Looking for some opinions/experiences with replacing/upgrading attic insulation...
A little background for some context.
We moved into the house last June. The home was built in the mid-70s. Initial inspection of the home didn't raise any concerns about the attic insulation. Comment was that the insulation was acceptable (somewhere in the R20 range). This winter, we had some fairly large ice damming. We use propane for heating (suplementing with wood) and we were burning through it more quickly than I had anticipated. We also have ~40 canned lights throughout the house. This lead me down the path of researching attics, insulation, air sealing, etc, etc.. Bottom line is that we need to address the attic by properly air sealing it and upgrading the insulation.
I've had several contractors out to get an idea on pricing for air sealing the attic and adding/replacing the insulation and getting it up to R50. We have ~6 in of chopped fiberglass up there now. On contractor stated that in order to properly air seal the attic, it would be best to completely remove all the existing insulation, air seal and then blow in new insulation. The other contractor stated that we wouldn't HAVE to remove the old insulation and that he could work around it to do the air sealing. Then blow in insulation on top of existing. The difference in price between completely removing the insulation and leaving it there is about $2000.
Soooooo, here's where I'm looking for opinions and experience. Should we completely remove the old insulation or am I just wasting $2K by doing that? My concern would be around how good of an air sealing job they could by just pushing the old insulation aside. My gut tells me to bite the bullet and start with from scratch by removing the old insulation, properly air sealing and blowing in new insulation.
TIA
A little background for some context.
We moved into the house last June. The home was built in the mid-70s. Initial inspection of the home didn't raise any concerns about the attic insulation. Comment was that the insulation was acceptable (somewhere in the R20 range). This winter, we had some fairly large ice damming. We use propane for heating (suplementing with wood) and we were burning through it more quickly than I had anticipated. We also have ~40 canned lights throughout the house. This lead me down the path of researching attics, insulation, air sealing, etc, etc.. Bottom line is that we need to address the attic by properly air sealing it and upgrading the insulation.
I've had several contractors out to get an idea on pricing for air sealing the attic and adding/replacing the insulation and getting it up to R50. We have ~6 in of chopped fiberglass up there now. On contractor stated that in order to properly air seal the attic, it would be best to completely remove all the existing insulation, air seal and then blow in new insulation. The other contractor stated that we wouldn't HAVE to remove the old insulation and that he could work around it to do the air sealing. Then blow in insulation on top of existing. The difference in price between completely removing the insulation and leaving it there is about $2000.
Soooooo, here's where I'm looking for opinions and experience. Should we completely remove the old insulation or am I just wasting $2K by doing that? My concern would be around how good of an air sealing job they could by just pushing the old insulation aside. My gut tells me to bite the bullet and start with from scratch by removing the old insulation, properly air sealing and blowing in new insulation.
TIA