Do you know that insulation doesn’t have an expiration date? No matter how long it has been since you’ve insulated your home, it never actually stops working. With that in mind, the right home insulation solution is a one-time deal that can last you a lifetime.

Close to 30% of your residency’s energy is wasted when it seeps through the floors, walls, and roof. If not insulated properly, air leaks out through parts of your home, rendering it cost-inefficient. So besides the virtual life-long guarantee, insulation is also pretty cost-effective. Once you’ve done it, you’ll start seeing its benefits in your reduced heating bills, for example.

To make sure you’ve made the right decision by insulting your home, there are aspects of it you need to consider, so stick around and read all about it.

What Does Insulation Mean, Exactly?

In a nutshell, insulation is the process of protecting your home from noise, weather, and other environmental occurrences. It refers to having your residence thermally managed.

But even though most of the insulation is done regarding making your home thermally effective, there are also other purposes for insulation, such as fire insulation, impact insulation, and acoustic insulation.

Insulation is used to block the passage of heat, cold, sound, or impact through your residence or place of choice. Most people opt for insulation to keep their homes cost-effective, and it’s becoming a significant feature of many homes in Kansas City.

Types of Insulation

Depending on the materials used, there are four types of insulation:

• Cellulose insulation;
• Fiberglass;
• Mineral (rock or slag);
• and Spray Foam insulation.

Of the four types, spray-foam insulation is the most commonly used insulation type that prevents homes from getting too hot, too cold, or prone to developing mold.

Foam Insulation: What Is It?

Spray foam is a type of insulation material used to hinder the air from leaking through the walls, floors, or ceiling recesses. Spray foam is particularly practical to use in places that are difficult to reach, such as small cavities in the ceiling or narrow holes in the floor.

Also, insulation foam is widely used for securing the spaces around light fixtures and power outlets or any other space where the windows and doors are placed.

What makes insulation foam practical to use is that it can be applied directly into any openings and in any building construction ⁠— new or already existing. Whenever there’s a visible cavity in your home that can be accessed, insulation foam can be sprayed in.

Another perk of using foam for insulation is that it will never lose its shape. Whatever opening you might have in your house, like gaps, cracks, and crevices, the foam will fit like a glove. It won’t sag or compress over time, unlike other traditional insulation materials.

Why Choose Foam for Insulation?

Among the other materials used for insulating a home, foam is definitely the most sought-after insulation material ⁠— and for a good reason. Homeowners opt for foam insulation because it won’t shape-shift. It won’t overflow the cavity. Neither will it sag or modify the original shape of the space.

Insulating your home with foam can help you maintain the preferred temperature and lower your electric bills. Foam locks in the air in cavities and hinders it from passing through walls, floors, or ceilings, which leads to more cost-efficient energy management.

Other than preventing air leaks, the foam will insulate your home from drafts ⁠— just spray it anywhere you think you might have a draft, and that’s it. The foam will expand and fit the crack or cranny like a glove.

What Else Can Foam Be Used For?

People living in places that experience severe shifts in weather conditions are more often faced with condensation issues because if there’s a significant discrepancy in the exterior and interior temperature, condensation will form. This will most commonly happen to windows with no or little insulation.

So besides energy management and draft control, homeowners use foam to deal with the condensation build-up in their walls. Insulation foam can halt different air temperatures from meeting, thus causing condensation by sealing the air.

Other than preventing condensation, foam insulation will work wonders for ice dams in winter.

Those living in cooler places know very well how pesky ice dams can get. Every time water on the roof freezes and the heat that comes from the attic starts to melt it, it runs down and forms an ice dam near the gutter, at the lower side of the roof.

For this to no longer be the case in your home, insulating the roof deck with foam will lock in the warm air and prevent it from leaking through the roof, melting the ice and causing ice dams.

How Can Insulating My Home With Foam Benefit Me?

As a homeowner in Kansas City, you’ll be getting the most of your money’s worth from high-quality insulation. Choose well and you’ll be all set for a lifetime.

Insulating your home means you’ll be taking care of every single issue that’s been causing your energy bill to go through the roof or even causing you physical discomfort in your own home.

Here are some of the aspects that foam insulation at home can take care of:

No More Air Leaks

Using foam for insulation will fill and seal every crack, and cavity in your walls, floors, or ceilings, making sure. Thanks to the foam being made of polyurethane, it will expand close to 100 times its size to fit every opening and prevent the air from leaking nicely.

What’s Sealed Will Stay Sealed 

Foam won’t budge, no matter how long it’s been since you’ve insulated the cracks in the ceiling. It won’t disrupt the constriction of your walls, floors, or ceiling. It will stay in place and do its job for years to come. Unlike other insulation materials, the foam won’t settle or sag, which makes it the most cost-efficient investment for insulation.

No More Allergens

Insulating your home with foam translates to preventing allergens, dust, and pollutants from entering your living space ⁠— it even halts bacteria and mold build-up. Foam insulation is especially beneficial for residential homes of families with children, meaning the young ones can enjoy growing up in a safe environment.

Less Energy Loss

After you have insulated your home with foam, you will begin noticing the reduction of loss of energy since the foam will prevent the heat and cool from escaping the room, causing your AC or heater to work overtime which will end up with you paying more for your monthly bill.

No Infestations

Since polyurethane doesn’t make a good nesting environment or food source, insects or rodents won’t be able to infest. In contrast to other insulation materials, the foam expands and fills in the entire crack or opening in question, so there will be no room for anything to settle in.

Termites and other pests will also be out of the question ⁠— the foam can act as a barrier between any wooden construction.

How Expensive Is Foam Insulation?

Well, the whole process of insulating your home is costly; it’s not just foam insulation.

