Hot upstairs rooms and a power bill that climbs every summer usually start in the attic. We fix that in the right order.
Attic insulation in Durham, NC is a layer of loose fill or batts across your attic floor that slows heat moving in and out of the house, and when the air leaks get sealed along with it, your heating and cooling costs come down.
Most calls start the same way. The upstairs is hot by mid-afternoon, the room over the garage never feels right, or the power bill keeps creeping up. Usually the attic is part of the story, because what's up there is thin, packed down or fighting a draft. I'd rather show you which one it is than guess.
The price moves with the size of the attic, how many inches are already up there, whether old material has to come out first and how easy the attic is to get into. The schedule turns mostly on what has to be fixed before we insulate, like a roof leak or old wiring. Your written estimate lays out the plan, and I walk you through each line.
Three things in your attic decide what the job really involves. I look at each one on the estimate visit, because any of them can change the order of work or the price.
I measure how many inches you already have and check what shape it's in. Loose fill that got soaked by a roof leak or is full of droppings has to come out, because new material on top just keeps the problem. Clean, dry insulation that's only thin can usually stay and get topped up.
Some older attics have vermiculite, a lightweight, pea-size, flaky gray mineral insulation that may contain asbestos. ENERGY STAR's advice is to leave it undisturbed until an approved lab tests it, and your local health department can name a lab. If I see it, we stop there so you can get it tested first.
Knob and tube wiring, the old style run on porcelain knobs in houses from before 1930, can be a fire hazard when insulation touches it. It's something a professional should correct before anything goes over it. We won't bury it, so if your house is that old, it's one of the first things I look for.
Here's how it goes from the first call to the walk-through at the end. The person who looks at your attic writes the estimate, so nothing gets lost between visits.
Call (919) 246-8605 or send the form with a little about your house, how old it is and what's bothering you. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I go up, look at what's there, then come down and explain what I saw and what I'd fix first. You get a written estimate, and I go through each line so you know what you're paying for.
Our trained installers do the job the way we planned it, with a crew lead on site. Anything that needs fixing comes first, then the gaps get sealed, then the insulation goes in.
Before we leave, we show you what we did: the sealed gaps, the depth across the attic and the clear vents at the edges. Knowing what's up there helps with every choice you make on the house later.
Before any new insulation goes down, I want your attic looked over for roof leaks, wet or moldy wood and bath or kitchen fans blowing into the attic instead of outside. Covering those up just hides them, and the moisture keeps working on the framing. If something needs fixing, I tell you plainly and we plan around it.
Then we talk through blown-in insulation versus batts for your attic and why I'd lean one way. Most of the time the attic decides it, by how open it is, how much framing breaks it up and what's already there. If the drafts go past the attic, we look at home insulation for the walls and floors too.
On the day, the crew seals the gaps around can lights, pipes and the attic hatch before anything else, because insulation can't stop air blowing through it. We keep the eave vents clear with baffles, short channels that hold insulation back from the vents, so the attic can still breathe. And we carry the full depth out to the edges, where attics are often left thin.
For most attics, I'd seal the gaps and add loose fill across the attic floor. Floor insulation in a vented attic generally costs less than foam, covers a smaller area and often goes in faster.
If your ductwork lives in the attic, spray foam under the roof deck brings that space inside the house. It costs more, but it seals air while it insulates, so that's where it earns its price.
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up your free on-site estimate. I come out, look at the attic with you and explain what I'd do first. Then you get a written estimate, with no obligation to go ahead.
(919) 246-8605In Durham, the City-County Building & Safety Department issues building permits for the city and the county, and it requires one for any project with load bearing work or more than $40,000 in market value. That list doesn't settle whether a plain attic insulation job needs one, so before we start, we check with the permit office that covers your address.
Where a permit is needed, we handle the paperwork and meet the inspector, and no work starts until the permit is issued. Wiring is its own matter, because the city requires an electrical permit to install, repair or alter wiring, apart from minor fixture swaps in one and two family homes. So if a light or fan in the attic needs rewiring, that work gets its own permit.
Durham has everything from older houses with thin, settled insulation to newer ones where the room over the garage runs hot all summer. We see the same mix in Chapel Hill and Raleigh, and we do the same work there.
I learned this trade on commercial crews, spraying foam and fitting board in warehouses, schools and office buildings. Most of the problems I saw there traced back to a step someone rushed. I started Sealcraft Durham Insulation Company in Durham in 2013 to bring that care to houses, and 13 years on, I still come out and write the estimate myself.
Our trained installers do the work, with a crew lead on site. We're licensed and insured. Satisfaction guaranteed. I'd rather lose a job by being straight with you than win it by skipping a step. If your upstairs is hot or the bill keeps climbing, call (919) 246-8605 or send us the form and I'll come take a look.
If your attic only needs more depth over clean, dry insulation, loose fill blown through a hose is the quickest way to even it out.
When the cold floors and drafty rooms aren't only under the attic, we look at the walls, floors and crawl space as one house.
We're based in Durham and work in the cities around it, including Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary and Burlington. If you're not sure we come to you, just ask.
Insulation jobs of any kind in the Raleigh area usually cost about $1,300 to $4,600 per job, and that's the going range in the area, not our price. Where your attic lands depends on its size, what has to come out first and the material. Your written estimate gives you our figure for your house.
For most attics, blown-in is the better pick, because blowing loose-fill fiberglass, rock wool or cellulose usually costs less than installing batts and gives better coverage. Loose fill settles in around framing and wires where batts tend to leave gaps. Installation costs vary, so I'll show you on the estimate which one fits your attic.
Yes. The EPA recommends finishing attic insulation after attic air sealing, which it calls a challenging do-it-yourself project that many qualified contractors can do. Insulation slows heat, but it doesn't stop air, so the sealing has to come first. We also do attic air sealing on its own if you're not ready to insulate yet.
By state law, a general contractor must be licensed when the total project cost is $40,000 or more, according to the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors. The board's Residential Contractor license covers insulation work done as part of a house. When you're comparing contractors, ask each one how they're licensed and insured.
Clear a path to the attic hatch and move anything stored right around it, so the crew can get up and down without working around your things. Tell us about any roof leaks, mold or flaky gray insulation you've noticed. If something has to be fixed first, like a leak or old wiring, that comes before your install date.
Usually not for blown-in or batts, because the crew works overhead and there's nothing curing up there. Foam is different. The foam maker sets a re-entry time, which is how long people and pets stay out before coming back in, and we tell you what it is before the job is booked.
Have your house's age and any signs of leaks, mold or flaky gray insulation handy when you call (919) 246-8605, so I know what to look for before I go up.
