***CRIMSON RED DAILY THREAD***

[2Stater]

Spent the day on renovations of an old house that a friend of mine owns.  Recall the friend with the tornado damage?  Same guy, different house.  We've torn out all of the walls and ceiling, and now are rewiring and putting in new windows.  I'm tired.  Fun day, though.

Anybody know a good way to get rid of all the old insulation (blown-in ancient stuff) from the attic?  It's smelly and needs to go.  We need a giant vacuum.  The shop vac is WAY too small to handle such a job.  Ideas??

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGb8pMIeY6w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGb8pMIeY6w</a>

[SUPERCOACH]

The shop vac would probably work if it had a much bigger canister to collect it in.  I wonder if you could rig the shop vac top part with the motor onto a 55 gallon drum or something.  Or, if you are going to haul it off in a pickup truck, use duck tape to seal the bed at the tailgate corners on the inside.  Then get some cardboard or scrap plywood or something to lay over the top of the bed and seal that off.  Cut out a hole in the plywood to sit the shop vac top part down into, and seal it off with more duck tape.  Then if you can borrow all of your friend's shop vac hoses to make a really long one, you just might be able to suck it right into the pick up truck all in one step.

Just some thoughts.  This is basically the reverse setup from what they use to blow it in there in the first place.

[Chechem]

The shop vac would probably work if it had a much bigger canister to collect it in.  I wonder if you could rig the shop vac top part with the motor onto a 55 gallon drum or something.  Or, if you are going to haul it off in a pickup truck, use duck tape to seal the bed at the tailgate corners on the inside.  Then get some cardboard or scrap plywood or something to lay over the top of the bed and seal that off.  Cut out a hole in the plywood to sit the shop vac top part down into, and seal it off with more duck tape.  Then if you can borrow all of your friend's shop vac hoses to make a really long one, you just might be able to suck it right into the pick up truck all in one step.

Just some thoughts.  This is basically the reverse setup from what they use to blow it in there in the first place.

Thanks, SC.

Problem is the shop vac depends on a vacuum in the canister.  We got a long hose (swimming-pool hose) that reached into the attic, but there seems to be no way to expand the size of the canister and keep the vacuum.  You might be right; a drum may work, but the top of the shop vac includes the mechanism, which must fit securely on something the same size (close for tape to work), and the air must go through the filter... (get the idea?).  We tried several options, but found that a small reduction in hose diameter affected the vacuum too.  I think a large canister wouldn't create a good vacuum.

Maybe I'll google.  I need sleep.

[SUPERCOACH]

Yep, everything would have to be sealed off tight so that the only air flow was through the top part that has the motor, filter, exhaust, etc.  Which might be hard to do.  And then the motor might take a long time to suck enough air out of the bigger canister to create the required vacuum, if it can do it at all.  It is an interesting problem though.  I wonder if the rig they use to blow it in can run in reverse?

Duh... of course it can run in reverse.  Just put the intake part in your attic and use that long hose to blow it out into the truck bed.    Maybe you can rig up the shop vac so that it just sucks it up and puts it into that big intake funnel where they load the insulation so you don't have to scoop it up with a shovel.  Use the intake funnel as the shop vac canister if it is a similar size and you can rig something up to seal it off to create the proper vacuum.  Worst case is you just have to scoop it up with a big snow shovel or something and carry it to the machine.

Also, on the pickup truck idea, I wonder if you could use a really big fan in place of the shop vac.  Seal off the truck bed, then cut out a hole just the right size for your fan.  I'm talking about one of those good fans that move a lot of air that you can get at Lowe's.  Mount the fan on top of the plywood so that it blows up out of the truck bed.  Seal it off pretty good with duck tape to force the air to go through the fan shroud.  Then make a smaller hole that you can connect your hose to, over to the side somewhere on the opposite side of the bed from the fan.  For a filter, just use a cheap furnace filter placed over the hole on the inside where the fan is.  I bet this would work, if you can gather up the pieces to rig it together.