But considering everything you will be doing to make sure your home is safe, cost-efficient, and made to last, the cost of insulation won’t seem like much since you’ll definitely be getting your money’s worth.

The cost of insulating your home will depend on several factors:

• The type of insulation and the material used;
• Where is your home located;
• Is it a new home or an older construction in question;
• The labor cost in your designated area.

If you’re looking to insulate a newly constructed home, the insulation cost will be less than that for insinuating an older construction.

When it comes to the type of insulation, spray foam insulation is a tad more expensive than fiberglass insulation. Still, the numbers don’t even come close to the benefits you’ll be getting from foam insulation.

Should I Chose Foam Insulation for My Home?

Getting your home insulated is a no-brainer since you’ll be making an investment in your home that will last you a lifetime. Now, depending on your own preferences and budget, there are four types of insulation to choose from: fiberglass, mineral, cellulose, and foam.

According to the features of each insulation type, foam insulation is the most energy-effective insulation that will deliver exactly what you want from insulation: cost-efficiency, comfort, lifetime guarantee, and safe living space.

How To Do It?

If you landed on insulating your home, then opting for foam insulation will have you smiling in no time. Just choose the right company to do all the heavy lifting, and you’ll be all set for years to come.

Whether you need your attic insulated or your basement’s insulation has been long overdue, getting professionals to help is the best thing you can do to have a more energy-efficient home.

Reach out to A+ Insulation and rest assured you’ll no longer be dealing with insulation issues.

Hot air rises, and so will your energy bill if you have a poorly insulated attic. During fall and winter, 25% of heat escapes through the attic. That’s 25% of your heating costs wasted on heat energy that doesn’t do its job.

This is why proper attic insulation is crucial to achieving an energy-efficient home. The insulation forms a barrier between your attic and the outside temperature, keeping the inside of your home warm in the winter months and cool in the summer.

But the attic also tends to be the least visited space in most houses, so many homeowners don’t realize when their attic insulation has issues or isn’t working at all. This results in your home’s temperature being poorly regulated and your energy bills skyrocketing.

As such, it’s important to check your attic insulation and identify any problems so you can solve them right away. We listed some of the most common attic insulation problems below.

1. Uneven insulation material

Some homeowners choose to DIY their attic insulation. And while this can be done, not only can it be potentially disastrous, it can also lead to uneven insulation application.

When the insulation material is unevenly distributed, it results in different R-values or thermal resistance in the attic. That means one part of your attic may have higher thermal resistance while the others may let in more heat flow.

Solution:

Instead of suffering the consequences, such as higher energy bills and poor temperature regulation, it’s best to leave the attic insulation job to professionals.

2. Collapsed or compacted insulation

The attic acts mainly as a storage space for boxes and bulky items that are not in use. But when your attic is too crowded and the boxes press against the insulation, the latter becomes compressed and loses its ability to insulate.

When attic insulation gets compressed or completely deteriorates, its R-value decreases. And when your attic insulation’s R-value decreases, so does your attic’s thermal resistance, making your house less energy efficient.

Solution:

Avoid collapsed or compacted insulation by keeping heavy boxes and other bulky items off the insulation material. Instead of placing all the items on the floor, install shelves and other storage solutions that will relieve the weight from your attic insulation.

You can also install solid flooring on top of your attic insulation so you can place items on the floor without directly putting weight on and possibly damaging the insulation material below.

3. Nonexistent skylight shaft insulation

If you have a skylight, there must be a shaft in the attic that runs from your roof, passes through the attic, and ends at your ceiling. The part exposed in your attic needs to be insulated, too, but many don’t bother with this step.

With sunlight passing through the skylight, heat goes through the shaft. Similarly, cold temperature creeps in during winter. If left uninsulated, the shaft will be a point of low thermal resistance in your attic, leading to ineffective attic insulation.

Solution:

Make sure to insulate around the shaft and seal it properly. Insulation installed onto skylight shafts is prone to becoming loose and falling to the floor, so it’s best if it gets sealed.

4. Missing insulation from repaired spaces

If you have proper attic insulation but have since made repairs to your attic, you might have missed fixing the insulation as well.

Attic repairs may move around or completely remove the insulation material. Once the project is done, you or your contractor may forget to replace it. As mentioned before, if your attic insulation has bald spots, those parts have less thermal resistance and will let out heating or cooling energy.

Solution:

If you’re doing repairs, put insulation on your checklist of things to accomplish. And if you’ve done repairs in the past and know that you didn’t replace the insulation, check it now and insulate as soon as possible.

5. Uninsulated access to the attic

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s guide of where to insulate in a home, attic doors must be insulated. Otherwise, they’re like holes in the layer of insulation covering your attic floor that facilitate heat transfer.

Solution:

Prevent energy loss in your home by insulating access to your attic.

If you have an attic hatch or a scuttle hole, which is a removable panel in your ceiling leading to the attic, you need to weatherstrip the trim of the hatch, attach layers of foam board to the panel, and install your choice of insulation on top.

Keep the R-value of the insulation of the hatch’s removable panel the same as that of the insulation in the rest of your attic.

If your attic access is through a set of pull-down stairs, you can insulate it by weather stripping the perimeter of the frame and building an insulation foam box topped with batt insulation in the attic to enclose the stairs.

If your attic is accessed through knee wall doors, make sure to buy knee wall doors with built-in insulation.

If this is not an option, you can seal it the same way you seal an attic hatch: by weather stripping the frame and attaching foam insulation to the attic side of the door.

6. Blocked attic ventilation

Lack of ventilation in the attic results in either a hot attic in the summer or a wet attic in winter. Sometimes, insulation blocks the soffit vents in your attic—this is a vent that allows air to flow into the attic, keeping it cool in the summer and allowing moisture to evaporate.

