I guess this is probably one of the most asked questions in terms of home insulation. This article tells you what the cost of insulation is and how to do a rough estimate on insulation cost. Before going further, I would like to point out that the estimated insulation cost here only caters to people living in the United States. However, for those not living in the United States, you can use the same guidelines here to estimate the insulation cost in your area.

First of all, the cost of insulation largely depends on R-value of the material and the size of a specific area of your house that you want to insulate. With that being said, you can determine the cost by first figuring out the R-value requirement in your area. R-value requirement depends on where you live and climate of the area as well as the specific place in your house that you want to insulate. For example, if you live in Florida and you want the wall to be insulated, then the required R-value is R-13 according to the diagram at the bottom of this article. If you live in North Dakota, the R-value is different and it is R-18. If you are going to insulate the attic for instance, then the R-value is going to be different. Anyway, the important thing to know is higher R-values means higher insulation cost. Therefore, an R-18 requirement certainly costs more than R-13 for the same insulation material.

After determining the R-value, the next thing is to find out the insulation material that you wan to use. Different insulation materials cost differently even though they achieve the same R-value. Popular insulation materials are fiberglass and cellulose. Their respective R-value is 3 and 3.3 per inch of material. Therefore, to achieve an R-value of 18, you would need about 6 inches thick of fiberglass or 5.5 inches thick of cellulose.

When you know the R-value and the insulation material, you will need to estimate the size of the space that you wan to insulate. For example, a typical 1,200 square feet house has about 800 square feet of attic space. Once you have figure out the R-value, insulation material and size of the space, you can look for a contractor. The contractor will be able to give you a quote including the labor cost with all these information.

If you plan to do the insulation work yourself (DIY) and decided not to engage a contractor, you can roughly figure out what the cost is with the known R-value, insulation material and the amount of insulation material needed for the specific space.

If you decide to ask a contractor to do the work, here is a rough estimate of the cost of insulation. For example, a rough estimate to insulate an open attic by contractor can range from as low as $0.50 in certain area to as high as $2.25 per square foot. That’s about $400 to $1800 for an 800 square feet attic space. Typically, the cost of attic insulation averages from $700 to $1100. Do-it-yourself materials for roll-out batting in an open attic can run $100 - $500 for an 800 square feet attic space.

Moreover, a rough estimate for hiring someone to blow insulation into a flat roof, cathedral ceiling or wall cavities is $2 -$3.50 a square foot, or $1,000 -$3,500 for filling 1,000 square feet of empty wall or roof space. A complete insulation job on a typical family home can run $2,000 -$10,000 or more, but averages $2,500 -$5,500, depending on materials, the regional climate and the local economy.

In conclusion, the cost of insulation varies greatly from region to region. One thing for sure is the DIY home insulation can roughly cut the cost by half. Therefore, if you know how to do the insulation work and you are on a tight budget, then by all means go ahead to do it yourself to save cost.

Insulation R-values-diagram

Insulation zone-map

It’s very common that almost every homeowners like you and me needs to do something in our homes, whether it’s a bathroom, kitchen, doors or set of windows that require repairs or replacement. Or we may want a new, large patio or the whole back yard landscaped and an extension of a bedroom. In all of these situations the best route to go is to hire a contractor.

Why a Contractor?
Most of us will go for a handyman or a do-all person when we require some work on the house because it’s cheap. But cheap in most situations can’t ensure work quality and there is no warranty that comes with the work done. Therefore, the best option is to hire a contractor. Unlike a general do-all person or handyman a contractor has the qualifications and experience to take the project from an idea to a finished space all ready to use. And the best part of this is that it is all done for you from the planning to the labor and materials. The contractor also arranges for the space to be cleaned up and any debris taken away.

What a Contractor Can Do For You
Many projects require the services of more than one type of trade. A general contractor takes the plans and acquires the appropriate licensed contractors for work, such as scheduling a siding contractor or roofing contractor if these trades are needed. A residential contractor will need the services of up to a dozen individual trades to complete the work. The completion of a remodeling or building project requires careful planning, a time-consuming process that requires an individual with the proper training and many years of experience on the job. During this time the contractor has developed a network of reliable subtrades, skilled workers who can get the job done on time and on budget.

Get Started
Hiring a contractor for your job takes time and, in many cases, some guesswork. To take the guesswork out of the equation go to reliable sources such as Reliable Remodeler where the contractors are licensed. Because remodeling and building are expensive enterprises and require top-notch evaluations of the people with whom you intend to entrust your home.

The best place to get you started is to go to Reliable Remodeler to hire a qualified contractor in your area where it will save your precious time and get the job done in the first time!

Click on the following link to get a quote for a contractor now!

