My house was built in 1979, has blown-in insulation, but not very much of it (comes even with the 2x6 joists in the attic). We're looking at substantially increasing the amount up there, probably this spring. The local home improvement stores both offer free blower rental with the purchase of insulation, so I'm planning to do it myself.
There are a few can lights, all in insulation-approved housings, so that's not an issue. My main questions:
1) The bathroom fans vent into the attic space. At the least, I expect to have to run ducts out of them and up higher to keep them venting into air rather than into insulation. Should I just go ahead and knock a hole in the roof and make a roof vent for these, or is it OK to keep venting into the attic, given that the amount of air space will be substantially reduced?
2) I noticed that the eaves don't seem to be insulated... is that something I need to specifically avoid doing?
3) Also, out by the edges it looks like they tried to keep the insulation from touching the roof itself. Is that something I need to watch for as well? I remember seeing a contractor on HGTV saying something about how there needs to be room for airflow near the roof, but didn't quite catch his whole point, so that's what I'm trying to determine.
4) It's conceivable that I may want to run some more wires in the future for home theater stuff, but now the insulation will be a foot or so above the rafters. Do I just buy some extra and refill the spaces I smush down, or is there a trick that I can use for such things?
Any tips or suggestions you might have would be appreciated.
There are a few can lights, all in insulation-approved housings, so that's not an issue. My main questions:
1) The bathroom fans vent into the attic space. At the least, I expect to have to run ducts out of them and up higher to keep them venting into air rather than into insulation. Should I just go ahead and knock a hole in the roof and make a roof vent for these, or is it OK to keep venting into the attic, given that the amount of air space will be substantially reduced?
2) I noticed that the eaves don't seem to be insulated... is that something I need to specifically avoid doing?
3) Also, out by the edges it looks like they tried to keep the insulation from touching the roof itself. Is that something I need to watch for as well? I remember seeing a contractor on HGTV saying something about how there needs to be room for airflow near the roof, but didn't quite catch his whole point, so that's what I'm trying to determine.
4) It's conceivable that I may want to run some more wires in the future for home theater stuff, but now the insulation will be a foot or so above the rafters. Do I just buy some extra and refill the spaces I smush down, or is there a trick that I can use for such things?
Any tips or suggestions you might have would be appreciated.