Can Noobs Insulate?

[Jeffrey Huddleston]

I bought a house, and it needs attic insulation installed. The attic is currently bare with no previous insulation. Is installing insulation a fairly straightforward job an unexperienced person can do themselves? A contractor estimated over 4k to install insulation, and I feel I could probably do it myself. I wanted to know if there are any risks or oversights an unexperienced person would miss. It seems as easy as unrolling the insulation vapor-barrier down.

[Bruce Woodruff]

You can do it, but it's a lousy job. Cover up completely.

Are you sure that you can buy the insulation for less than that? I used to find that my insulation subs could buy and install for less than I (as a GC) could buy the material for....

A quick check of HD website shows that for a 2000 SF attic, you'll need 66+ rolls of R-30 @ $55 ea (incl tax). That's $3600 ish. You do NOT want to do this to save $400......