our little corner of the world: where's the beef?

where's the beef?

One of the projects on our homeowner to-do list was to beef up the insulation in our attic. From what we can tell, our home has had just one little layer of padding over the past 50 years separating the outdoor temperatures of the attic from its occupants below. Not good enough, we said! Our heat shouldn't be running so often; our energy bills shouldn't be so high! So after much debate and research (and resolve from my great husband), we made the effort to blow in lots and lots of cellulose insulation. Forty bags, to be exact.

Scott was amazing, facing what I now believe to be every homeowners most dreaded task. Our attic in particular is quite cramped, as the pitch of our roof is so flat. Scott, however, maneuvered the beams and joists, never once sticking his Dutch feet through the drywall (read: making a hole in our ceiling below). The poor guy was up there for hours discovering eaten mice bait, Christmas ornaments circa 1970, and a rather large roof antennae among the dust and cobwebs. Meanwhile, I fed the bales of cellulose into the hopper outside in the sunny front yard. Still a rather messy job, but not quite what Scott endured.

While we did enjoy a substantial savings from doing the project ourselves, it's more than safe to say that neither of us enjoyed the project. The job wasn't exactly easy, and will never provide a visual high at every glance the way a newly painted wall might.

In the end, however, we know that this was a task worth completing. The R-Value has jumped from just eleven to 41. And we hope to see fruits of our labor in the dead of winter when the heat in our home will actually stay put.

This cute photo from Lowe's website is a dream compared to our project. Look at the great light, the ease with which this model is standing, the perspiration-free clothes and not a hint of dust!