Can I insulate my walls from the attic?

Question

This house is 90+ yrs old and it appears that I can look all the way down the wall from the attic. Is is possible to blow insulation from up there instead of drilling holes and having those nasty plugs on the outside wall ?

I don't think this house has fire blocks, as it is 90 yrs. old. I need to drop a a weight and string in and see if it does indeed go down 10-11 feet. The only thing in the walls is what ever plaster was mushed through the laths and hardened. I was thinking that I could feed the hose down the wall and gradually pull up out of the wall as the insulation began to fill the wall up. Any ideas? I don't like the looks of plugs on the outside of a house after this is done. Some rooms, I could do from the inside, except for like the kitchen and where the breaker box is. Any ideas would be great. THANKS.

Answer 1

1st off they should have a plate on top, if not , drop a plumb bob down between each stud. if it goes to the floor, that means they didn't put fire blocks in. then you could do it.

Answer 2

There should be a wood plate on top of the wall studs and below where the rafters join the walls. I'm not sure how they would have built the house without one.

Dropping the plumb bob down the wall will tell you if you have access.

Foaming an enclosed wall is not a good idea, you will not be able to tell if you have too much or too little in an area. Too little is a waste of money and time, and too much will bubble you walls.

Getting insulation to settle into the bottom of an 8 foot or taller wall cavity isn't going to be easy. Usually what happens is it hangs on the plaster knubs inside the wall, nails, etc and you get a half insulated cavity. That's why they drill three holes in the wall. The fill from the middle hole and watchthe bottom hole for the insulation. Then they fill from the top hole and watch the middle hole. They then know if the cavity is filled.

Do it the right way. You will have better results.

Answer 3

Are there nails or other obstructions in the way that would interfere with the proper settling of the insulation? Is the gap wide enough to put in enough insulation?
It is tough insulating old houses. Sometimes it requires some tearing-out.

Answer 4

do it from the attic drill holes in the top plate and blow insulation down in there get the blower from home depot it will take some time but will save you lots in eletric

Answer 5

If you can get enough expanding foam down far enough it would do fine, the problem you might have is getting the foam down quick enough before it sets, but I think it's a very good idea and well worth a try.