Interested in saving some money this year in heating and cooling bills? That's a stupid question is not it? A good way to save money on that is getting insulation put in your attic. Before we do this although we want to make sure that every thinks is to code and that the right permits are dropped. Now that that is done you want to make sure that you have the right tools to do the job. Make sure that you have full body covering unless you like the feel of fiberglass. A utility knife a straight edge to help push down the insulation when cutting, the material to do the job is a good thing to have too. Another good thing to have is some wire mesh to keep the insulation away from anything that gives off heat and cause a fire. Oh and some sort of light would be nice too.
As for material you're going to need either fiberglass insulation of blown in insulation, and rafter vents (except there already in the attic). Now for the material that you want to use fiberglass or blown in, it's up to you about that just that fiberglass is a bit more economic. The blown in insulation needs a machine that blows all the insulation in the attic and may need a second person to insert the insulation into the machine. Here we are going to talk about the fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass insulation is 31/2 – 6 inches thick 16 or 24 inches wide and about 8ft long.
When dealing with insulation you're going to come across a term called R-value. The R-value is the resistance to heat flow. The more the R-value the less heat that transfers from hot to cold. Mainly to get an R-value of 38 takes about 10 -14 inches of insulation. Usually you're going to want to have two layers if you are redoing all the insulation. You might just want to add one layer if you a leaving the original insulation.
First you're going to want to put the late vents in so that when you insulate that you do not prevent the flow of air in the attic. Then when rolling out it out you want to make sure that the foil or paper is facing towards the heated area, and that you are following the ceiling joists. Be sure not to puncture the paper that is on the insulation. When rolling this out you want to make sure that when you come to electrical or pluming you back cut the insulation so that the paper can still be facing the heated area. Now when you come to an object that extrudes heat you want to make sure that you stay away from them about 3 inches so fire does not break out. You can use wire mesh or the like to keep it away. When cutting it you want to make sure that the insulation is about 1-2 inches longer so that you can insure a snug fit.
Now that you have the one layer in it's a good idea to put in a second layer. You're going to want to lay the second perpendicular to the layer before. All the same rules apply to the second layer except one thing, no foil or paper. Now if you bought a crap load of insulation with the paper on it, that's OK because all you have to do is perforate the paper on the insulation and install it facing the same way that the other insulation is.
Now that everything is laid out and it looks like yours done your going to want to check everything be for you leave the attic. Make sure that none of the venting is blocked so that proper air flow and flow through the attic. Another thing is to make sure that you did not miss any spots and that you covered all the areas needed. A very important thing to remember is to check all the things that produce any heat and make sure that they are not cover in anyway. After that is all said and done there you have it insulated attic and you'll notice those heating a cooling bill fall.