The removal of the blown in insluation under the floor boards was no easy task, and I am not even referring to the fact that the attic had to be emptied first. The boards had to be pried up and the thickly packed spun glass had to be scooped into trash cans.
There are companies that will come in with a vacuum and suck it out with a long hose and a truck that sits outside, however we were told that they will not remove floor boards. The tricky part was once you pull up the floor boards there is no where to walk. If you stepped in the wrong place you would put your foot through the ceiling below. The floor boards also act as joist braces. We wanted to get the loose exposed fiberglass out ASAP to keep it from floating around as much as we possibly could once a board was removed. We were also worried that one of these removal companies were used to doing a removal and replace of new blown-in insulation and therefore would not see the importance of removing ALL of it and not just 'most of it.
After trying a few different methods we decided that pulling up a section of boards and scooping it out right away into black trash bags and then using a HEPA shop vac to clean up what was left was our best option for our situation, at least for this section of the three room attic.
This particular insulation reminds me of a powdery smell. Those who spent too much time inside the attic without a mask started smelling like the insulation through their skin. It bypassed their lungs and went to their blood. The same way a person who drank liquor all night has skin that smells like alcohol the next day.
Blown-in Insulation Under Floor
Blown-in Insulation Removal Under Floor 2
Blown-in Insulation Removal Under Floor 3
Sharon Maguire - Updated 12-07-2016
