Purchasing cellulose
Matt_Michaud
| Posted in General Questions on
We are doing a large retrofit and will be blowing our own cellulose. The project will use 18K to 20K lbs of cellulose. Where do people typically purchase their cellulose at this scale? Is this still less than typical direct-from-manufacturer min order? All of our foam has come from a salvage supplier – is there an equivalent discount market for cellulose? Or do most people just go to the local lumber yard and order 20K lbs? Any leads are appreciated.
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Matthew, for a one-off project you could get it from a lumberyard, commercial supplier or a distributor, but your best bet is probably to negotiate with your lumberyard for a quantity discount. Cellulose is in hot demand so I doubt there are discount suppliers, but I could be wrong.
The lumberyards around here seem to be switching to blown-in fiberglass instead of cellulose - not sure why. When I needed cellulose I shopped around and got the best deal from a big-box store in pallet quantities. Your quantity could be a truckload so maybe a deal could be made with a lumberyard. I had to furnish a forklift to get off the truck.
That's a quantity that most building materials distributors catering to the commercial construction businesses can usually handle. The may not have that much in stock at a given time, but can usually get it quickly if you order it.
I'm not aware of (and wouldn't necessarily trust) a discount third party on surplus cellulose. Cellulose that takes on too much moisture in storage will clump and clog the blower, making it a PITA (or even impossible) to use correctly.
Dana and Michael - you both mention "commercial supplier or distributor". Can you give me examples of such a business? The project is in northern NH. Besides big box, lumberyards, and specialty suppliers (475 etc) - I am not familiar with the distribution network for construction materials.
Kamco has a number of locations in northern New England, but I'm not sure if any are close to you. Here's how to find out:
https://www.kamco.com/locations/
They're small enough to deal with walk-in customers, but it's not set up as a retail box store or lumber yard, and aren't into hand-holding or construction guidance. Their cellulose is always sulfate-free, and usually cheaper than box store pricing.
https://www.kamco.com/
https://www.kamcoboston.com/Store/default.asp?CategoryID=9&name=Insulation+and+Weatherization
Like Dana said, Kamco is where I would start. General Insulation is a New England distributor who may sell to you, or may recommend someplace closer to you.
Try Service Partners in Mansfield, Mass. They typically stock or have access to several brands and can handle larger quantities. They are an insulation and accessories distributor. Likely would have air vents (baffles) as well.
We used several thousand pounds of cellulose for our house in NH. If I remember correctly, our insulation contractors used a Canadian cellulose called Soprema.
https://www.soprema.ca/product/sopra-cellulose-677/
Quebec has at least two manufacturers of cellulose. Worth giving them a call, especially if you speak French.
Good luck!
Thank you all for the leads! This gives me lots of good choice.