If your insulation blocks these vents, it contributes to attic condensation and moisture. This can result in the growth of mold and mildew, which can put your health at risk.

Solution:

Avoid the hazards of inhaling or ingesting mold and mildew by making sure the vents in your attic are clear of any insulation materials and other blockages.

Since your insulation materials can move or fall, especially if they’ve been installed for more than a decade, it’s best to check your attic regularly and make sure they are not blocking the soffit vents.

7. Pest infestation

The attic is often dark and undisturbed, making it a perfect hideaway for pests, insects, and small animals. Attics with inadequate insulation are especially attractive to these pests, which thrive in places with excessive moisture. They also use exposed insulation materials to build their nests.

Some of the pests you’ll likely find in your attic are:

• Birds
• Bats
• Mice
• Raccoons
• Cluster flies
• Squirrels

Solution:

Keep your attic free of pests by finding and sealing all cracks, gaps, and holes. Make sure also to replace the insulation material in these spots to restore thermal resistance in your attic.

If there’s already an infestation, call your local extermination company to get rid of the pests. Then, fix all the holes they might have made through the attic insulation.

8. Inadequate R-Value

As mentioned earlier, the R-value of your insulation indicates your attic’s thermal resistance or ability to regulate the temperature in your home. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulation.

But each insulation material has a different R-value, determined by its density and thickness. The R-value also depends on the number of layers for multilayered attic insulation.

Additionally, the recommended R-value depends on the climate in your area, your HVAC system, and which part of the house you want to insulate.

If you install insulation with an inadequate R-value, the temperature in your home will not be properly regulated, and you will not be able to maximize the energy efficiency that attic insulation brings.

Solution:

According to the Department of Energy, attic insulation should at least be R-30. However, this is the minimum and depends on which climate zone you belong to.

Those in Zones 1 to 5, for example, require attic insulation of at least R-38, while those in Zones 6 to 8 would need at least R-49 attic insulation.

Types of Attic Insulation

The two common types of attic insulation are blown-in insulation and batt insulation.

• Blown-in Insulation

Also known as loose-fill insulation, this type comes in tiny chunks of insulation material, such as fiberglass, blown in using a machine. It has an R-value of approximately 2.5 per inch, so you need a thick layer to achieve adequate attic insulation.

• Batt Insulation

On the other hand, batt insulation comes in rolled-up sheets with the insulation material held in place by adhesive binders like reflective foil. It is easy to install and has an R-value of about 4.3 per inch.

Get Adequate Attic Insulation from Experts

A+ Insulation is a Kansas City-based insulation company that professionally installs insulation in different parts of the home, including the attic.

Our expert attic insulation contractors even install cathedral ceiling insulation and other forms of insulation for tight spaces between your roof and your ceiling.

Let our licensed, knowledgeable team of attic insulation professionals evaluate your Kansas City home’s insulation needs. Call us at (913) 674-9913 to schedule a free, no-obligation inspection and estimate.

While picturesque, ice dams are not welcome sights. They can cause water damage to your roof and attic. Worse, the sharp icicles hanging off an ice dam are safety hazards. If any of them fall or if the ice dam itself falls, they may cause serious injury and even death.

Read on to learn about how ice dams form, what you can do about them, and how you can prevent them with proper insulation.

Ice Dam Formation Process

Snow on the roof melts, refreezes at the eaves or gutter, and forms ice dams due to temperature differences across the roof. This means that warm air is coming from within the house and up into the attic, heating the underside of the roof.

However, the heat doesn’t reach the eaves or gutter, so the water freezes there. The ice accumulates, forming a dam that causes melt water from the warm roof to back up. The melt water then starts flowing under the shingles and into the house.

Damage to Your Home

If ice dams form on your roof, it can tear gutters off and loosen shingles. The backed up water can seep into your house, causing water and moisture damage.

It can lead to stained and sagging ceilings, peeling paint, a warped floor, and soggy attic insulation. This also provides habitats for mold and mildew growth. Additionally, your home will lose its resale value.

The ice dam may melt and come loose when the weather warms. It can fall, possibly taking shingles and the gutter with it, and injuring anyone below.

Signs of Ice Dam Formation

There are numerous warning signs of ice dam formation:

• Presence of ice on the gutters or on the lower edge of the roof
• Ice around the soffit vents or coming through the vents themselves
• Icicles along the roof’s edge
• Ice or melt water on the siding

As soon as you see any of these signs, take measures to prevent ice dams. You may try using heat cables. These are placed along the edges of the roof and will heat it so that melt water doesn’t refreeze and form a dam.

Some may find the heat cables unattractive. Also, they can only be used to prevent ice dams, not remove existing ones. If you choose to use this method, install them early.

Dealing with Existing Ice Dams

Once ice dams have formed, don’t try to remove them yourself. You will be putting yourself at risk of injury. Instead hire a professional to ensure ice dams are removed safely.

If the ice dams are already causing damage to your home, there are a few things you can do to mitigate it. Keep in mind that these are only temporary solutions.

What not to do

Let’s start off by talking about what not to do when you have an ice dam.

You might be tempted to get a hammer, chisel, or some other tool to hack at the ice and break it off. However, this can break your roofing. Don’t use salt either. It’s highly corrosive and may damage your roofing, siding, gutters, and downspouts.

Freeze leaks with cold air

If the ice dam causes a leak in your attic, you can stop it by blowing cold air onto it. Bring a fan into the attic and aim it at where the leak is from beneath the roof to freeze it. This will help prevent further damage to your home.

Rake the snow

You should always remove excess snow from your roof after a heavy snowfall, but it becomes even more important to do so when you have an ice dam. Use a long-handled roof rake to safely scrape snow off your roof from the ground. This will help decrease the amount of melt water buildup.

