenly dispersed. Also if you do venture to use a machine think about putting smaller holes for the air, NOT the insulation to escape. otherwise depending on the power of the machine you could pop lose some drywall screws...maybe. In an attic it is all open so not a problem there. Nothing ventured nothing gained. :)

Answer 3

Good Day

Use a blower And you will need to drill holes in several places on the exterior, up and down the siding./ There could be cross bracing in the wall and that would only let the insulation fill that area. The area above and below will have no insulation.

Answer 4

I definitely wouldn't have your kids do it, even with protective gloves....if there is fiberglass in the insulation it's as bad as asbestos for them to breathe....definitely wear protection for hands, skin and face however you do it. You could try to rig a blower with a shop vac that has a blow out setting, could be kind of fun to try to figure out how to make it work. But rent the blower, much cheaper than potential hospital bills. I am also thinking that stuffing the holes by hand you probably wouldn't be able to disperse the insulation as well as a blower could.

Answer 5

You could spend all year putting the insulation in one handful at a time, or break down and rent the blower and have it done in a day. Your choice.

Answer 6

Hecccck No!.. You could use the most common tool around and it ain't no blower either.. Its called a straw.. first you gots to fill your mouth with here insulation then put your lips together and give one of those good ole puffs.. but don't swallow after wards even if you get that urge cause your mouth may be dry and itchy....Good Luck wit your straw blown insulation. Lol, Lol...

Answer 7

You need a blower. The stuff is really too dense to do anything w/ otherwise.

However, I borrowed my blower (no charge) from the local hardware store -- they even let me keep if for a week or so.