I received a phone quote for 1" of CCSF topping off with blown in cellulose for a total R-Value of 60. Basement CCSF for Rim joist was $2 / linear foot @ 1" thickness. Cost was $2.25 ft2 for the CCSF and $1.06 for Cellulose. Is this in the ballpark or should I be looking elsewhere?

How many board-feet of ccSPF? At even 1000 board-feet the cost near me is $1-1.25, not $2-2.25.
The cellulose pricing is on the competitive side, assuming that's R50+.

Why are you laying down an inch of closed cell foam under R50- R55 cellulose in the attic in the first place? That's an extremely sub-optimal use of that foam, a foam that comes with a number of lifecycle environmental issues. It can be a reasonable way to air-seal & insulate a foundation & rim joist, but it's a real waste in an attic.

Thanks for the reply Dana. My initial thought was air sealing. I thought that I had also read that R50+ of cellulose could pose some problems from a weight perspective with some ceiling coverings.

After my energy consultant came in, he suggested only air sealing the pent rations with the foam and blowing the cellulose to full depth everywhere. I will ask around a bit more on the foam side.

The blower door test was very interesting to witness. Air leakage in house was so great from basement and attic that a pressure differential of 50 pascal was not acheived. Only reached to the mid 20's.

The IR camera would be a cool tool to have as well.

CCSF is a great product for air sealing and insulating old, stone cellar walls as well as rim joists. Don't discount the amount of moisture and air coming through those old walls.

There are certainly much cheaper ways of air sealing an attic that is at least as effective as an inch of closed cell foam. Single part expanding foam at the ceiling penetrations is one of those.

Air sealing the foundation sill to the foundation, and insulating & air sealing the band joist is one place where closed cell foam is worth the premium (and arguably, the environmental hit).

Open cell foam air seals at least as well as closed cell, and is a reasonable way to air-seal UNvented attics. The differences vapor permeancy affects where and how you use one vs. the other. If your ceiling is antique plaster & lath of uncertain air tightness due to cracks & stresses, a 3" shot of open cell foam over the whole thing is about a buck a square foot, delivers more than R10 and only weighs about 0.13lbs per square foot.

Waiting to hear back from contractor on timing. We will be removing all existing insulation from attics, (Quite a mess up there now.) airsealing the attic (not complete coverage of CCSF) then airsealing the band joist and crawlspace. After that is complete we will perform another blower door test to verify that the basement, attic and other gross leak points have been resolved. After that we will follow-up with R60 of cellulose.

Looking forward to watching it come together. Once this is complete, we will get through the winter and see how comfortable / expensive the utilities are before jumping into the walls. Assumption is that we can acheive the desired pressure differential after the attic and basement are addressed.

Sounds like a good plan--I think you've got a good energy consultant.

IR cameras have gotten much less expensive than they used to be--for $500 or so you can get one that is as good as what used to cost $10k, and for $5k you can get a fabulous one. Or for $250 you can get one that attaches to a cell phone.

I was very pleased with energy consultant. If anyone is in Northeast Ohio and in need of a recommendation let me know.

Next week thing will start to happen, should be complete be Monday the 9th.

Also ordered an insulated attic door from www.batticdoor.com I went for the R50 version.

Most of the existing insulation was removed today. Interesting to see the wide open gap / wall penetrations in the ceiling. You can shine a flashlight in a second floor outlet and see the light in the attic. Plumbing pipes exposed in the open wall cavities. There is about a 6" wide open gap between the 1840 original house and the 1960's addition.

A bunch of work ahead of me before we seal everything up and verify sealing with a second blower door test on Monday.

We also found some interesting "artifacts" including a letter to a former owner dated 1858 and not the least interesting was an emptry box of adrenaline suppositories which looks to be very old.

Fun times.