Drafty rooms, a hot upstairs and a power bill that keeps climbing? We add insulation to the house you already have, in the right order.
Retrofit insulation means adding blown-in insulation, loose fill blown through a hose, to the walls or attic of a house that's already built, and in Durham it's how we fix drafty rooms and a hot upstairs without rebuilding anything.
Most calls start with one room that never feels right, usually the room over the garage or a bedroom that bakes all summer. In an older house the walls are often empty, the attic has a thin layer that's packed down over the years, and air slips through gaps nobody ever closed. Retrofit work fixes that by adding to what's there or replacing it.
The price moves with how much of the house we're doing, whether that's the walls, the attic or both, and with what has to happen before anything new goes in. Old insulation that has to come out, leaks to fix and gaps to seal all add work. The schedule turns on the same things. Your written estimate lays out each step and its cost, and I walk you through every line.
Retrofit work comes down to where the insulation goes and what has to happen before it does. These are the three things I explain on almost every first visit.
Most older walls can be filled without tearing them open. With drill and fill, we drill small holes near the top of each wall cavity, the space between two studs, and blow insulation in. The holes can go on the inside or the outside of the wall, so you pick the side that suits your house.
Insulation slows heat, but it doesn't stop moving air, so the gaps have to be closed first. The Department of Energy's Building America guidance says the attic floor should be thoroughly air sealed before new insulation goes in, and that the old insulation has to come out to reach it. That's why an attic job often starts with removal.
New insulation over a problem just hides it. The same guidance puts repairs at the start of the project, inspecting the roof and attic, fixing leaks, cleaning up hazardous materials and removing any knob and tube wiring still in use, the early system run on ceramic posts. If I find any of that, it goes at the top of your estimate.
Here's how a retrofit job runs with us, from your first call to the walk-through at the end, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call (919) 246-8605 or send the form. Tell us how old the house is, which rooms or areas bother you, and anything you've noticed in the attic, like old loose fill, so I know what to look for.
I come out myself and look at the attic or walls with you. I explain what I see and what I'd do first, and then you get a written estimate with the work laid out in order.
Our trained installers do the job the way we planned it, with a crew lead on site. That usually means any removal and repairs first, then sealing, then the new layer, so nothing gets covered up too early.
Before we leave, we show you the finished work, where the gaps were sealed and how the new layer sits. You'll know your attic and walls well enough to make good choices about them later.
On an older home, I start at the eaves, where the roof meets the outside walls. There has to be room there for a full layer plus an air gap, so the attic keeps breathing. Bury those vents and moisture shows up later in the framing. I also check what the old loose fill is made of, because that decides whether it stays or comes out first.
When the attic floor has room, sealing the gaps around can lights, pipes and the hatch and then topping up with attic insulation usually wins. Spray foam insulation costs more and seals air while it insulates, so I steer toward it when your ductwork runs through the attic. Either way, we keep the layer full out to the edges, where rushed jobs run thin.
The attic is usually the easiest place to reach, so sealing and topping it up first handles the hot upstairs and the draft at the hatch before you decide anything about the walls.
One plan covers both, so the order stays right from start to finish. It suits a house where every room along an outside wall feels cold, not just the upstairs.
We reply within one business day to set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free and done on site with you, and you get it in writing with no obligation to hire us.
(919) 246-8605Durham City-County Building & Safety issues building permits for load-bearing work or jobs over $40,000, and its permit list names wiring and HVAC work but not insulation. So the list doesn't settle whether insulation alone needs a permit. 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. If we use spray foam, the city requires the installers' certification letter for inspection.
The attic prep is where permits usually come in. Durham requires an electrical permit for installing, repairing or altering wiring, and a mechanical permit for installing or upgrading heating, air conditioning and ventilation. Old knob and tube wiring touches the first, and bath fans that vent into the attic must be vented to the outside, which can touch the second.
We're based in Durham and do the same work in the cities around it, including Raleigh and Chapel Hill, plus Cary and Burlington. Around here we see plenty of older houses with thin attic layers and empty walls. If you're not sure we come to you, just ask.
I learned this trade on commercial crews, spraying foam and fitting board in warehouses and schools, and that's where I saw how most insulation problems start with a rushed step. We've been in business since 2013. I come out to look at every job and write the estimate myself, and our trained installers do the work with a crew lead on site.
We're licensed and insured. The NC Licensing Board for General Contractors says a general contractor must be licensed by law when the total project cost is $40,000 or more. I'd rather tell you plainly that the old layer has to come out than skip it to win the job. Satisfaction guaranteed. To get started, call (919) 246-8605 or send us the form.
If the walls are fine and the upstairs is the problem, an attic-only job is often the simplest fix.
When ducts run through the attic or the gaps are hard to reach, foam seals and insulates in one pass.
We're based in Durham and do retrofit insulation in the cities around it. The cities below have their own pages, and if yours isn't listed, call and ask.
Angi's pricing for nearby Raleigh puts installing blown-in insulation at about $750 to $1,900 per job. That's the market's range, not ours, and your job may land outside it depending on whether we're doing walls, attic or both, and how much removal, sealing or repair comes first. Your written estimate gives your own figure.
Usually yes, with the drill-and-fill method described above, through small holes on whichever side of the wall suits your house. If your home was built before 1980, lead safety rules can apply, depending on how much of the exterior walls gets disturbed, so tell us the house's age when you call.
Durham's permit list names wiring and HVAC work, not insulation, so it doesn't settle that by itself. We check with the permit office for your address before we start. Any wiring or ventilation changes during prep need their own permits, and we handle those as covered in the Durham section above.
Most old attic insulation is just old, but some older loose fill is vermiculite, which can contain asbestos, so it's worth asking before anyone disturbs it. I check what the old layer is made of on the first visit. If it's soaked or full of droppings, it comes out through insulation removal, because new material over it keeps the problem.
It turns on how much has to happen before new insulation goes in and how much of the house we're doing. Your estimate lays out the order of work so you know what's coming. Before we arrive, clear a path to the attic hatch and any walls we're drilling, and it goes faster.
Call (919) 246-8605 or send the form, and I'll show you what's up there and explain it before anyone touches a thing.
