Classic Issue: The Bag Of Insulation Is Bigger Than The Ceiling Manhole

As with any insulation job, it is always recommended to work together with another person. In the situation described above, it could simply be that you are pushing the earthwool bag straight into some angled timbers. If you climb through the manhole first and get someone to push the bag up to you, you may be able to angle the bag away from whatever is blocking its path. This would be by far the easiest option.

Get someone to help you

You’re all set to get the job done. You’ve got everything you need and brace yourself to get started. And what do you find? The bag of Earthwool Insulation won’t fit through the manhole… Are you for real?? You haven’t even started on the job you were dreading and there are problems already. This was not part of the plan!

You might have to bite the bullet and split open the bag

The rule of thumb in DIY insulation is only to open the insulation bag once it’s in the area that you need to insulate. The reason being that Earthwool is much easier to carry around in its compressed state and it takes up so much space when it expands. If, however, you are working on your own, you may unfortunately have to open the bag and carry the individual batts through individually. This is a tedious and time consuming task, but may be your only option.

Think safety and don’t take risky short cuts

Some installers choose to pull back a few roof tiles and load the bags through the roof. Anything to avoid splitting open the bags that won’t fit through the manhole.

This method is not recommended practice for safety reasons, as the risk of falling from a height is great. Although the prospect of passing the insulation batts through the manhole might seem unbearable, it is by far the safer and recommended option. Having someone there to help you will make the job less daunting. Just make sure that the person passing up the insulation batts is wearing eye protection and a dust mask as many earthwool fibres will detach themselves and float down in the process.