Your list is generated inside the calculator.
Run your attic through it and the shopping list appears at the end with quantities worked out for your actual dimensions — not the generic list below.
Build my shopping listWhat's on the list
Five categories. Only the first is the insulation itself.
Insulation
Quantity calculated from your area, R-value gap, and the coverage of the material you chose — including waste.
Air sealing
Fire-rated foam, sealant, and baffles. Do this before insulating; afterwards the gaps are unreachable.
Safety gear
Respirator, sealed goggles, gloves. Fibers and attic dust are a real respiratory hazard.
Tools
Depth markers, headlamp, staple gun. Varies by method — blown needs a rental, batts do not.
Accessories
Walk boards, hatch weatherstrip. The small items that get forgotten and cost a second trip.
The list, for your project
Every item below is one the calculator puts on a real list, with the quantity it works out for the worked example. Choose the job you are doing and the list narrows to what that job needs — a garage has no baffles because a garage ceiling has no soffit vents to keep clear, and a crawl space gets a liner and a dehumidifier because IRC R408.3 requires both.
The worked examples are a 1,240 sq ft attic taken to R-60 with blown cellulose, a 40 ft run of open 2x4 wall, a 32 x 26 ft crawl space floor and a 24 x 22 ft garage ceiling. Run your own dimensions through a calculator and the quantities change with them.
Your project
Attic insulation
- Area
- 1,240 sq ft
- Target
- R-60
- Adding
- R-45
- Items
- —
Walls insulation
- Area
- 360 sq ft
- Target
- R-20
- Adding
- R-20
- Items
- —
Crawl space insulation
- Area
- 832 sq ft
- Target
- R-30
- Adding
- R-30
- Items
- —
Garage insulation
- Area
- 528 sq ft
- Target
- R-30
- Adding
- R-30
- Items
- —
Change project
These are worked examples. Run your own dimensions to get quantities for your house.
Affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Products are chosen on whether they suit the job, never on commission. Full disclosure.
Insulation
The main material, quantity calculated for your space.
Blown-in cellulose
EssentialCovers 1,240 sq ft at R-45, including 10% waste.
52bags
Attic ladder insulation cover
RecommendedA zipped, insulated tent over the hatch from inside the attic.
1eachFiberglass batts (R-19)
EssentialCovers 360 sq ft at R-20, including 12% waste.
6packagesFiberglass batts (R-30)
EssentialCovers 832 sq ft at R-30, including 12% waste.
17packagesBlown-in fiberglass
EssentialCovers 528 sq ft at R-30, including 10% waste.
13bags
Garage door insulation kit
Nice to havePanels cut to fit between the door stiles. Worth it only if you heat the garage — the door is outside your thermal envelope, so it will not touch your house heating bill.
1kit
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Air sealing
Do this before insulating. Sealing leaks does more for comfort than depth alone.
Acoustical or latex sealant
EssentialSeals top plates and the smaller gaps expanding foam is too coarse for.
6tubes
Fire-rated expanding foam
EssentialSeals gaps around flues, wiring and plumbing penetrations.
3cans
Attic hatch weatherstrip kit
RecommendedAn uninsulated hatch undoes a surprising share of the work — it is a hole in the ceiling you just spent a weekend insulating around.
1kit
Door and window weatherstripping
RecommendedThe leaks you can feel, and the cheapest ones to close.
2rolls
Duct sealing mastic
RecommendedIf ducts run through the attic or crawl space, they are leaking conditioned air into a space that is effectively outdoors.
1tub
Foil HVAC tape
RecommendedFor duct joints and seams. Cloth duct tape fails within a couple of years in an attic; foil tape is what the name was supposed to mean.
2rolls
Foam backer rod
Nice to haveFor gaps too wide to caulk. Pack the rod in first and seal over it — sealant alone in a wide gap slumps, skins over and tears the first time the gap moves.
1roll
Foam board adhesive
RecommendedHolds board to masonry. Use one rated for polystyrene — a solvent-based adhesive dissolves the board it is meant to be sticking.
2tubes
Outlet and switch gaskets
Nice to haveFoam plates behind the cover of every socket and switch on an exterior wall.
1pack- Amazon links in this list are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.
Ground vapour barrier
EssentialCovers 832 sq ft plus 15% for the laps and the run up the wall.
960sq ft
Vapour barrier seam tape
EssentialLiner laid loose and un-taped is a groundsheet, not a vapour barrier.
5rolls
Garage door bottom seal
RecommendedAir leaking round the edges of a garage door loses far more than the panels do.
1kit
Amazon links above are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.
Safety gear
Non-negotiable. Loose fibers and decades of attic dust are respiratory hazards.
N95 disposable mask
EssentialThe minimum for loose fibers and settled attic dust, and the one item never to skip.
1each
Sealed safety goggles
EssentialSealed rather than open-sided, because you will be working below the material and looking up into it.
1each
Work gloves
EssentialFiberglass irritates skin on contact and the fibers are hard to wash out afterwards.
1each
Disposable coveralls
RecommendedFiberglass in clothing is genuinely unpleasant and survives a wash.
1each
Half-mask respirator
RecommendedReusable, seals far better than a disposable, and takes P100 cartridges.
