The Wrong Advice

“My contractor told me to stay away from blown insulation”

Over the years I’ve had a lot of homeowners tell me “I don’t want that blown stuff”. When I ask why they feel that way, it’s one of either two reasons, but the thing you have to remember is that not all blown insulation is the same!

For many years blown fiberglass was popularly installed in attics, this material actually clings to your clothing and makes your skin itch for days! Just about any electrician, plumber or contractor who has worked in an attic full of blown fiberglass will preach his words of hate and despise for what he simply refers to as “blown insulation”, but he’s making a big mistake: not all “blown insulation” is made of Fiberglass.
Because Fiberglass is made of glass fibers, it itches, but cellulose does not itch in the least, it’s a soft material and is very easy to work with. Once contractors learn the difference between Fiberglass and Cellulose, as well as understand the many benefits of Cellulose, they tend to prefer and strongly recommend it.

“I had blown insulation in my old home and it settled down to nothing..so I don’t want it again”

Here again Fiberglass is the culprit. Much like the cotton-candy that Fiberglass resembles, blown fiberglass becomes fluffed-up when it’s blown into the attic. Over the course of time, blown fiberglass settles and packs tremendously. To be fair, cellulose insulation can also settle over time, but to a far lesser degree. Today’s cellulose is “stabilized” and actually carries a lifetime guarantee to never settle, pack or lose its insulating qualities. So to address the concern, blown Fiberglass absolutely will settle, but not cellulose.  Again, the same mistake of assuming all blown insulation materials are the same.

1) Most Insulation companies primarily work with new-construction projects that require rolled Fiberglass; the more Fiberglass product they use, the better their purchasing tier and so they tend to promote and use Fiberglass where they can.

2) Blown fiberglass can be “fluffed” and gets amazing coverage, if you can convince customers it’s a good product, it’s much more profitable to work with or you can offer a lower price to get the job.

3) Many companies don’t own the expensive equipment (insulation blowing machine and dedicated truck) to perform the work, so they promote rolled Fiberglass.

​4) Most homeowners are very familiar with Fiberglass, they’ve seen it at Home Improvement stores or at new construction sites, so that familiarity lends towards helping sell it.
In all fairness, there are applications where Fiberglass is a prudent choice: under floors where it can be wired in place, on vertical knee-wall sections in an attic or for new-construction and open-framing situations, but with today’s building trends, Cellulose insulation is more often being used because it’s more effective, more efficient, longer-lasting and safer, it’s just a better product.