Never try to remove snow by climbing up as you’ll be in danger of slipping and falling. You don’t need to reach your whole roof either, just whatever part of it you can with the rake.

De-icing methods

You can try using de-icing methods to melt the ice dam or create a gap in it. Check your local hardware stores for de-icing products such as calcium magnesium acetate. They’re sold as tablets or crystals that can be spread over affected areas to safely melt the dam.

Another method is to fill a discarded pantyhose or something similar with calcium chloride ice melter. You then lay this across the ice dam, hanging over the edge. This creates a gap in the ice dam through which the water can drain.

Attic insulation as a permanent solution

The best way to prevent ice dams from forming in the first place is to keep the entire roof at the same temperature. You do this by insulating your attic. Proper insulation will keep heat within your home from escaping and warming your roof.

It’s possible to insulate your attic yourself, but only if you’re highly experienced. Installing insulation is a job for professionals. Unless you have several years of DIY experience, it is highly advisable you hire one.

That’s why you need A+ Insulation’s attic insulation installation service. We’ll keep your home safe from ice dams and other damage caused by poor insulation.

Other solutions to consider

In addition to attic insulation, there are several other ways you can prevent heat from reaching your roof to minimize the risk of ice damming.

Attic ventilation

Along with poor attic insulation, poor ventilation is one of the two main causes of uneven roof temperatures.

By allowing the cold winter air to flow through your attic, it keeps your roof cold and prevents ice from forming a dam. Proper ventilation also reduces moisture in the attic, preventing mold, mildew, and rot.

Vapor barrier

Your attic’s insulation should have a vapor barrier that keeps warm, moist air from entering the attic. There should be only one, between the ceiling and the insulation.

If the vapor barrier is above the insulation or if there is more than one, moisture can get trapped, causing the insulation to get wet. This can lead to mold growth. If there’s no vapor barrier, heat and moisture will enter the attic.

A+ Insulation will correct this problem for you should we find it.

Seal the attic hatch

Your attic hatch is a huge opening through which heat can enter your attic. Air seal the trim with caulk and foam sealant depending on the size of the gap. Air seal the hatch perimeter with compression bulb weatherstrip. Finally, insulate the hatch itself with foam.

Ensure all exhausts lead outside

If your exhausts are improperly installed, they can bring heat to your attic. All ducts should lead hot air outside, either through the roof or the walls. They should never go through the soffit as they will heat the roof.

Use sealed can lights

As recessed lights are installed directly into the ceiling, they can create pathways for heat to travel into the attic. Unfortunately, they can’t be insulated. Use sealed IC-rated lighting fixtures instead and cover them with insulation.

Insulate ducts

By installing thermal insulation on your ducts, you minimize energy loss. Less heat will escape from the ducts and into your attic. Use fiber-reinforced mastic for the joints and cover everything with R-5 or R-6 foil-faced fiberglass insulation.

Caulk penetrations

You can further insulate your attic by sealing electrical penetrations and vent pipes with a fire-stop sealant. This blocks off small passages through which heat can travel.

Clean your gutters

During the fall, gutters are often clogged by fallen leaves and branches. Make sure to clean them before winter comes around. Otherwise, water will flow through them more slowly, giving them more time to freeze.

Additional benefits

Investing in attic insulation and ventilation might seem like too much just to deal with ice dams. However, they also come with various long-term benefits, and you’ll be glad to have them the whole year, not just during winter.

Utility bill savings

With better insulation, you won’t need to spend as much on heating and cooling to maintain comfortable temperatures. Insulating your attic can save you up to 30% on energy bills. This also saves you on HVAC system maintenance costs since there’s less wear and tear on them.

Safer home structure

Insulating your attic protects your home from heat and moisture damage. It will protect walls from erosion, shingles from swelling and cracking, and plywood from softening and rotting. It also eliminates cool, moist areas where mold and mildew can grow.

Better indoor comfort and health

Homes are susceptible to sudden temperature fluctuations if they’re not properly insulated, even if they have the best heating and cooling systems. With proper insulation, you’ll ensure comfort throughout the whole day, even as temperatures lower during the night and early morning.

Insulation also prevents pollutants from entering through air leaks. This improves air quality within your home, helping you stay healthy and avoid diseases.

Let us insulate your attic

A+ Insulation provides high-quality insulation installations. We provide upfront, on-the-spot quotes and are as minimally invasive as possible during installations so you experience few disruptions.

If you want the added benefit of soundproofing your home, check out A+ Insulation’s best soundproofing insulation.

Contact us to talk to one of our insulation experts. Call us at (913) 281-2250 if you live in Kansas or (816) 265-1947 if you live in Missouri. You can also fill out our contact form.

Crawl space damage costs homeowners an average of $5,500 nationwide. Typical crawl space damage repair costs $1,500-$15,000 in repairs. The average cost doesn’t include repairs for the effects of poor crawl space insulation to the rest of the property. Insulating your crawl space correctly can save you a lot of costly repairs in the coming years.

Insulation’s Home Defense Role

Many of A+ Insulation’s clients request crawl space insulation work during the months with extreme weather—the hottest and the coldest months. Insulation defends your home and foundations against the elements. During seasons with extreme weather, homes without proper insulation risk costlier damage to repair, making crawl space insulation worth the cost.

Hot Weather Risks

In scorching weather, the wood components of your home will dry out. The sediment around the foundations of your home depletes in moisture, shrinking, causing the support to weaken and shift.

The opposite is also possible. If there’s a lot of humidity in your area during the hot seasons, the wood in your home and foundations could get moisture damage from being exposed in the crawl space. Mold and mildew thrive in this damp environment, and both of these things can compromise the strength and structural integrity of your wood foundations.