1each
Hearing protection
RecommendedAn insulation blower running in an enclosed attic is loud enough to matter over a full day.
1each
Knee pads
RecommendedHours spent kneeling on joists or a crawl space floor.
1each
P100 replacement cartridges
RecommendedCartridges load up and stop filtering, and a half-mask with spent cartridges is a false sense of safety.
1each
Bump cap
Nice to haveAttics and crawl spaces are full of roofing nails at head height.
1each
Disposable gloves
Nice to haveFor sealant and foam, which do not come off skin easily once cured.
1each
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Tools
What the job needs beyond what most people already own.
Tape measure
EssentialFor the area figure this calculator runs on, and for cutting batts to the cavity.
1each
Caulk gun
RecommendedA dripless frame is worth the small premium when you are working above your head.
1each
Moisture meter
RecommendedCheck the joists and subfloor before you cover them.
1each
Professional foam applicator gun
RecommendedControls the bead far better than a straw can, and lets you stop and restart a can over several days instead of wasting it.
1each
Cordless drill
RecommendedFor baffles, supports, hatch hardware and furring.
1each
Insulation rake
RecommendedLevels blown material to an even depth. Uneven depth means the thin spots set your real R-value, not the average.
1each
Rechargeable headlamp
RecommendedKeeps both hands free while measuring or placing insulation, which matters when you are balancing on joists in the dark.
1each
Rechargeable work light
RecommendedA headlamp lights where you look; a standing light lights the whole bay so you can see what you have missed.
1each
Utility knife
RecommendedFor packaging, facing, baffles and board. Keep spare blades to hand.
1each- Amazon links in this list are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.
Infrared thermometer
Nice to haveFinds the cold spots worth sealing before you insulate, and confirms afterwards that they are gone.
1each
Inspection mirror
Nice to haveLets you see into eave bays and behind obstructions without crawling the last three feet to get there.
1each
Chalk line
Nice to haveFor marking stud bays before you drill and depth lines before you blow.
1each
Handheld flashlight
Nice to haveFor checking into eave bays and behind obstructions before committing to a plan.
1each
Laser distance measurer
Nice to haveMeasures a room end to end on your own, which a tape cannot do in an attic without somewhere to hook it.
1each
Tin snips
Nice to haveFor baffles, foil-faced board and flashing. A utility knife tears baffle plastic rather than cutting it, which is how you end up with a baffle that will not sit.
1each
Shop vacuum
Nice to haveA household vacuum will not survive insulation dust.
1each
Insulation blower rental
EssentialUsually free with a minimum bag purchase — ask before paying.
1rental
Borescope / inspection camera
RecommendedShows what is inside a finished wall through one small hole, which is how you find out whether a cavity is empty before paying anyone to fill it.
1each
Stud finder
RecommendedLocates the studs and confirms your spacing, which sets how much of the wall is actually cavity.
1each- Amazon links in this list are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.
Hole saw for drill-and-fill
RecommendedCuts the access hole in each stud bay for a finished-wall fill, and the plug to close it afterwards.
1each
Insulation knife
RecommendedA long serrated blade cuts batts cleanly in one pass.
1each
Staple gun
RecommendedFor faced batts in an open wall or floor. Unfaced batts in a ceiling need friction fit and supports instead, so this only applies where there is a flange to fix.
1each
Straight edge or drywall square
RecommendedCompresses the batt along the cut line so the blade tracks straight.
1each
Crawl space dehumidifier
EssentialNot optional in a sealed crawl space. IRC R408.
1each
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Accessories
Items specific to how this material gets installed.
Insulation depth markers
EssentialThe only practical way to confirm you hit target depth across the whole area.
5markers
Rafter vent baffles
EssentialOne per rafter bay. Blocked soffit vents cause moisture and ice dams.
31baffles
Heavy-duty extension cord
RecommendedAttics and crawl spaces rarely have an outlet.
1each
Plywood walk boards
RecommendedSpreads your weight across the joists. Stepping through a ceiling is common.
2sheets
Contractor trash bags
RecommendedHeavy enough for insulation offcuts and old material without splitting on the way down the ladder.
1box
Drill and driver bit set
Nice to haveCovers the fixings the job actually uses rather than the two you own.
1set
Staples
Nice to haveMatched to your gun. Running out mid-wall is the usual way to lose an hour.
1box
Insulation support rods
EssentialWire staves that hold batts up against the subfloor.
260supports
Ground liner pins
RecommendedHold the liner flat to the ground while you tape the laps.
70pins
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Why the list changes with your material
A blown job and a batt job need different equipment. Swapping material in the calculator changes the list, not just the quantity.
Blown cellulose adds
- Hearing protection
- Insulation rake
- Insulation blower rental
- Insulation depth markers
Fiberglass batts add
- Insulation knife
- Straight edge or drywall square
And no blower rental — batts need no equipment, which is their main advantage.
For that example the material quantity also changes: 52 bags of cellulose against 34 packages of R-38 batts.
Why there are no prices
We have no retailer product feed and affiliate links are active, so any price shown next to a product would be invented. Retailer pricing changes constantly and varies by store — a number here would imply an accuracy we do not have.
What we do give you is our own estimated material cost range, derived from the calculation rather than from a store: see attic insulation cost for how that is built, and our affiliate disclosure for where we stand commercially.