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Step 3Drill baby drill
The next step is to create the holes for your stars. But first, you have to clear away insulation from the top of the ceiling. I have the blown-in insulation, which is a little harder to move around than the sheet-style. It also breaks up easier, gets in your skin and lungs and causes death. Or at least... you'll itch really badly and have a nasty raspy cough. So, do this when your attic is somewhat cool so you can wear jeans and a long flannel. I started this during the hottest July that North Texas has seen in decades. My first trip up there (120* heat) was brief, which also describes my attire. Hoo hah! Anyway, 30 minutes later, I was drenched in sweat and had 11 stars finished. Brillo pads couldn't ease the itch covering most of my body...
What I'm trying to say here is, do not attempt this during the summer. If you are like me, you'll wait until a freakishly cool September rolls around and you can work in a cool 75* attic. SO much more effective...
Assuming your attic is nice and cool, and you are in proper insulation garb, you can begin. I started in the furthest corners of the room, so that I got the tricky spots out of the way first. To cover as much of the ceiling as I wanted, I had to get REALLY deep into the crevices of the attic, where the roof-line (along with rusty exposed roofing nails) is barely 2 feet above the drywall. This was really cramped, so I was glad to get it out of the way first.
Clear the insulation in whatever method suits you. I tried scooping it into other areas, and filling trash bags for temporary space.
Once you have exposed drywall, you can either mark your drill-spots out with a sharpie, or just drill randomly like I did. Like I said, constellations are great if you want to take the time to do it. I kept messing up the scale so I gave up. I guess I could just tell my daughter that this what the constellations are on the planet Xebo7. Anyway, drill straight down with a 1/16" bit. Count the number of holes that you drill, because you don't want to leave any unfilled. I typically worked 5 at a time.
After drilling, you can thread the fibers into the holes. Thread them almost all the way... you'll have a lot of fibers hanging from the ceiling into the room. This will eventually be scrap fiber. Leave yourself a little bit of slack, for cable management and to provide a little give once you re-insulate.
The next step is to apply a dab of glue into the hole and around the fiber. This keeps the fiber secure, and plugs up any gaps around the fiber - preventing air leakage and loss of insulation. In theory...
Move onto the next area and continue drilling, filling and gluing. I worked in batches, typically in areas divided by the ceiling joists. Try and stay completely random, while ensuring even coverage for each section. You'll want to have at least a few stars right near the edge of the joists, so you don't have giant horizontal gaps in your finished ceiling. Clusters also work well... 2s and 3s typically, but occasionally throw a bunch in a small area. Naturally, this all depends on the amount of fibers you purchased.
When you are done with your area, we can move onto the next step.
What I'm trying to say here is, do not attempt this during the summer. If you are like me, you'll wait until a freakishly cool September rolls around and you can work in a cool 75* attic. SO much more effective...
Assuming your attic is nice and cool, and you are in proper insulation garb, you can begin. I started in the furthest corners of the room, so that I got the tricky spots out of the way first. To cover as much of the ceiling as I wanted, I had to get REALLY deep into the crevices of the attic, where the roof-line (along with rusty exposed roofing nails) is barely 2 feet above the drywall. This was really cramped, so I was glad to get it out of the way first.
Clear the insulation in whatever method suits you. I tried scooping it into other areas, and filling trash bags for temporary space.
Once you have exposed drywall, you can either mark your drill-spots out with a sharpie, or just drill randomly like I did. Like I said, constellations are great if you want to take the time to do it. I kept messing up the scale so I gave up. I guess I could just tell my daughter that this what the constellations are on the planet Xebo7. Anyway, drill straight down with a 1/16" bit. Count the number of holes that you drill, because you don't want to leave any unfilled. I typically worked 5 at a time.
After drilling, you can thread the fibers into the holes. Thread them almost all the way... you'll have a lot of fibers hanging from the ceiling into the room. This will eventually be scrap fiber. Leave yourself a little bit of slack, for cable management and to provide a little give once you re-insulate.
The next step is to apply a dab of glue into the hole and around the fiber. This keeps the fiber secure, and plugs up any gaps around the fiber - preventing air leakage and loss of insulation. In theory...
Move onto the next area and continue drilling, filling and gluing. I worked in batches, typically in areas divided by the ceiling joists. Try and stay completely random, while ensuring even coverage for each section. You'll want to have at least a few stars right near the edge of the joists, so you don't have giant horizontal gaps in your finished ceiling. Clusters also work well... 2s and 3s typically, but occasionally throw a bunch in a small area. Naturally, this all depends on the amount of fibers you purchased.
When you are done with your area, we can move onto the next step.
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Your "blown insulation" looks a lot like mine which was determined by professionals recently to be asbestos. It would be extraordinarily ill-advised to do this work if the there was indeed asbestos in the attic. Especially above a little one's room.
I assume you are sure that your insulation is asbestos free?
If I do have the asbestos removed from my attic and I go ahead with this, I have just one more concern - I have plaster ceilings. Will this work with plaster ceilings?