Cold Weather Risks

The moisture damage becomes the most significant risk to homes in colder months. Rain or snow can put a lot of moisture damage onto the wood in your crawlspace and the rest of the home’s foundations.

Another significant issue revolves around plumbing and pipes, which are often built to run through the crawl space. Without the insulation, your pipes are likely to freeze and burst in extreme cold. This problem will cost even more money from you, approximately $5,000-$70,000 depending on the damage.

The Basics of Crawl Space Insulation

The way to approach crawl space insulation is to consider it part of your home’s general conditioning. Don’t look at it as an area you want to isolate or cut off from the rest of the home. Consider the temperature in it the way you would consider the temperature within the living spaces of your house.

The goal of insulation for your crawl space is to control the temperature and moisture in it. It’s a two-pronged approach. You need to make this low area more balanced in temperature and hold it in that condition, keeping the upper floors warm. And in the same procedure, you’re protecting the foundations of your home from the elements that could make it brittle or susceptible to wear.

Preparing to Insulate Your Crawl Space

Prepare the tools, materials, and necessary equipment before you begin any work to improve the efficiency of the process. It also helps ensure that you have everything you need and won’t be looking for missing tools or materials so that all work can proceed unimpeded by issues.

Materials (Insulation)

There’s more than one option available for crawl space insulation. What’s best for your home depends on the type of crawl space you have and what it needs to maintain the temperature in the area.

• Fiberglass

During the past decades, this has been the most popular choice for insulation. This may be the type of insulation you currently have in your home as it remains a popular option among builders. Fiberglass is a material made of a plastic matrix strengthened by glass fibers, which gives the material its name.

Fiberglass insulation can stop heat transfer through solid objects. It keeps heat from moving towards a colder area, making it ideal during the winter months. It comes in loose-fill or bats. However, it’s worth knowing that fiberglass could be unsuitable for some crawl spaces as it can cause damage to the wooden floor structure above it. Furthermore, if the fiberglass starts absorbing water, it gets too heavy and falls.

• Spray Foam

Spray foam insulation comes in two varieties: closed-cell and open-cell.

Closed-cell foam insulation is more expensive, but it’s a quick and effective installation option. It helps fill gaps and can be used even around uneven areas and obstacles. It works by creating a vapor barrier on surfaces that prevent them from being damaged by water and moisture.

However, it’s a permanent solution and won’t get easily removed if something goes wrong. Keeping the layer consistent is also challenging, as there’s plenty of potential to go overboard and spray too much on.

Open-Cell foam insulation is also expensive, but not as much as the closed-cell variety. Like the closed-cell variant, it’s quick and efficient to install, but it’s also a permanent option. Unlike closed-cell, it doesn’t create a vapor barrier.

So when it comes to insulating your crawl space, closed-cell spray foam is better, as it is better suited for your needs.

• Foam Board or Rigid Foam

Rigid board or foam-board is a cost-effective insulation solution. It’s a better option than fiberglass for this reason. It’s waterproof and stable and won’t compress or fall apart like fiberglass batts. It’s ideal for walls and crawl spaces because it prevents needing fiberglass insulation in the first place. The foam board is placed securely against the crawl space to insulate against damage.

The downside to foam board is that it’s a lot more complicated to install than spray foam and more time-consuming. The board must be cut and fitted to the spaces that need insulation and requires accurate measurements to ensure a perfect fit. It also can’t be installed over obstacles and will need to be cut in such a way to avoid them.

Equipment and Tools

While some of the equipment may depend on the type of insulation that you’ll be putting onto your crawl space, most of them are necessary for both.

• Caulking gun
• Utility knife
• Flashlight
• Saw (fine-toothed is more ideal)
• Shovel and rake for the soil
• Tape measure
• Straight edge
• The insulation material needed

Safety Equipment and Reminders

The materials used for insulation can be hazardous to your health. The materials that make up insulation can enter your lungs, make it difficult to breathe, and irritate the skin. Ensure that you use gloves, safety goggles, and a protective mask, especially when handling the insulation materials.

The crawl space will also be enclosed and difficult to move around in. Make sure you have bright lights that keep the area brightly illuminated so you can see what you’re working on. You’ll also want to wear knee pads to not hurt or scuff your knees as you move around the area.

The Insulation Process

First, you’ll need to clear your work area of debris. Make sure there aren’t any nails jutting out of the walls or over your head. Sweep away rocks or stones around the ground’s surface. And most of all, you need to eliminate any moisture sources.

This means you need to move downspouts away from your crawl space. It’s best to check the gutters of your home to see if any of them might be sending rainwater runoff down to the crawl space area.

If you have a garden, check your irrigation system. If the irrigation is causing the soil in the crawlspace to become damp or leaks water into the walls, you need to block out the water’s path and redirect it elsewhere.

Warm Climate Installation

• Make sure that your insulation is placed securely against the surface.

The insulation must be in direct contact with the underside of your floor or the ceiling of your crawl space.

If you’re using fiberglass batts, use a crisscrossing wire to hold the material in place.

If you’re using spray foam, you can spray directly against the surface. However, you must maintain a steady hand and make sure that the insulation stays as even as possible. Maintaining even layers will keep the insulation more consistent in its performance.

If you’re using rigid board insulation, you’ll need to use mechanical fasteners. While you can use industrial adhesives to hold it in place, the mechanical fasteners will make doubly sure that the boards don’t fall.

• Seal the space.

After adding the insulation, you need to seal up vents, doors, and any gaps that open up into this area. Use the caulking gun to seal the crawlspace’s openings. Exterior-grade caulk is the most ideal, especially for sealing vent covers, rim joists, and sills.

Look for areas with electrical wiring and plumbing. Often, these go through your crawl space, and they’ll have small gaps or openings to let these wires and pipes pass through. You’ll need to fill these areas in as well.