How Reliable Remodeler Works

1. Select a service and tell about your home improvement, remodeling or maintenance project.
2. You will be contacted within 24 business hours to verify receipt of your project request and clarify any details about your project.
3. Up to 4 member contractors will contact you within 48 business hours to schedule a Free Estimate on your project.
4. A project representative will follow up with you again to make sure you are happy with the service you received from Reliable Remodeler and the member contractors.
5. Finally, you will choose the contractor you like most for your project and have the work done!

For fiberglass batts insulation, lay the batts in place by unrolling them between the joists, pressing them down without compressing them too tightly. If you lay one batt on one side of the attic and another batt on the other side, you will likely have a space in the middle that you will need to cut a batt to fit. Since you are working from the walls in, you will be measuring and cutting in the area with the highest roof clearance, which should make things easier.

When working with fiberglass batts insulation, the way to cut it is to compress the batt with a straight edge. After you got the straight edge, cut through the compressed material against the edge with a utility knife. The ends of batts should be joined by butting them up against each other firmly, so that there is no space between them.

While laying out insulation over your attic, it’s equally important that you do not miss to weather-strip the attic hatch. Running a length of self-adhesive foam weather stripping around the top of the attic opening will create a good seal when the hatch is placed over the opening.

If you attic already has insulation in place, you could install the new fiberglass insulation batts over the top of the existing layer of batts filling the joists. You could lay the new batts (which must not have a vapor barrier) perpendicular to the old ones. Insulation batts can be cut around cross bracing between joists, but remember to keep it 3 inches away from any heat source such as electrical fixtures or chimney flues. Unless the electrical fixtures are rated IC, only then insulation can be installed near them.

Look out for any vents in the attic while you are installing attic insulation. Make sure your insulation do not block them. If you are using loose-fill insulation, you can nail wooden frames together to fit around vents or heat-producing elements to keep the insulation away from these things.

In conclusion, increasing your attic insulation while making sure that the attic is properly ventilated can be very rewarding when you start noticing savings on your utility bills, particularly if you have started with an insulation value that’s well below what’s recommended for your area.

Please click on the following links to go to the respective pages.

Installing Attic Insulation Page1

Installing Attic Insulation Page2

If your attic has no insulation, there are two attic insulation methods which you can do. You can either choose the faced insulation (the facing goes toward the heated area, against the attic floor) or install a vapor barrier (available in rolls of plastic from hardware shops) before laying the insulation in place.

The steps in installing the vapor barrier are easy jobs. You can lay the plastic vapor barrier (usually 6-millimeter) between the joists, adding a couple of staples at each end of the plastic to tack it while you are laying the insulation. Don’t worry about stapling it down really thoroughly, because gravity and the weight of the insulation will hold the vapor barrier in place.

Next comes the fun part of attic insulation. There are two types of attic insulation which you can apply between the joists. The first type is loose-fill insulation. In this case, you can choose bags of loose-fill insulation that you can pour between and over the joists. Use a rake to spread the loose-fill insulation evenly.

The second type of attic insulation is laying insulation batts between the joists, for example fiberglass batts. Installing fiberglass batts between the attic joists has never been easier. All you need to do is to roll the fiberglass batts into place between the joists. Don’t pack them too tightly as the air between their layers is an essential part of their insulation ability.

Before laying the insulation batts, you should measure the space between the joists so that you purchase the correct batt width. This will save you from having to cut the batts to fit between the joists and will help you avoid squeezing the batts too tight between the joists. Squeezing the insulation batts tightly will reduce their insulation ability.

Once you got the bags of lose-fill insulation or fiberglass batts, carry them up to the attic intact. Do not attempt to open them beforehand. They are tightly compressed, so they are much easier to handle when they are still closed. Open them one at a time, as needed, once they are in the attic.

When you start laying your insulation, work from the walls toward the center of the attic and start at the spot furthest away from the attic hatch. It’s like painting a room where you work your way toward the exit.

Please click on the following links to go to the respective pages.

Installing Attic Insulation Page1

Installing Attic Insulation Page3

Installing attic insulation on your own is not that difficult of a task. This article will lay out all the necessary steps and guidelines in attic insulation. Therefore, read on to find out how attic insulation (using loose-fill or fiberglass batts) are being done.

Before installing the insulation in the attic, you are advised to do some inspection around the attic. Most attics are unheated and unfinished, meaning the attic has no floor and it’s just joists and ceiling from the room below.

For inspection tips, you might want to check out the article which lays out the steps and precautions that you might want to take while inspecting your attic. You can follow the link below for the respective article.

Attic Insulation and Ventilation Inspection Page1

Attic insulation and attic ventilation cannot work without one another in the attic. The important thing is the ventilation has to be coming from vents, not from gaps around wiring or chimneys. Therefore, before installing attic insulation, you are encouraged to check for such gaps. If such gaps exist, what you can do is you can caulk around these gaps to cut drafts and to prevent insects, birds and animals from entering through these gaps.

