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Insulation brings year round comfort and savings, and we can insulate your home properly and within a reasonable budget. We also insulate new residential construction, additions and remodels, and existing commercial buildings.
Many older homes have little or no insulation, and until brought up to today’s codes, will be hot in the summer, and cold in the winter. Uncomfortable and expensive to heat and cool, but easily remedied with proper insulation.
Call us for a free estimate. (800) 281-1898.
Once a home is insulated, the difference is very pleasant and surprising. The house is more comfortable and the power bills are lower. The cost to insulate is less than you probably expect, and a Federal tax credit is available for an additional 30% of the materials cost (IRS form 5695).
Many homes are also somewhat drafty, and can be air-sealed better, and we also offer air sealing service. We also install roof and foundation venting.
Cellulose contains a pest repellant (boric acid -harmless to people) that fiberglass does not have, and this will prevent rodent attic infestations in a quarter to a half of all homes built within about 25-50 years, in addition to providing several benefits, no known downsides, and a slightly lower cost, .
Additional words past this point are mainly to impart the material for attics should always be cellulose insulation. But this may also better address our more technically inclined customers, as the sections below will cover many of the key aspects of retrofit insulation that our customers have asked about.
The yardstick of all insulating materials is the R-value, which allows us to say simply that R-13 has an insulating value of 13″ of solid wood, R-30 has an insulating value of 30″ of solid wood, and so on. The wood used for this standard is Douglas fir, which is a fairly good insulation material in it’s own right, but a piece of R-13 fiberglass or cellulose insulation is only 3.5″ thick, which tells you it is much more efficient than the Douglas fir. Like the Douglas fir, the thickness of the insulating material depends on what it is made from. And the insulation materials most practical, the cellulose and fiberglass both have these much higher R-values per inch of thickness than wood, and are more affordable compared to other insulating materials.
You can actually feel how insulation works, conducting heat through the layers in insulation, by reaching into 8″ of attic insulation on a hot day, and feel the temperature drop from the top of the insulation, where it is as hot as the attic, through gradually to the bottom of the insulation, getting cooler as you reach the bottom, where it is the same temperature as the ceiling it touches. This conductive way of transferring heat slowly is how the insulation works, like a sweater or a pot holder, though thicker and has a higher R-value. Most insulating material works this way.
Insulation codes in this part of the US were virtually non-existent before 1976, other than requiring a thin layer of attic insulation 3″ to 3.5″ thick be installed, and only in some cities. In 1976 the code universallly required R-19 for attics and R-11 for exterior walls. The codes increased after 1980 to what they are today, with slight increases in wall and ceiling insulation. Floor insulation remained at R-19 since 1981, walls were R-11 since 1976, but slightly changed to R-13 around 1993, and R-30 has been required in attics since 1980-81, but was raised to R-38 in the Tri-Valley area in the early 2000’s. If you participate in utility or state subsidized insulation programs, nowadays they will usually require attics be brought up the R-44 or even R-49, and include attic air sealing. So if your home was built before 1981, and has not been insulated since it was built, it needs insulating, and if built before 1976, and has not been insulated since it was built it probably needs insulation everywhere, attic, walls, and floors.
The savings for an attic and wall insulation job will be, on average, 20-40% of the gas bill, plus the air sealing, but since there are tiers on the utility bill, and the rates are higher when your use is higher, the actual savings will often be higher, 20% – 50%. Exact savings vary, depending on what your energy usage is and how well insulated your home is now versus after we insulate.
The most important places to insulate are generally in this order,
1) The Attic
2) The Walls
3) The Floor
Cellulose and fiberglass are the main types of insulating material used in construction, and each can be used as a substitute for the other, as they perform similarly. However, each has factors that make it the best material for different parts of a home. Cellulose insulation offers better sound deadening, pest repelling, and closed cell benefits that are not offered by fiberglass, and provides a better, less expensive application in most attics, existing walls, and existing garage ceilings and overhangs. Fiberglass blankets provide better, less expensive applications in subfloors, both new construction and retrofit, and walls, vaulted ceilings, garage ceilings and overhangs (soffits) of new construction.
The material mostly used for existing homes is blown in cellulose insulation, for attics and walls, because it costs slightly less, contains a pesticide and has a higher R-value per inch of thickness than fiberglass insulation, it’s main competitor. For example, an R-30 cellulose is 8.1″ thick, while R-30 fiberglass batt is 10″ thick, and fiberglass blown-in R-30 is 11″ to 13″ thick, depending on the manufacturer. Fiberglass is in the ballpark with regards to thickness, but as you can see, cellulose is a little bit better, the thickness is less but provides the same R-value. Fiberglass is about half the weight (R-30 is about 8 oz/sq ft) as cellulose (R-30 is about 16 oz/sq ft), but this is a non-factor in construction because insulation of any kind is a lightweight material that doesn’t weigh anything down except itself– no one ever bothered to raise the subject of insulation weight up on a construction site or over an architectural set of plans, but cellulose stops noise and air leakage better, in part because it is just a heavier material than fiberglass.
