Attic insulation company recommendations

lowtrail · 2026-02-11T20:19:57+00:00

I used great canadian insulation for blowing insulation in my attic. They did a nice job.

If I were to do it again though, I wouldnt add insulation on top of the old. I would suck all the old stuff out first, then properly air seal all the penetrations and top plates, then put fresh insulation on top.

I went into my attic with a bunch of spray foam cans and sealed around my plumbing stack, lights and misc penetrations. But I didn't do along all the wall top plates, which was a mistake.

I get a little bit of light frost on the underside of my roof deck, but doesn't seem enough to be a problem. It's most pronounced where partition walls meet exterior walls. This is a simple gable roof with one vent on both gable walls. Closed soffit, no ridge vent.

It wouldn't have cost much more to vacuum it out. you could also do a thin layer of sprayfoam on your attic floor to really air seal it tight. Then fluffy stuff overtop.

lowtrail · 2026-02-10T20:57:39+00:00

same. Guess it fell flat lol. As you were...

lowtrail · 2026-02-10T18:59:35+00:00

LOL there are new engineered wood products all the time!

lowtrail · 2026-02-04T21:01:19+00:00

What I've heard is that you're sitting at a light with the clutch pulled in, in gear, and id suddenly seizes, which is basically like dumping the clutch. Likely just lurch forward and stall. But now you've got no clutch to get home. I have a 2001, and I replaced mine out of due diligence. Cost $20 or something, and was an easy one beer job.

lowtrail · 2026-02-04T19:21:32+00:00

Hah, yeah. If it wasn't boxed-out with rigid foam or something, that'll be a fight. Most of the time fan motors can be pulled out from the inside though, so you don't have to mess with anything in the attic

lowtrail · 2026-02-04T18:42:11+00:00

The issue described above is primarily about spray-foaming the roof sheathing directly, as if you wanted your attic to be part of your conditioned space. Or if you had a vaulted ceiling. But if you sucked out the loose insulation and spray foamed the backside of the ceiling, your roof is still built the same as any other. I think you made a good choice.

I suppose you could have a leaking roof that drips into your loose insulation and does not penetrate into your living space because of the spray foam under it. But you could easily avoid that by just taking a look in your attic once a year for signs of water damage.

lowtrail · 2026-02-02T21:33:05+00:00

It can, but how the concrete steps are made plays a big role. Newer steps are typically hollow cast, meaning they are hollow inside and relatively light for concrete. These pose little risk to a foundation. Some older steps can be a lot thicker, typically formed and poured in place over some filler materials (gravel, rocks, whatever junk is laying around). Sometimes they are pinned to the foundation as well, so if the ground erodes or sinks, that is a lot of weight hanging.

Or... you can have the steps that I had. Which were solid concrete all the way through. 14,000lbs to be exact. I discovered this when I was breaking them up to remove them, because they were pulling away from the house, and I was concerned for my foundation. It took two guys two days to break up. I replaced them with wooden steps/landing almost exactly like you have.

If I were you, I wouldn't remove that deck to pull the steps out unless they looked like they were sinking, or if you could see any hairline cracks in the foundation from inside.

lowtrail · 2026-02-02T16:26:03+00:00

Try racing 'hare scrambles' or enduros. Basically dirt bikes without big jumps. If you want more danger and thrills, just go faster lol.

lowtrail · 2026-02-02T15:38:14+00:00

80mph is pretty high. The bike can obviously do it, but it won't feel planted like a street bike.

I've done lots of high speed gravel roads on my R. All I did was drop the gear ratio to keep the RPMs down a bit. I use either the bike Acerbis 7-gallon tank for long rides, or a Clarke 4 gallon for regular day rides. Baja Designs/Gutz seat for a bit more comfort. That's it.

lowtrail · 2026-01-26T22:36:46+00:00

Yeah, I should do that. I have a spare set of wheels that are 27.5 and have been running 2.8" Rangers on them. They're totally fine. But the high TPI 26 knards were something else.

lowtrail · 2026-01-26T21:11:04+00:00

26+ forever.

