Insulate with recycled cellulose: loose laying

Put yourself loose cellulose in attics lost in video (below)

Learn more and give your advice or remarks: laying of cellulose yourself on the forums

Read the preliminary thinking (choice of materials, design and cost) for this installation: choose an insulating: the choice of cellulose wadding?

By obligation, we had no choice but to lay the cellulose in bulk ourselves. Indeed; there was no installer in our area so at a decent price.

The operation turned out to be more painful than expected but is by no means insurmountable…. Provided that 1 dust mask for approximately 20 m² is provided. Details.

First contact with the cotton wool and precautions for use

Here are my general impressions and unfolding of the pose.

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk


The contact is pleasant and the dust is limited

  • The very first contact with cellulose is very pleasant: to the touch it does not irritate the hands and it is very soft (unlike synthetic wools and even hemp which irritates the skin and throat) and no dust when "unpacking" the bags. .
  • This very first pleasant contact will unfortunately not last; cellulose being so compressed that it takes a lot of energy to flocculate it by hand and this creates a lot of dust
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The method of laying by hand is extremely simple: you have to flocculate the compressed cellulose as much as possible. In other words: you have to "break as much as possible" the amats and lumps of cellulose ...

The dust mask is so compulsory.

A 100% manual method that works ... badly

Problem: when we have scattered 2 bags "by hand" and we see the time spent for the volume spread, we start to get a little annoyed, so we use the leaf collector that we had judiciously mounted at the advance (notice the dust after a few tens of minutes of flocking):

manual installation of cellulose insulation in bulk

After 1 hour of manual flocculation, the dust is there but very limited compared to ... the continuation ...

The method works but not that well… the leaf pick-up is too “flexible”… we then try with a rake but it is not much better…

After 5 or 6 bags spread with this purely manual method, we notice that another serious problem will arise: it lacks 20 to 30% of volume compared to what is announced by the manufacturer. Which is quite logical: the manual method does not flocculate enough (lack of air, lack of volume) ...

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We think about the tools we have in the garage that could be used to "flocculate" ...

The electric edger: a compromise… hell!

So we still think about the tools we have in the garage that could be used to "flocculate" ... When we have "well" reflected for 3 bags with your head 5 cm away in the dusty cellulose: we think of the electric "border cutter" ...

insulating yourself in bulk

So we try the adventure and it really works quite well ... well, especially to create dust!

And that's where the hell in the attic begins !! It works just as well for flocculating as it does for creating awful dust!

This method therefore works really well and avoids having to rent an expensive special machine, but you really should not be afraid of dust as shown in the various photos that follow.

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I even wonder if it does not flocculate better than the tools used by professionals because we gain 30 40% of the volume compared to the manual method.

One last thing in terms of timing: count about 1 hour to make 10m² with this method for 25 cm of thickness, working at a sustained pace.

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk

The dust created by the edge cutter is very important, here is a photo taken after 30 seconds of walking: only the tip of the edge cutter is visible on this photo taken at about 3m

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk
Level gauge (approximately 26 cm) it is a simple board that holds itself without problem

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk
After a few hours, we take a few years of age ...

Results of the operation

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk
Western coast "

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk
On the "East" side, on the left a hemp wool panel

laying of cellulose insulation in bulk
View from below! The work is finished, all that remains is to close the hatch!

The video of the laying of the cellulose

Learn more and give your advice or remarks: laying of cellulose yourself on the forums

1 comment on “Insulating with recycled cellulose: loose installation”

  1. Hello,

    I am interested in the method. With hindsight, would you do it again? And did you keep the final settlement in mind? Sag 15-20% like with a machine? thanks in advance

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