If you’re using spray foam installation, this is a lot easier to do as they can go over these spaces and act as the seal. But if you’re using the rigid boards, you’ll need the caulking gun to do the sealing.

• Insulate the pipes and ducts

The pipes and ducts themselves need to be insulated as well. They have to get covered up with the insulation material and as closely as possible.

It’ll be more difficult to do this on such an uneven surface if you’re using foam boards, so try to use the fiberglass batting instead. You can also use spray foam.

Cold Climate Installation

Colder locations require adding more insulation than in hot climate areas. And it’s most effective when applied to the crawl space walls rather than the ceiling because the ground around the crawl space will be the source of the low temperature.

Rigid boards are considered the best insulation for these cases, because they control moisture better than the other types while sealing in air.

• Cover the vents.

If your crawl space is already unventilated, you can skip this step. However, if you have a ventilated crawl space, you’ll need to remove any vents entirely and seal the area with the caulking gun.

Look for holes in the foundation as well and seal them up. You need to create as tight an airlock as possible in your crawl space.

• Insulate the foundation.

The foundation of your home itself needs insulation along with the walls. This is another reason that foam boards work so well—it can be applied on brick, stone, and any other type of masonry.

Glue the boards to the inside of the foundation walls, or, use mechanical fasteners for even more security. After that, seal everything again with waterproof tape to create airtight and watertight insulation.

• Look for any sources of moisture remaining inside the space.

Do a double-check of your work area to see if there are still any sources of dampness or moisture. Then you have to get rid of all of them as much as possible. The goal is to prevent condensation and dampness. This prevents mold and mildew from growing.

A good tip is to look over your plumbing pipes and check for leaks. Cover them up or seal them while you’re there in the crawl space and head off any potential problems during the cold weather.

Get Professional Inspection and Appraisal for Your Insulation

Some communities require professional inspections from a government authority to ensure that any insulation work is done according to regulation. This process not only ensures that the job has been done right, but that it’s also safe for the occupants of the house.

Insulating a crawl space can be difficult since it requires so much checking to ensure that all regulations are followed and that all areas are sealed correctly. Because of this, it’s worth hiring a professional to do it instead.

Professional contractors are well-versed in the regulatory requirements. They can also correctly calculate the amount of insulation needed and whether a space needs some or no ventilation at all. Finally, they have the equipment necessary to ensure the space is fully sealed.

Put your home’s safety and protection in the hands of professionals with long years of experience in insulating homes. Contact A+ Insulation today to request a quick quote, or browse our services to see other areas where we can do the insulation for you.

Living in a crowded, noisy part of town can make even staying at home tiring. There can be car horns from out in the street or noisy neighbors blasting their stereo. If this happens on a regular basis, it can have a serious negative impact on your health.

A quiet home is important to your well-being. If the noise gets to you and interferes with your relaxation and sleep, then maybe it’s time to consider getting insulation to soundproof your home.

More Rest and Less Stress

The most obvious and most important benefit to having soundproofing insulation is that less noise results in better relaxation by reducing disturbance to sleep and other activities.

You might be tempted just to ignore the noise. After all, whatever noise you experience in your home is likely intermittent; it goes away after a while and might not be worth investing in a permanent solution for. This might work at first.

However, a lack of quality rest time takes its toll on you. You might be able to ignore noise for a time, but you can’t ignore the physical and psychological effects it has on you. Quality rest is needed for your body and mind to heal and wind down.

The Negative Effects of Noise

Noise pollution has several negative effects on your well-being. It’s been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, depression, increased anxiety, and tinnitus.

Regardless of whether the noise is the engines of a plane flying overhead or the hum of the TV, it can activate your brain’s fight or flight response. And it aggravates existing health conditions by increasing stress levels.

Stress itself causes a variety of symptoms, including physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. You become more prone to negative emotions, have less energy, possibly get tense muscles, are less able to focus, have less of an appetite, and more.

If it comes to the point that the noise affects your sleep, its negative effects on your well-being are unsurprisingly magnified.

The Positive Effects of Silence

By installing soundproofing insulation, you avoid the negative effects of noise and benefit from the healthy effects of silence.

Silence has been found to stimulate brain growth. It enhances sleep and lessens insomnia. And it restores your mental strength, allowing you to better use your creativity and do some self-reflection. Even just 10 minutes in total silence does wonders for your concentration.

You’re probably bombarded with various stressors throughout the day. There’s work, unpleasant relations to deal with, bad news about the pandemic, and many other possible stressors winding you up. Home should be a refuge where you can block all of this out. You don’t need your neighbor’s music adding to your irritation.

Eliminate the noise, and your home becomes a much healthier place to live in.

A Better Home Environment

A quiet home with each room undisturbed by noise is a peaceful home. Soundproofing insulation makes your home much more comfortable. In addition to preventing noise from the outside coming in, it prevents noise from going from room to room.

To add to your comfort, soundproofing insulation doesn’t just insulate your home from sound, it also prevents heat from coming in or escaping. This makes it easier to keep your home at your preferred temperature, meaning your home is cooler during summer and warmer during winter. It also saves you money on your energy bills as you spend less electricity on appliances to cool or heat your home.

Privacy and Peace of Mind

As discussed earlier, quality rest and lack of noise are incredibly important to maintaining your health. But what if, for example, the people you live with want to watch a movie late at night? Perhaps you have a child practicing an instrument?

Maybe you’re the one who wants to relax with an activity that’s relatively noisy but don’t want to inconvenience the rest of the people in the house. Perhaps you’re singing in your room and don’t want anyone to hear you. Or you’re chatting with some friends over the phone, or online on your PC, and want your conversations to be private.