Cellulose is a blown-in insulation, meaning that unlike it’s competitors, fiberglass batts or blankets, it covers the attic floor completely, while the fiberglass batts are made to be installed between the floor joists of 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 perfect contact. (Fiberglass manufacturer’s do not warranty their products when another type, say, cellulose or rockwool) is existing underneath it, but cellulose manufactures do). The cellulose material does not need to be blown in as deeply to achieve the same R-value as blown-in or blanket fiberglass insulation, which often is an important factor. 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 visibly so, with either product, an installer should always wear a dust mask while installing it in the attics, but to people in the house below, both are harmless. The labor cost of cellulose is less, since each piece of blanket insulation has to be installed by hand, while the blown in cellulose is installed using a hose to blow it in, which requires roughly half the time as the fiberglass. The cellulose contains boric acid as a fire retardant, but this same chemical also keeps rodents and bugs away. And, finally, the cellulose is advertised by the manufacturer as an excellent sound deadening material.
And cellulose is better in several other ways. It is a closed cell material and therefore can seal from air leakage better than fiberglass, which is open cell. It is very good at reducing or eliminating mold and mildew. It is made from recycled paper, so a “green” product. And the cost of cellulose is slightly less. These properties make cellulose the best insulation material available for your home, and the most widely used insulating material in the US for existing homes.
To be fair to fiberglass, it is partially made from recycled glass bottles, so it is also a “green” product. It can be used to deaden noise, but not quite as effectively. And, again, it’s R-value approaches cellulose, so comparable thermal performance there. Fiberglass blanket or batt insulation has some applications where it is a more economical and practical choice, such as in walls before the sheetrock goes up on new construction, in-between floors and vaulted ceilings of new construction, and subfloors, all of which the cellulose cannot be used so easily, and the other benefits of cellulose don’t matter so much as the price, the other yardstick of all insulation materials.
Both fiberglass as well as cellulose manufacturers guarantee their products will last for the life of the home, but an attic insulated with fiberglass will often not last that long because perhaps 50% of the attics insulated with fiberglass become infested with rodents, which compress the insulation and do other things that make it less effective over time, as well as invalidate the warranty. So for attics, fiberglass insulation should not even be permitted because of the rodents. Yet it is.
Despite this, fiberglass is still the most common material used for insulating attics of newly constructed homes in the USA, though given it’s history with rodents, it is hard to see why. Today, removing the insulation from attics, due to rodents 95+% of the time, has become an industry, and every large city has companies specializing in this work, vacuuming out attics of their fiberglass insulation, using large gas powered vacuums and specially made fiberglass bags to collect the material and dispose at a dump. This is a sad thing, and add to this, these companies almost always re-insulate the attics with … fiberglass batts, since the rodent removal workers are not trained to use a blowing machine on a blow truck like professional insulation installers. They can only put in the batts, just like a handy homeowner can do. Some rodent prevention work is also provided and warranted for a few years, but, roofs are replaced, warranties expire, and you may be in the same place at a latter time, poorer one job already.
It may seem only common sense to insulate your home using an insulation company with trained insulation installers using insulation machinery and equipment, and installing the best insulation, but there actually are companies such as the rodent abatement companies, who advertise insulation as part of their services, but don’t provide these basic things an insulation company has. Their salespeople will talk to the skies about why their service is so much better. Many people hire them, and pay much higher prices for an inferior job that will likely have to be done again. And these companies survive and make money doing this because much of the public just doesn’t know and the various costs of doing their work make it a winner, and the cheap laborers add up to a more profitable job as well.
Another type of company specializing in “radiant barrier” technology is a similar scam, although mostly these have mostly faded out in popularity in recent years. They advertised a thick form of perforated aluminum foil as being superior to traditional insulation and this stuff is actually useless during the cold weather, and not as beneficial as traditional insulation during the hot weather. It sells for 1.5 to 2 times the amount of regular attic insulation, and costs a fraction of what insulation costs. So, rather like the removal and re-insulation companies, they charge more than attic insulation costs but their products do not deliver or cost nearly as much, which is how they exist.
