Hot upstairs rooms, drafts around ceiling lights and a climbing power bill usually start with air leaking into the attic. We seal it first.
Attic air sealing in Durham closes the gaps between your rooms and the attic, around ceiling lights, ducts, wiring, pipes and flues, so the air you pay to heat and cool stays downstairs and the attic is less likely to have moisture problems.
Most people call us about a hot room upstairs, a draft at the hatch or a power bill that keeps going up. Usually there's already some insulation in the attic, and the real trouble is air moving through holes in the ceiling underneath it. If you're planning new insulation, federal guidance for existing vented attics says to seal every opening in the attic floor first, so we schedule the sealing before any new layer covers it.
The price moves with how many openings your attic has and how hard they are to reach. Rows of can lights, ducts, a flue, a low roof and deep old insulation to move all add work. The schedule turns mostly on what we find first, since old wiring, vermiculite or a gas appliance that needs testing comes ahead of the sealing. Your written estimate lays out what I found and what I'd do, line by line.
A few things in an attic decide how the job goes and what has to happen first. These are normal first steps, and they're there to keep your household safe.
Loose or batt insulation slows heat, but air passes right through it, so piling more on top leaves every leak open underneath. That's why sealing is its own step in the job, done with the right material at each gap before any insulation goes back over the attic floor.
If the attic still has live knob and tube wiring, the old cloth-covered kind strung on porcelain knobs, federal guidance holds off on insulation until it's replaced or properly boxed in. Gray-brown, pebbly vermiculite stops work too, because it may contain asbestos. Either one adds a step before we start sealing, and I'll point it out at the estimate.
If your furnace or water heater burns fuel and vents by natural draft, the same guidance calls for a combustion safety test, a check that exhaust goes up the flue instead of spilling back into the house. Any problem the test turns up gets fixed before the attic work goes ahead.
From the first call to the day we pack up, here's who does what, so you know what you're agreeing to before anyone climbs into your attic.
Tell us what you're noticing, like a hot bedroom, a draft at the hatch or a bill that jumped. We'll set a time for me to come out and see the attic.
I go up, look at the attic with you and explain what I see and what I'd do first. Then you get a written estimate, and I go through each line so you know why it's there.
Our crew does the job the way we planned it. Any wiring, vermiculite or appliance fix the estimate called for comes first, then the sealing, then the insulation goes back over the attic floor.
Before we leave, we show you what we sealed and where. Knowing your own attic pays off later, when you add insulation, finish a room or have someone else working up there.
Our order is simple. We pull back the insulation over each leak, seal around the ceiling lights, ducts, pipes, wiring and flues, and then push the old insulation back into place if it's still usable. Narrow gaps get caulk, foam or an aerosol sealant on their own, and bigger openings get a rigid piece of blocking cut to fit and sealed in place.
The flue gets extra care because it runs hot. Gaps around it get fire-rated caulk and a rated metal collar or sheet metal, and we keep safe clearance between the flue and anything that can burn. We also watch the hatch, the eave vents and the thin edges along the walls, since a missed gap or a buried vent is where most attic jobs go wrong.
When the old insulation is wet, full of droppings or too thin to do much, sealing still comes first, and retrofit insulation is how we add more to a house that's already built. Some attics are better off with spray foam insulation, which starts from the same sealing plan. The choice usually comes down to these two.
For most attics, I'd seal the gaps, put the good insulation back and blow in more loose fill on top. It costs less than foam and fixes the air leaks that loose fill can't stop by itself.
Foam costs more, but it seals air and insulates in one layer. I lean toward it when your ductwork lives in the attic, because foam on the underside of the roof brings those ducts inside the sealed space.
We reply within one business day, and the estimate is free with no obligation. After you send the form, we'll set a time for me to come out and look at your attic with you. If you know of gas appliances, old wiring or vermiculite up there, mention it so I can plan for it.
(919) 246-8605In Durham, the City-County Building & Safety Department issues building permits, and it requires one for any project with load-bearing work or more than $40K in market value. Air sealing an attic isn't named on that list either way, so we don't assume. Before we start, we check with the permit office that covers your address, and where a permit is needed, we handle the paperwork and meet the inspector.
Wiring is the other rule that touches this job. The city requires an electrical permit to install, repair or alter wiring, apart from minor fixture swaps in one- and two-family homes, so replacing knob and tube wiring before we seal falls under it. That wiring work happens first, under its own permit, and the sealing follows.
Around Durham we see both kinds of attic. Older houses tend to have original wiring and a flue from a fuel-burning furnace or water heater, and newer ones usually have rows of can lights and ductwork running across the attic floor. We do the same work in Chapel Hill and Raleigh, along with other cities around Durham.
I've run this business in Durham since 2013, after coming up on commercial crews spraying foam and fitting board in warehouses, schools and office buildings. That's where I learned that most insulation trouble goes back to a rushed step, and in an attic the rushed step is usually the sealing. I'd rather tell you that plainly and lose the job than skip it.
I come out to look at your attic and write the estimate myself. Our trained installers do the work, with a crew lead on site. We're licensed and insured, and our work comes with one promise, satisfaction guaranteed. Call (919) 246-8605 or send us the form, and I'll come take a look.
Once the leaks are closed, an older house with thin or tired insulation can get the extra depth it's been missing.
If your ducts or furnace sit in the attic, foam under the roof can seal and insulate that whole space in one pass.
We're based in Durham and seal attics across the cities around it, including the ones listed here. If you're not sure we come to you, just ask when you call or send the form.
The cost of attic air sealing comes down to how many gaps your attic has and how hard they are to get to. A tight hatch, a low roof you have to crawl under and a lot of old insulation to move all add time. Any wiring, vermiculite or appliance fix is priced separately on your written estimate.
It depends on the size of the attic, how many openings there are and how much insulation we have to pull back and put back. I'll tell you how long we expect to be up there when I write your estimate, so you can plan your day around it.
Usually not for sealing with caulk, foam and blocking, since the work stays in the attic and at the hatch. If your job includes spray foam, re-entry time, when it's safe for kids and pets to come back inside, matters, and I'll go over it plainly at the estimate.
Yes, insulation that's dirty from air leaking through it is still fine to use, and federal ENERGY STAR guidance says there's no need to remove and replace it. Those dark streaks are a map of the leaks. Wet insulation or insulation full of droppings is different, and that's when insulation removal comes first.
Yes, if your household qualifies for the state's Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides free weatherization that may include air sealing and insulation. Households under 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or getting Work First or Supplemental Security Income cash assistance, are eligible. For Durham, the provider is Resources for Seniors in Raleigh at 919-713-1570.
Once a new layer covers the attic floor, the leaks under it are much harder to reach, so call (919) 246-8605 or send the form before that insulation goes down.