Regardless of what it is, soundproofing insulation will keep any sound from escaping the room or at least muffle it to the point that it can’t be understood. It helps the whole household avoid disturbance from individual members.

A Better Learning Environment

Noise is bad for children’s development.

Children that live in noisy environments have a harder time reading. Noise distracts them from important stimuli like their parents talking to them. It makes it harder for them to distinguish similar sound words. “Hit” and “bit,” for example, can sound very similar when there’s background noise messing with a child’s hearing.

Noise doesn’t just affect children’s language either. It can disrupt non-auditory tasks as well, so it could potentially disrupt the development of their other sensory skills.

By installing soundproofing insulation in your home, you’re also protecting your children. It keeps their young minds from being overwhelmed by too many stimuli, be it from loud construction outside or any noise made by family members within the house.

Of course, it’s not just children. While an adult’s learning and development wouldn’t be affected as much by noise, distractions would still hinder your reading or slow your learning of new skills. Learning is much easier when there aren’t any external sources of stress like noise.

More Effective Communication

Soundproofing your home allows for better communication between everyone living in it.

Noise can make it hard to have good conversations at home. This is partly because noise makes it harder to understand the other person, but it is also largely due to the aforementioned negative effects of noise on your health.

Sometimes, communication between household members is strained enough due to the family going through a rough patch. A noisy environment aggravates this and worsens your mental state, making it harder to resolve issues and misunderstandings.

Healthy communication is necessary for a happy household. And soundproofing insulation helps keep everyone calmer and thinking clearer by blocking out the noise.

Soundproofing Your Home

Soundproofing insulation materials are installed into your walls and ceiling. As sound comes into contact with the materials, the insulation reflects or absorbs noise and converts it into heat before it goes past your walls.

Homeowners are advised to insulate their homes from top to bottom. However, different insulation materials are suited for each part of a room. For most of your walls and entryways, blown-in and spray foam insulation are your best choices. For floors and ceilings, foam boards, rigid foam panels, and blanket batts are more suitable.

Some materials are harder to install than others, depending on whether your wall or ceiling is already in place. Blanket batts are better installed while a wall or ceiling is being built. But blown-in and spray foam insulation can be installed in finished walls or ceilings and hard-to-reach places.

It’s possible to install soundproofing insulation yourself if you have the tools and expertise. However, it is much more advisable to hire professionals to do the job for you. Improper handling of soundproofing insulation materials can irritate your skin and cause you to inhale small fibers and particles, possibly triggering respiratory issues.

Additional Ways to Soundproof Your Home

In addition to installing soundproofing insulation into your walls and ceilings, there are a few other ways you can soundproof your home.

The simplest way is to use rugs or carpets and stuffed and cushioned furniture. Rugs or carpets are effective for dampening the sound of footsteps on flooring like hardwood and tiles, which make a lot of noise. They also absorb sound, preventing it from bouncing from the floor. Similarly, stuffed furniture and cushions absorb sounds and help reduce echo.

While not ideal for your whole home, you can use acoustic tiles in select rooms for extra soundproofing. They absorb sound and limit reverberation. If you have a music room, this is perfect for improving the sound quality there as it will reduce noise from outside as well echo from the instruments.

Solid doors have a thicker density and are good for blocking out noise. For windows, you can use double-pane windows, which have air between the two glass panes and sound-absorbing curtains.

Take note that while these are effective means of soundproofing your home, they are best used in combination with soundproofing insulation. This is because your walls and ceilings are the parts of your home that come into contact with sound the most.

Get Soundproof Insulation for Your Home with A+ Insulation

Finding a solution to a quieter home is of utmost importance. And the cost of soundproofing your home is small in comparison to the costs associated with the health problems caused by noise exposure.

A+ Insulation will install soundproofing insulation for your home. We have a dedicated installation team with decades of experience, ready to make your home a quieter, more relaxing place.

Call us at (913) 281-2250 or send us a message and ask for a quote or schedule an appointment.

Many homes feature a room above the garage. These bonus rooms create extra functional space on your property without you having to expand into your yard. They’re great additions for homes with smaller lots and can be used for various purposes, such as an office, guest room, entertainment and hobby area, or a play space for kids.

Despite the number of possible uses for the space, it isn’t without some drawbacks. Rooms over a garage can be challenging to heat and cool because of where they are situated. So, many homeowners complain about their bonus rooms being too hot or too cold, discouraging them from using their bonus room and rendering that additional space useless.

These overly hot or cold bonus rooms are often a result of improper insulation. The warm or cold air from the garage and the adjoining rooms seep into the bonus room, making it difficult to maintain a specific temperature in that space. If you want consistently comfortable indoor temperatures in your bonus room,  you need to properly insulate that room, the adjoining rooms, and the garage.

Garage Insulation

Most homeowners leave their unheated garages uninsulated, which is fine since they don’t need to maintain the temperature in that space anyway. If you have a bonus room, however, insulation becomes necessary even if you’re not heating your garage. The unconditioned air from your garage rises to the space above it, forcing your HVAC to work twice as hard to cool or heat the bonus room.

The first step to making your bonus room more comfortable, therefore, is to insulate your garage. Garages typically use any of the following types of insulation: fiberglass, rigid foam, cellulose, or spray foam.

Fiberglass Insulation

Fiberglass is the most popular insulation type for garages because of its affordability. It comes in pre-cut rolls, batts, and blankets that are easy to install, so you can save costs on installation by making a DIY project out of it.

Fiberglass batt insulation is an excellent option if you’re not heating your garage. It gives your bonus room enough thermal resistance without you having to spend thousands on insulation.

Rigid Foam Insulation

Opt for rigid foam insulation if you’re planning to convert your garage into a living space. Rigid foam is the only type of insulation that blocks heat transfer through structural elements like wood and steel studs, which is why it’s perfect for converted garages.