I've been running something similar on my central air conditioner for a couple of months now.  It works great.  The Lowe's fan draws air through the condenser coils to cool off the refrigerant.  I was shocked at how well it worked.  Eventually I will figure out why the original fan doesn't work, but for now this is getting us through the summer and my cooling bill is much lower than it was last year with the weak (ie almost dead) fan that is built into the unit.  The key would be to seal everything off so that the only place where air can come into the bed is through the hole where the hose is attached.

Let us know how you solve this one.

[Chechem]

Wow, SC, you have good ideas.  This old gray insulation isn't the fluffy stuff that you get blown in these days; it's a bit heavy.  It can't be blown easily, and comes up in clumps when vacuumed.  Plus it has rat droppings, and plenty of dust.  I wouldn't want to stir it up any more than needed.  Add the 125-degree heat up there today and you see the problem. 

I don't think it can be shoveled.  There are old wires and all sorts of scraps beneath the insulation, ductwork, even an old chimney we found (which explained the sag in the living-room ceiling).  It's a mess.

I read about it some.  Companies have truck-mounted vacuum machines to remove it (huge shop vacs, I guess).  I think the next step is to see if the guys who will blow in the insulation will suck it out (as you suggested with the reversal).  How much could that cost??  Most web sites say leave it in pacle, but it's smelly and nasty.  It'd be good to be rid of it.

[SUPERCOACH]

Wow, SC, you have goodcrazy ideas.  This old gray insulation isn't the fluffy stuff that you get blown in these days; it's a bit heavy.  It can't be blown easily, and comes up in clumps when vacuumed.  Plus it has rat droppings, and plenty of dust.  I wouldn't want to stir it up any more than needed.  Add the 125-degree heat up there today and you see the problem. 

I don't think it can be shoveled.  There are old wires and all sorts of scraps beneath the insulation, ductwork, even an old chimney we found (which explained the sag in the living-room ceiling).  It's a mess.

I read about it some.  Companies have truck-mounted vacuum machines to remove it (huge shop vacs, I guess).  I think the next step is to see if the guys who will blow in the insulation will suck it out (as you suggested with the reversal).  How much could that cost??  Most web sites say leave it in pacle, but it's smelly and nasty.  It'd be good to be rid of it.

FIFY

I hate that stuff.  I guess it is cheaper to put in, but then it is a mess for the homeowner to deal with from then on.  I guess you are planning to replace it with rolled fiberglass.

[Chechem]

Wow, SC, you have goodcrazy ideas.  This old gray insulation isn't the fluffy stuff that you get blown in these days; it's a bit heavy.  It can't be blown easily, and comes up in clumps when vacuumed.  Plus it has rat droppings, and plenty of dust.  I wouldn't want to stir it up any more than needed.  Add the 125-degree heat up there today and you see the problem. 

I don't think it can be shoveled.  There are old wires and all sorts of scraps beneath the insulation, ductwork, even an old chimney we found (which explained the sag in the living-room ceiling).  It's a mess.

I read about it some.  Companies have truck-mounted vacuum machines to remove it (huge shop vacs, I guess).  I think the next step is to see if the guys who will blow in the insulation will suck it out (as you suggested with the reversal).  How much could that cost??  Most web sites say leave it in pacle, but it's smelly and nasty.  It'd be good to be rid of it.

FIFY

I hate that stuff.  I guess it is cheaper to put in, but then it is a mess for the homeowner to deal with from then on.  I guess you are planning to replace it with rolled fiberglass.

No, the blown-in cellulose.  It's quick, easy, inexpensive, and mouse proof.  Mice cannot tolerate the borate-treated cellulose....it is also extremely fire retardant.

[Chechem]

"Good night, boys.  Sleep well."

[2Stater]

"Good night, boys.  Sleep well."

LF? If so, I don't blame you.

[Chechem]

"Good night, boys.  Sleep well."

LF? If so, I don't blame you.

No, MF.

[ssmith general]

1st

[Chechem]

Morning, Smitty.  What's your plan today?

[ssmith general]

Morning, Smitty.  What's your plan today?

morning, waterpark in orlando

[ssmith general]

[ssmith general]

A better one.  My webcam takes photos and automatically uploads them to photobucket.  It's pretty sweet.

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