Insulation begins

We passed all our inspections so it's time to insulate. We chose Roxul insulation for our house. It has a higher R-value than fiberglass and you can touch it with your skin without getting itchy. Although it does feel like a thick wool sweater so it's not completely itch free, but it washes off whereas fiberglass doesn't. I've done 3 bags out of 32 and it goes somewhat quickly. You can cut it with an electric knife easily, but it's very dense and heavy. A bag of it weighs about 60 pounds so hauling it upstairs was quite a workout. We're making sure to foam or caulk all the edges and any gaps so we should have a very tight, energy efficient home when we're done.
Roxul is also a green product made from 40 percent recycled material. The R-value is 4 to 8 higher than comparable depth fiberglass. Plus it's fire resistant and a better sound barrier. The downside is that it's twice the price of fiberglass, but we're saving money doing it ourselves. I think our cheapest bid using the cheapest material was $4200 and the Roxul and cellulose for the attic cost us about $2200. It should take us the better part of 2 days for the walls and another day for the attic when the drywall ceiling is up, but you can't argue with the cost savings or energy efficiency gains! Should be a productive weekend.