Air sealing is reducing air movement cycling through the house, entering in the lower half of the house, and leaving though the upper half where it rises and escapes through natural convection (warmer air rises). First sealing any openings on the attic floor (the ceiling) where it is most important, this makes the house more air tight and more energy efficient. Sealing of lower points in the house is less important, but also can be done. An air sealed home uses less energy to stay warm/cool, and utility costs are lower.
Attics typically have many openings in their floor to the house below, and driven by convection, air leaks into the attic. The builders had to make these openings to fit through wires, pipes, recessed lights, recessed fans, chimneys, knee walls, etc., but left them open rather than caulking in the gaps around these fixtures. (Energy was cheaper then). So, now, these openings can still be at least partially blocked by adding cellulose insulation, or, more thoroughly sealed with foam caulking, and occasional rigid foam insulation, plywood, and other materials as needed, followed with the cellulose.
The more complicated the house, the more air sealing work it will likely need, and the more savings it will have. For example, a 3-story split level home with dormer windows built in the 1930s will take more time to air seal and save more energy and cost more than doing air sealing work at a 1-one story ranch style home built in the 1960s . Some houses will cost more than other houses to airseal, but the savings will be greater as well.
It often can be a good idea to use a blower door and even a duct blaster to make sure there aren’t any hidden openings in your home where air can leak, and also to make sure your home is not overly airtight upon completion, and we offer these services as well.
The present day code is usually R-30 for attics, R-13 for walls, and R-19 for floors and overhands, except in the Tri-Valley areas, such as Pleasonton, Livermore, and Danville, etcetera, where the codes require R-38 in the attic. PG&E and some state programs require higher levels of attic insulation, R-44 and R-49. So, everyone basically 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). Add to that, after R-30 there is a diminishing benefit with higher R-values in the attic, and the cost to add more insulation is not terribly high, So you can have an attic insulated with R-49, not pay a lot extra for it, but also won’t notice a very big difference in your utility bill.
And the cons of cellulose? Well the two downsides are color and dust, but both are extremely minor. Sometimes a customer may object to cellulose because of it’s drab light gray color and it’s obvious dustiness, when compared to fiberglass, which is pure white in color, or pink, or yellow, depending on the manufacturer, and also dust, which is much less visible but much more irritating to the skin and sinuses compared to cellulose dust. The serious customer will look at all the other properties and choose cellulose for attics and walls, despite its drab color, and harmless dust in comparison to fiberglass.
Fiberglass blown in insulation is used pretty much exclusively for attics, and mainly by larger insulation companies who mainly use fiberglass batts on new construction, but at times need to use a blown in product, and their supplier prefers they use fiberglass blown in, rather than go to another manufacturer and company to use cellulose. A lot of insulation of some kind has to go into the attics of new construction, and fiberglass manufacturers go after that niche too, even though they should not due to the rodent factor.
Cellulose is also the better material because of that dusty, powdery quality. As it is installed in walls, through 1.5″ diameter holes drilled through the wood siding or stucco, it gets around the pipes and wires and fills the wall cavity completely, while fiberglass is mostly a chunkier material that sometimes will leave voids on the other side of the pipes and wires. Certainteed’s Optima is a fiberglass insulation that actually overcomes this problem with walls, with smaller glass fibers, and so, if installed properly, is on par with cellulose. But the material costs about twice as much as cellulose, takes twice as long at least, to train a worker to install the Optima in walls, and clearing out a hose clog is a much longer task than with cellulose, so, Optima just is not used nearly as much as the cellulose because everything costs more for a product that offers the same basic insulation.
Floor insulation requires the fiberglass batts or blankets, but generally makes a noticeable difference in the cold weather only. If your home was built before 1981, the floors are 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 occasionally 24″ on-center joists, and are more affordable to insulate, but houses build between 1950 and 1970 are framed mostly 4′ on-center, and those involve more labor, and possibly should be considered as a candidate for spray foam insulation. But subfloors generally 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-center framed subfloors, 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. Fiberglass batts are used for floors, as cellulose is not yet available in a solid form as the fiberglass is, but rodents generally leave subfloor insulation alone because of gravity. Racoon and opossums can pull some down but they rarely come under homes.
The different materials handle fires in different ways, and some would promote cellulose as the best material, for example it’s ability to stand up against hotter flames, while others would promote fiberglass material for being made of non-combustible material that just melts after a few hundred degrees. Both have strong advocates, and though much has been said in the past, neither nowadays has much negative to say about the other product’s fire safety record. Both are considered safe against fires as long as they are installed per the manufacturers guidelines printed on each bag of material.
What about the gaps in a roof? Won’t they allow rodents to enter despite whatever insulation is on the attic floor? The answer is if the only floor and floor joists of the attic are covered with cellulose, the rodents will move on elsewhere, because they need basically flat ground to live on. This isn’t to say that a roof with no gaps is not desirable, and may reduce the chances of rodent infestation as well or even better, personally I don’t know whether building inspectors will ever cite gaps in roofs as a call back items unless it is related to water leaks or the like. Some may like such openings in their roofs to better cool off in the warmer weather, stay ventilated, or allow for thermal expansion. Keep in mind that the size of a opening to allow a rodent to pass through is quite small, a fraction of an inch. A roof may have many of these fraction of an inch sized openings, but also be completely waterproof.
On the power usage, mainly heat, the attic accounts for 10% to 30%, the walls 10-20% and the floor 10% to 20% (cold weather only). Attics are usually partially insulated already, so if you are having your attic insulation upgraded, the difference will be less, but in most cases, still the most cost-effective measure to make a home more energy efficient. If you are doing the attic and the walls, the two will be close to each other in cost, but, on rough average, of that difference in savings, 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 just 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 mold and mildew formation, as well as be very cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer, and tenants would tend to be less happy and less healthy in such a home.
Maybe half of all attics have never had any sign of rodents, and of those that do, the signs, mainly droppings, are usually many years old by the time someone notices them, and the rodents long gone. We have looked at least 15,000 attics, of these at least 4,000 specifically involving rodents, they have steadily become a little more frequent each year, and often discussed them in the course of scheduling a site visit and, if sold, while working on them. Plus, we often get just calls every week or two from customers with rodents in their attics and almost every time with careful questioning, the attic was insulated with fiberglass. But one may typically see this general trend by just looking at a few random attics. It is a fact that very few attics with an R-19 or greater layer of cellulose have been made into a home by rodents. The only two cases of rodents living in an attic insulated with 8″ of cellulose that we have seen was a house where the garage was filled with bird seed and open to the attic, and another similar case where a fiberglass insulated access cover surrounded by cellulose, that the rodents accessed from the framing above. These are just facts I stumbled on while working in this industry, by which I have benefitted my customers by steering them away from putting fiberglass in their attics, and instead chose cellulose.
This means there are still a lot of attics, mainly ones with fiberglass insulation, and those are the ones that call us, about once a week now.
So, 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, such as spraying in 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 and yet cheap solution, which is why so many pest companies prefer this option.
First of all, if the presence of rodents is not evident there is obviously no need for removal. For the many attics that have had rodents, but are long gone now, there is no literature I have seen that says the past presence of rodents can affect anyone in the home below, And there are others where there is a definite presence of rodents and you can smell them, whether you should just call an exterminator to get rid of them, followed up by a handyman scooping out the messy areas for a bit, or just spend $10-20 K to remove the insulation and sanitize and rat proof and reinsulate. Some can’t afford this 2 nd option and it seems overkill anyhow. Others, the ones we don’t hear from, just say “we have rodents scurring up there… don’t worry eventually they will go away, forget them.”
What about the heating ducts? Can they be damaged by rodents? Yes, they can gnaw through the plastic ducts, reduce their efficiency and introduce germs, viruses, allergens, and unpleasant odors to enter your air space, which could in turn cause, for example, respiratory issues. If you suspect a rodent is in a heating duct, call an HVAC contractor to take a look and confirm. Interestingly, metal ducts, which are mostly invulnerable to rodents, can still be purchased, but have been replaced by more modern plastic lined fiberglass insulated ducts which are vulnerable to rodents. How big is this problem… I do not know, but, it is something we have heard about very rarely, and very few if any of our customers had discussed, but I am reporting it. The Internet only touches upon the subject, being all about rodents every where around a house, not focused in the attic and on ducts. Best bet here for more info is to contact several HVAC contractors about this problem.
Often, utility companies provide incentive programs to homeowners to insulate attics and walls of older homes. Utility companies, like homeowners, want to save on energy costs, and the greatest saver of energy is insulation. Utility companies do not promote the use of use fiberglass for attic insulation when they can help it, avoiding any overt costly controversies with the fiberglass industry, nor ever use radiant barrier, or use non-insulation companies. Utilities promote cellulose for attic and wall insulation, and professional, licensed insulation companies to put it in. If you do these same things for your home, and fill out the right paperwork if there is an incentive going on, then you’ll have an attic well insulated with cellulose and receive a rebate or voucher from your utility company. Definitely a win-win situation.
Whatever you do, do not re-insulate your attic with fiberglass batt insulation or blown fiberglass insulation. For the re-insulation of such attics, as with attic insulation in general, give us a call for a free estimate.
(800) 281-1898
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