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As you may have deduced from all written here, it would have been easier to just give us a phone call. (800) 281-1898. But since you have taken the trouble to find us online, let’s address your needs.
You know what insulation is, and basically how it works. It is any material that keeps an area, in our case, a house, the same temperature longer. The R-value of the insulation, the greater the insulating value, or longer it will keep the temperature from changing. The longer the temperature is kept, the more comfortable you are, and the lower your heating and air conditioning bills.
That is where we can help. We have the equipment, and training to insulate your home completely, while many of our competitors can’t.
The material we use most often is cellulose.
You can feel what insulation does by reaching into 8″ of attic insulation on a hot day, and feel the temperature changing from the top of the insulation, where it is as hot as the attic, through to the bottom of the insulation, getting less hot, warm, less warm, and cooler as you reach your hand through the insulation, until you reach the bottom, where it is about the same temperature as the ceiling, 1/2″ below that, on the inside of the house. That’s is how a deep layer of insulation feels.
Now, how it does that, is an interesting subject that people normally address by talking past it, maybe just saying “airspace” or some such, and there are good reasons for that, such as they don’t know, and don’t want to make a fool of themselves, so let’s just suffice it to say that the material is generally warranted to keep it R-value for the life of the home. It’s is a lightweight material and fits into the framing of a building, so doesn’t add much as far as the structure goes. The things that cellulose offers in addition to it’s R-Value, the sound deadening, the pest repelling, the closed cell properties, are additional properties that cellulose also provides. But the R-Value is the dominant purpose in insulation, and this is how fiberglass doesn’t completely fall by the wayside, because it has a similar R-Value. But the other factors are printed below, and make additional areas also candidates for insulation, such as interior walls, between floors.
Old homes have little or no insulation, and this means that until your home is brought up to todays code, it is probably too hot in the summertime, and too cold in the winter. This means it often simply is not comfortable. And, a close second, the utility bill is much too high.
You are most likely a homeowner, sitting in a chair, feeling hot or cold, with the current utility bill taking a bite out of your budget, and we can help. You probably need your attic (if your home was built before 1980) and, or, the exterior walls (if built before 1976) insulated. We can determine if this work is done, just call us for a free, written estimate.
The present day code is R-30 for attics, and R-13 for walls, except in the Tri-Valley areas, where it is R-38 for attics, and R-13 for walls. PG&E and some state programs require higher levels of attic insulation, R-44 and R-49, but R-30 to 38 blown-in cellulose should be fine, although we are happy to install the higher values. Everyone agrees on the R-value for floor (R-19) and the walls (R-13), but, unfortunately, there is some disagreement with the attics,(R-30 – 49) probably because there is room up there for different levels of insulation, so, some will want to used this to help you build a house while others follow an International Code and want to help you save the planet.
About the process, existing attics are insulated most often with blown-in cellulose insulation. This is the mostly widely used insulating material for attics and walls of existing homes in the USA.
This website will cover all that can be said about the pros and cons of cellulose and how it is installed.
It is the most widely used insulation in the USA for several good reasons, including it’s price, But there are many other reasons it is the preferred insulation material. Cellulose is a closed cell insulation, so it stops air movement, or greatly slows it, compared to fiberglass, which is an open cell insulation, and this adds to its overall effectiveness as an insulating material. Cellulose is a blown-in insulation, meaning that unlike it’s competitor, fiberglass batts or blankets, it covers the attic floor completely, while the fiberglass batts do not, they are made to be installed between the floor joists on the attic, still leaving the tops of the joists uninsulated, and also, do not have perfect contact with any existing insulation that might be there right now, which the cellulose has. The material does not need to be blown in as deeply to achieve the same R-value as blown-in or blanket fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass may appear to be less dusty that cellulose, but it is more annoying dust, both for breathing in and contact with skin, than cellulose, though less visible, so, with either product, an installer wears a dust mask while installing it in the attics, but either is completely harmless to anyone in the house below. The labor cost is less, since each piece of blanket insulation has to be installed by hand. The cellulose contains a harmless chemical (boric acid) that mainly is put in as a fire retardant, but also keeps rodents and bugs away. And, finally, the cellulose is advertized by the manufacturer as a much better sound deadener than the fiberglass.
