Why should you be looking to insulate your attic? The answer to this first question is not that complex. Your attic is usually one of those parts of your home that’s bare. It usually doesn’t have drywall, so you’re just literally looking at the framework of the place. Insulation is going to act as a protective covering to fight off moisture, heat issues, and anything that’s going to contribute to the overall wear and tear of the structure.
There’s another answer to our original question that we also want to cover. You want to insulate an old attic as well as a new one. An old attic with worn-down insulation has lost most of the effect that insulation is meant to provide. Which is being that protective covering against all of these things that cause wear and tear, which is what we’ve talked about. In a new attic, you want to make sure that you protect the new facilities. There’s no reason to overcomplicate things. What’s the next step in the process, though?
What Type of Insulation Is Going To Work Best For Your Attic?
This is going to depend on a couple of things. For example, spray foam insulation is typically not great when having to deal with
extreme heat around it. So if you have a furnace in the attic that’s going to be burning up all of the time, that’s one of the things that you’re going to want to consider. That’s not to say that spray foam insulation is not good for an attic. It’s more of an acknowledgement that you probably want a professional opinion before you make any decision on what type of insulation you’re going to use.
Another issue that we actually see quite often are clients that are upset by the fact that they have to remove existing insulation in their attic to add new materials. They usually want to install a completely different type of insulation than the one that they had because the one they had failed them. In theory, that’s not necessarily a bad train of thought. You do have to look into the age of the existing insulation. The fact is that not all of the materials that are used in situations like this are meant to last for decades. That’s something that you want to account for.
How Do I Know When My Insulation Is Old & Needs Replacing?
Again there are a couple of ways that you can find this out. Let’s go with the proactive ways to know if you will first. If you know when the original insulation was put in place, then you can get a good idea of when it needs to be replaced. If you’re able to replace the insulation before you start seeing moisture issues develop in your attic you’re going to be in a good spot. It’s always preferable to be proactive than reactive with these types of things.
The other way that you’ll likely know that your insulation needs to be replaced is if you literally start seeing parts of insulation material being sprayed all over your home by the air conditioner. When insulation material is old it breaks apart, and particles of it fly all over the place. The presence of moisture spots is also one of the things that you want to be on the lookout for as well. When you see mold for example, that’s the ultimate sign that you have a problem that you need to address as we mentioned before it’s better to be proactive or react quickly with the little signs.
Why Attic Insulation Isn’t Necessarily A DIY Project
Essentially the first step in any attic insulation, installation procedure has to do with choosing the right type of insulation to install. What does this have to do with installation not being a DIY project? If you choose wrong, you could be dealing with severe consequences. Really from that first moment it’s just better to have a professional on hand. Make sure though as a property owner that the professional you hire inspects the area thoroughly before they let you know the type of insulation that they want to use. If they just kind of eyeball it without even looking at the attic that could be a red flag.
Another reason why you don’t want to be doing this on your own is because some of the insulation materials aren’t exactly user friendly. Spray foam insulation seems to be really user friendly, but without the right tools to be able to apply or knowledge of the amounts that you need to apply and things of that nature you could be looking at a very lackluster result. That’s actually not the worst thing that could happen. Not knowing how to handle spray foam insulation materials can lead to all sorts of injuries or worse.
Look Into Insulating Other Parts Of The House While You’re At It
This is actually something that happens rather often to us if we’re honest. Since you’re looking at the attic can you go ahead, and inspect some of the other parts of the house? The answer is yes, but we want to address this because it kind of goes back to what we talked about with picking the right type of insulation for each area. What we use in an attic may not necessarily be ideal for a crawlspace. There are certainly all sorts of parts in and around a home or building that can benefit from proper insulation. If you want to get our guys to assess your situation and work with you on an action to improve your current situation, give us a call.
We’ll gladly provide an inspection of all the existing areas, including your attic that you’re interested in adding insulation materials to. From there we’ll provide a detailed report on how we believe we should proceed in each situation. That’s one of the main benefits that you’ll get in going with true pros to deal with your insulation needs.
