For a while, my daughter has been complaining about her room being cold. I figured she's overly sensitive since she is always bundled up anyway, but then my wife also said there is definitely a problem up there. We have hot water heat and she has 2 full walls of baseboard with hot pipes. Windows are a couple years old and sealed tight.

Ther was no place to look but up. I rarely go in the attic, and I was very surprised by what I saw, or more accurately didn't see. There was no insulation over her room! Actually there were just sheets of paper between the joists that used to be the vapor barrier of the insulation that used to be there. Apparently the fiberglas was completely stripped away.

We had a squirrel problem at one time and then it started to make sense. I pulled up some of the attic flooring, and found huge compressed wads of fiberglas along with walnut shells and other assorted goodies. What a mess.

So I had to do an emergency Sunday trip to Homedespot for a load of R30. Then spent the rest of the afternoon stripping out the old junk and laying down the new. The job is about half done and my knees and arms ache.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

amazing how much a difference insulation can make. I've got R40 in my attice but only about R13 in the walls. Sure wish the house had six inch walls.

75% John Daniels and 25% Sweet vermouth on ice.........

From Mr. Manhattan himself!

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I will definitely give it a try!

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I had the exact same problem. We bought a house and I noticed during the winter the heater would run 16 hours a day. I have no attic access, so when I had it reroofed last spring I took a look. There was "insualtion dust" about 1/2" thick, but that was it. I ended up cutting a hole in the closet ceiling so I could get to the attic, and found the mummified remains of a squirrel. I don't know where they took it all, but it was gone.

I ended up paying someone to blow fiberglass in. My gas bill is less than 1/2 of what it was last winter.

Used to manage a condo complex. Got complaints of squirrels in the attic of a fourplex. Crawled up there. Every piece of insulation was stripped from the floor of the attic and piled up in a giant pyramid/nest in the corner. Took forever to get rid of the squirrels. They'd find their way back after live trapping and release 5 miles away. Figured this out after I started spray painting them for identification. 20 miles solved the problem.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Had one in the attic last week. Chewed a hole in the eve vent tucked way up under another roof where I can't reach.

Filled entire 4" x 22" vent with a can of Dow "Big Gap" Spray Foam. Had to duct tape the can to my pruning pole to reach and then tie a pull string to the trigger. Messy, but worked.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Getting rid of squirrels is a PITA. But, we've had this conversation before.

On attic insulation, I've been wondering. Say I have 3 inches of fiberglass insulation and want to add more. My "attic" is unfinished with just some plywood 3 or 4' wide running down the center line of the house. (I live in a single story home.)

Should I just get three additional inches w/o barrier and over lay it above the existing? It will then rise above the ceiling joists some, but that's no big deal. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to overlaying 6 inches instead of three, or is that a waste of money.

Anything I can do to tighten the seal around the pull down ladder cover in the ceiling?

The thicker, the better. Modern standards specify 12" of insulation in really cold climates. The R30 I'm putting in is 9" and thats a couple inches above the joists. I'm gonna build raised storage space by making 4x8 sheets with 2x4 runners to place across the joists so I don't compress the insulation.

For the pulldown, I backed it with foam board and stapled a flexible plastic lip around the edges to keep air from going through.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Thanks, raymr. I'll measure what's up there and go from there. I don't really need storage space, so I don't plan on addding more flooring,( at least as long as I stay single)

At least you homeowners can remedy your poor insulation. I'm in an apartment with lots of single-pane glass. Wall insulation is whatever the (minimum) standard was in this area in the '70s. There's an apartment above mine, so I don't have to worry about attic heat loss.

I turn my heat off when I'm not home and I keep it around 62-68 when I am here. I have electric heat and my last bill (for a one-bedroom) was $76. When I wasn't running heat it was $20.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I would blow it in til it is 16" thick. Fiberglass only. Nothing else in my buildings. 12" minimum.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

So does gumbo.

I thought about that, but I think you then need retainers at the eave ends so the insulation doesn't cover the vents.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma