Properly insulating your home will conserve energy and lower your heating and cooling costs. It will be quieter and more comfortable. We offer a variety of insulation and weatherization services for Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue, Washington, in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.
If the insulation in your attic is at or below the level of your joists, you should benefit from adding insulation. Washington State code for the attic is 49. This is 10-12 inches of cellulose insulation and 14 to 17 inches of fiberglass insulation. To be sure that we properly add the right amount, our installers place "depth markers" every 250 sq. ft.
Because heat is drawn to cold, insulating the sub-floor (above a crawl space) can make your floors more comfortable, and reduce your energy use. The batts are installed flush against the subfloor to eliminate any gaps, which could be passageways for cold air flow. The batts are slit to fit snugly around wiring and plumbing.
Ground Cover / Vapor Barrier - The function of the Ground Cover is to retard the migration of water vapor. This is critical to help control evaporation from soil. If damaged, we often recommend removing the existing ground cover prior to installing a 6-mil black polyethylene cover. This will reduce soil moisture from migrating into the crawl space and house.
We check to be sure you have adequate ground drainage (no standing water,) cross ventilation, and no rodent damage.
Many homes built before 1970 have uninsulated walls. We carefully drill two 1 ¼ inch holes through the siding of each wall cavity, preferably from the outside, and fill with fine, cellulose insulation. We physically check to be sure there are no obstructions, and that the entire cavity is filled properly. Then we plug the hole with a solid, wooden plug and spackle. The homeowner is responsible for final finish and painting. Because of the large surface area of walls, insulated walls can reduce the heat loss of your home.
A well functioning duct systems gets the heat from the furnace to the intended room, minimizing the amount of energy that is lost and wasted in unheated spaces like a crawl space, attic or garage. Metal ducts often have disconnects (due to cable installer and electrician activity) and poorly sealed connections at the seams, elbows, saddles/collars and at the registers. Evidence shows that in some homes, over 10% - 20% of energy can be lost through poorly sealed and poorly insulated heat ducts.
If severely damaged, by smoke, moisture, mold or rodents, we may recommend that the insulation in an attic or crawl space be removed. Our crews are extremely thorough.
In the attic, we use a powerful removal machine to remove ALL of the insulation and fecal material.
Prior to insulating, we recommend that major air leaks be sealed. This includes areas around plumbing and electrical penetrations, gaps around masonry fireplaces and duct penetrations.
Depending on the severity of the rodent activity, occasionally the attic or crawl space insulation will need to "cleaned out" and replaced. Rodents have poor vision and rely on a pheromone scent that they emit through their urine and feces which marks their trails when traveling through a crawl space. We refer clients to a company that specializes in trapping, enzyme treatments (for odors) and rodent exclusion work. Their work is guaranteed, eliminating the need for continuous service after the work is completed.