How to Insulate Existing Walls

If you're finding that your monthly energy bills are much higher than they should be, then you might not have enough insulation in your walls. Insulation slows heat movement, reduces drafts and overall makes your house more comfortable. While it's easy to make sure your walls have enough insulation when you're building a home, insulating existing walls can be a bit more challenging unless you know how.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hole saw blade
• Electric drill
• Insulation
• Blower
• Rag

1. Get two or three bids before you choose to hire someone to insulate your existing wall. The process of insulating existing walls typically involves blowing in the insulation. A professional can put this sprayed foam or even loose fill into your walls without much disturbance to the finished areas of your home. An experienced crew can do the job in less than a day.

2. Make sure you insulate each space between the studs one at a time, if you're doing blow-in insulation yourself. First, cut a two- or three-inch hole in the wall with a hole saw attached to an electric drill. Cut the holes between each pair of studs as close to the top of the stud space as possible.

3. Attach a blower hose deep into each cavity. You may need to rent this equipment. Be sure to plug the hole around the hose with an old rag to make sure that the insulation doesn't leak out. You'll need to watch carefully as the wall fills up with insulation while a helper controls the mix of cellulose and air.

4. Remove the blower from the hole gradually as the space fills up. Then follow the same steps for the other sections of wall.

Tips & Warnings

• If you cut holes in your walls to blow in insulation, save the cutouts for later wall repairs.