And the cons? Well, yes, one. Sometimes a customer may object to cellulose because of it’s drab light gray color and it’s dustiness, when compared to fiberglass, which is pure w white in color, or pink, or yellow, depending on the manufacturer, and also dust, which is more irritating compared to cellulose dust. Can’t argue with the nice colors fiberglass comes in, but a serious customer will look at all the other properties and choose cellulose.
Which would you rather have, an insulation that covers the attic floor completely, is less expensive, keeps pests away, stops noise better, stops air infiltration better, and is less thick, or fiberglass, which is slightly nicer in appearance?
For walls, cellulose is also the better material because of that dusty, powdery quality, and so, as it is installed in the walls, through a small holes drilled through the wood siding or stucco, it gets around the pipes and wires and plaster seals and fills the wall cavity better than the fiberglass, which is a chunkier material and occasionally leaves voids on the other side of the pipes and wires.
Floors are 3rd most important to insulate, and only make a noticeable difference in the cold weather, and if your home was built before about 1980, the floors are likely non-insulated.
There is a difference in the framing of subfloors that does affect the cost. Houses built before 1950 and after about 1970 are framed usually 16″ or 24″ on-center joists, and are more affordable to insulate, but houses build between 1950 and 1970 are framed 4′ on-center, and those involve more labor, and possibly should be considered as a candidate for spray foam insulation. But overall they make a smaller difference than the walls or attic during the cold weather, and no difference at all during the hot weather,.
So, generally with 4′ on-centers, we recommend focusing on the attic and walls first, and if you still feel afterwards that the floors let in too much cold, (they probably are hardwood floors) then they can be also be done any time.
Once an un-insulated home is insulated, the feeling, the difference it makes is very pleasant and surprising. The temperature is less extreme and so the house is more comfortable, and the power bills are 60-80% lower. The house feels more solid, the outside noise is less. On the power bill, the attic accounts for 30% to 50%, the walls 10-20% and the floor 10% to 20%. Attics are usually partially insulated, so if you are having your attic insulation upgraded, the difference will be less, but in most cases, still among the most cost-effective things you can do for your home. If you are doing the attic and the walls, the two will be close to each other in cost, but, on average, the attic will make about 60% of the difference and the walls 40% of the difference.
What if I don’t heat or air condition my home? Well, mostly a few renters do this to save on their utility bills, but should still try speaking with their landlords about putting insulation in, because the greater year round comfort still applies. And, landlords like tenants who are happy, and an uninsulated home that is also unheated will be much more prone to mildew formation.
With signs becoming more common of rodent infestation in attics, one may as well understand the nature of the problem. At least half of all attics have never had any sign of rodents, and of those that do, the signs, such as droppings, are usually many years old. Rodents are seldom a problem to the insulation of a home, except the attic, and in the case of an attic, only if the attic is uninsulated, or has a thin layer of insulation that does not cover the studs, or any amount of insulation if it is fiberglass blown-in or fiberglass batts. It appears that very few attics with a thick layer of cellulose have been infested with rodents. The one case we encountered was a house where the garage with filled with bird seed and open to the attic. Other than something like that, the rodents stay away from cellulose. Walls are not affected by rodents except maybe 1 bay that has a hole somewhere in it. Floor insulation is not affected because gravity will keep them away from the insulation.
This means there are still a lot of attics, mainly ones with fiberglass insulation, were the question comes up. “What do I do with this dirty mess in my attic?” Unfortunately, the most common solutions are to leave it alone and hope it goes away, or to remove the old insulation, “sanitize” the attic with a 50/50 mixture of ammonia and water, “ratproof the attic,” and then re-insulate the attic with fiberglass batt insulation. This is a very costly solution and yet cheap solution, which is why so many companies prefer this option.
First of all, if the presence of rodents is not evident there is no need for removal. For attics where there is a definite presence of rodents and you can smell them, there is a question as to whether the condition is of any effect to the people living in the house or not, and whether around $10,000 is worth the cleanup or not. Some would say it is, others would say they can’t afford it but the risks are few or many. Seems some guidance is needed here, given the large number of people who have this done. But this I can offer, and that is you don’t re-insulate an attic with fiberglass batt insulation, or blown fiberglass as the replacement insulation due to rodents. Doing this just means the company does not have the equipment or training to insulate an attic properly. You would use blown-in cellulose, same as usual.
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