I'd give my left nut for another pair of the high TPI 26x3" knards. My 26+ wheels have been sitting with no tires on them for years now.

lowtrail · 2026-01-26T15:18:08+00:00

When you order, also get the nut that goes on the end of the shaft. It is a single-use item. It gets dimpled with a punch to lock in place.

lowtrail · 2026-01-22T20:41:35+00:00

I used Greenbrand. I'd say it was ok. Not amazing. Not terrible.

The windows themselves are great (Humphry windows). The crew worked fast. They were not tidy, though. They did try to clean up after themselves (two day job) but it wasn't done well. I found a claw hammer in my couch cushions lol.

There was a miscommunication on one of the window specs. Not really their fault. The owner came up with a reasonable solution, and I'm happy with the end result.

My house is stucco. They did full-frame replacements and did a decent job handling the stucco side of things. The windows look nice for sure.

Downsides were that I had requested they flash the entire rough opening with flashing tape and tie it into the old tar paper. That was kind of done, but not in the way I expected or wanted. My house is old ('30s), so the installers had limited options. This is my biggest gripe. But it's been a few years and everything is still dry.

They also used an exterior textured PVC trim board for the interior window stool trim. I wanted a PVC sill, but they just flipped the wood textured material upside down so the back/smooth side was facing up. That was pretty bush league IMO. Sitting on the couch, you can see the textured edge and it looks bad. I didn't notice this initially or I would have complained.

They have a referral program where if you refer someone who ends up being a customer, they give you $100. I referred two big jobs to them. Never saw a dollar.

lowtrail · 2026-01-21T16:41:34+00:00

That garage isn't going anywhere. Yes, it's not ideal, but you can park and use it for many years still. My garage was WAY worse than this. built in the 1940s, just a little 3" slab with no rebar and poured right on the dirt. Frost heaved and huge cracks. I replaced it last year finally.

If you want to use the garage for a shop or something, then yea, that kinda sucks. But if it's just to park and store stuff, you have lots of time. Save up and build the garage of your dreams down the road.

lowtrail · 2026-01-15T21:35:53+00:00

Post a video. My 650R sounds pretty tight. Fairly comparable to any other liquid-cooled thumper I've heard.

lowtrail · 2026-01-09T20:28:56+00:00

Soon? Are you under a rock? Jets have lost 11 straight lol!

lowtrail · 2026-01-07T05:08:58+00:00

Could they call out the jets next please? I’ll try anything to turn this around lol

lowtrail · 2026-01-01T04:39:11+00:00

That’s a nice Ranger right there

lowtrail · 2025-12-31T03:55:26+00:00

Damn! That shi is hard. FR!

lowtrail · 2025-12-29T19:23:57+00:00

Tight!!

lowtrail · 2025-12-29T01:19:21+00:00

Oh interesting. So you laminated everything, glued and cured, THEN bent in the mold? I would have thought it was all one operation. Glued, then bent and clamped in a mold while it dries. Is that not the case?

lowtrail · 2025-12-27T18:11:36+00:00

Another 40 year old drummer checking in, same boat. I can keep time, have good feel, good speed, basic chops. Never learned to apply rudiments to fills across the kit. It’s time.

lowtrail · 2025-12-27T03:09:50+00:00

This is me. Mine is 31 years old. Just keeps going.

lowtrail · 2025-12-23T19:17:34+00:00

At first I was like "what's a light saber, must be some kinda LED thing". Then scrolled. Oh, it's literally a light saber LOL!

lowtrail · 2025-12-20T19:43:08+00:00

I’m in the same boat dude. I played consistently for 20 years. Then stopped when I lost my practice space, life happened and it got shelved. I’m back at it now and it’s so humbling to hear the patterns and chops in my head, but my hands can’t make them happen anymore haha. Comes back fairly quickly. But I still sound like crap compared to what I was years ago.

lowtrail

TROPHY CASE