Rigid foam insulation comes in stiff panels typically made from polyurethane. The foam boards can be cut into any size and installed under another material, so you can use them to insulate the walls and floor of your garage.

Cellulose Insulation

Cellulose insulation is made from recycled newspaper treated with a fire retardant and comes in loose-fill form, making it a popular choice among eco-friendly homeowners.

If you have an unfinished garage, cellulose is your best insulation option. The loose-fill material conforms to any shape, so it easily insulates the spaces between the garage ceiling’s joists and beams.

Cellulose insulation requires the use of a special blowing machine for installation, which you can rent at your local hardware store. If a rental isn’t available, you’ll have to have an insulation contractor install it for you.

Spray Foam Insulation

Spray foam is the best type of insulation material. Apart from offering the highest thermal resistance values, the insulating material also creates a solid barrier that blocks air and moisture gaps.

The downside to spray foam insulation is its cost. At $1.50 to $4.90 per square foot, it’s an expensive way to insulate an unheated garage. However, it can be an effective choice if you’re planning to convert your garage into a full-time living space, such as a home office or guest room.

Garage Ceiling Insulation

If your bonus room still gets overly hot or cold even with an insulated garage, your garage ceiling insulation might need to be updated.

Many building companies insulate garage ceilings using fiberglass batts, which leave gaps in between where air can pass through. If your garage uses fiberglass batt insulation, we recommend replacing it with spray foam instead. Spray foam fills the entire ceiling gravity and closes off any gaps that allow airflow.

To save costs on spray foam insulation, you can have it installed in the gaps between the existing fiberglass batts instead of taking them all out and replacing them.

Make sure to hire a professional contractor to update your garage ceiling insulation because you’ll need to remove the ceiling drywall and redo it after installing the spray foam.

Bonus Room Insulation

The room above your garage needs proper insulation, too. When insulating bonus rooms, you want to focus on three areas: the floor, the exterior walls, and the knee wall.

Floor Insulation

Pay extra attention to your bonus room’s floor insulation, especially if it’s not possible for you to insulate your garage ceiling with spray foam. Floor insulation is generally thinner than ceiling insulation, but it costs less to install and provides almost the same thermal resistance.

Your bonus room floor has three layers: the finished top layer, the structural bottom layer, and the middle underlayment that serves as insulation. An insulating underlayment is different from floor insulation. The former is an additional layer of material installed beneath your flooring, whereas the latter is packed between the joists under the subfloor.

Because the insulating underlayment is layered directly beneath the finished floor, it helps soundproof the bonus room and create a smoother flooring surface, which fixes the subfloor’s unevenness. The underlayment can also add protection from moisture, depending on the material used.

You can find various underlayment products made from materials with excellent insulating properties, including polyurethane foam, silicone, and fiberglass. These underlayment materials offer different insulation values, underfoot feeling, and soundproofing properties.

Although underlayment isn’t difficult to install, you do need to remove and reinstall your finished floor, so it’s better to hire a professional to do the job for you.

Exterior Wall Insulation

You can insulate the exterior wall of your bonus room as you would with any other room in your home since your goal here is just to reduce the amount of heat lost and gained by the said wall.

The easiest way to insulate an exterior wall is to install the material on the inside of the wall. Traditional fiberglass batts should suffice, but you should consider investing in spray foam insulation, especially if you live in an area that experiences sweltering summers or freezing winters.

Make sure to overlap the batts when possible. The insulation should fit snugly from the top to the bottom of the exterior wall to block all the potential paths of heat transfer. You can cut small sections from the batts and stuff them in the nooks and crannies of the wall, such as around the windows, doors, and vents to be thorough.

Once you’re done installing the fiberglass batts, layer a continuous sheet of vapor barrier across the wall to protect it from moisture problems. You can begin installing drywall afterward.

Knee Wall Insulation

Many homeowners forget to insulate their attic knee walls, which still leads to an uncomfortably hot or cold bonus room. Knee walls are the short walls underneath sloped ceilings that separate the bonus room from the attic space above the garage.

When left uninsulated, knee walls end up absorbing warmth from or releasing conditioned air to the outside through the attic. Not only does this make your bonus room uncomfortable, but it also increases your energy consumption and spending.

The common way of insulating a knee wall is by installing rigid foam insulation on the wall itself and the attic floor behind it. If you’re going with this method, you need to protect the insulation with an air barrier, which means air-sealing the knee wall as if it was an exterior wall.

Seal all the potential air gaps on the knee wall and the attic space behind it, including duct penetrations and electrical boxes.

An easier method of knee wall insulation is by insulating the sloped ceiling. This way, you won’t have to insulate the knee wall itself. The insulation should extend from the birdsmouth joint, or the triangular joint at the base of the roofing joist, to the flat ceiling above the second floor.

You can use either fiberglass batts, loose-fill cellulose, or spray foam for this insulation method.

Insulating the Room Over the Garage

Insulating the room above your garage can be a hassle since you likely need to remove the drywall and flooring. Doing so, however, can save you money in the long run.

An uninsulated bonus room is a huge waste of money. It’s uncomfortable to use, so you won’t be maximizing your investment in its construction. Additionally, it guzzles energy by absorbing warm or cold air from the outside, forcing your HVAC system to work twice as hard to maintain the temperature you want.

To keep the room over the garage from overheating, hire a contractor with ample experience in insulating bonus rooms. A+ Insulation is an insulation expert based in Kansas City. We offer a wide range of insulation solutions for the different parts of your home, including your garage, attic, and bonus room.

Fill out our online form to schedule a free, no-obligation inspection and insulation cost estimate for your bonus room.