To make long story short, the first thing that you do when you are up at the attic is, inspect the attic to see if there is any existing insulation around. If your attic already has some insulation in place between the ceiling joists, you will need to use the unfaced insulation batts. It’s very common some insulation batts come with a facing on one side that provides a vapor barrier. The unfaced insulation batts are the type that doesn’t have vapor barrier.

If there is already insulation in place in the attic, great! The next step is to inspect the existing attic insulation whether it is the faced type (with vapor barrier). Check that the vapor barrier is facing the right way . In this case, the vapor barrier has to be facing down, toward the heated house. If it’s not facing the right direction, you will need to flip it over so that the vapor barrier is installed properly. You can run a utility knife over it to break the existing insulation seal so that you can flip it over.

Please click on the following links to go to the respective pages.

Installing Attic Insulation Page2

Before determining how insulation works, we should first understand how heat is conducted. This is crucial in understanding how insulation works and what you can do to make your house more energy efficient by figuring out which part of your house requires insulation.

Heat is a form of energy. Therefore, heat cannot be destroyed but it can convert to another form of energy. With that being said, heat in a heated area can be transferred to a cool area by being absorbed by the air molecule in the cool area as a form energy transfer so that both areas will reach equilibrium. Another way of saying this is heat flows from a warmer to a cooler space just like water flows from a higher ground to a lower ground.

Why heat transfer from a heated area to a cooler area you may ask. The reason is the air molecule in the heated area has more energy compared to the air molecule in a cool area. This is the same case as water flows from high to low as water in higher ground has more energy. Therefore, heat flows from heated area to cooler area as a form of energy transfer so that both places will reach equilibrium which means both areas will have the same level of energy. When that happens, heat flow will stop.

Heat is conducted in the following ways: Convection, Conduction and Radiation. Therefore by putting a stop to these ways in which heat can transfer, you are basically insulating against the heat flow.

In your house, during winter time, the heat moves directly from all heated living spaces to the outdoors and to adjacent unheated attics, garage, basement and wherever there is a difference in temperature. On the other hand, heat transfer from outdoors to the interior of your house. To make sure your house is comfortable to live, heat lost in the winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in summer must be removed by your air-conditioner.

Therefore, in order to make your heating or cooling systems do less work which in return save your energy bills, you can put a stop or at least try to reduce the heat flow to a minimal level. And insulation is the method which can be applied to efficiently reduce the heat flow. Insulation works by giving resistance to heat flow just like you apply a resistance to water flow from higher ground to lower ground.

Insulation materials such as batts, blankets, loose fill and low-density foams all works by limiting air flow. These materials may be more familiarly referred as fiberglass, cellulose, polyicynene and expanded polystyrene. A still air is an effective insulator because it eliminates convection and reduces energy conduction to minimal level. Some foams such as polyisocyanurate, polyurethane, and extruded polystyrene, are filled with special gases that provide additional resistance to heat flow.

Please note that the ability of insulation material to limit air flow should not be confused with “air sealing”. The insulation reduces air movement only within the space it occupies. It will not reduce air movement through other cracks between building parts.

Another form of heat flow is through radiation. One way to stop the heat flow through radiation is by applying reflective insulation. Reflective insulation works by reducing the amount of energy that travels in the form of radiation. Some forms of reflective insulation also divide a space up into small regions to reduce air movement, or convection, but not to the same extent as batts, blankets, loose-fill, and foam.

The Energy Conservation Construction Code is to provide a construction standard that will minimize energy consumption in a building while maintaining the necessary comfort factors. With that being said, many states have enacted an energy conservation construction code to supplement their building code. The conservation code applies to new construction, renovation and additions to buildings. The code is not retroactive, meaning it does not apply to buildings constructed prior to its enactment.

Being a good citizen yourself, you might want to check with the local building department to determine whether there is an energy conservation construction code in your state and if so, whether it was in effect prior to the construction of the house you are planning to buy.

If you are considering buying an existing house, there is a high chance that the house is not as energy efficient as it could be. Although the energy-deficient items are usually found during a pre-purchase home inspection, they are often not upgraded until the buyer take possession of the house. Consequently, after you move into the house, you should perform an energy audit to bring back into focus those items that are needed for conservation improvements.

An energy-efficient house is not only helping you in reducing your utility bills, it also shows you as a good citizen who are concerned about the environment. The actually dollar saving will of course depend on the gas, oil and electricity rates in your area; the climate and the extent to which your house is already energy efficient.

You can often determine the projected savings and payback period for the cost involved in making your home energy efficient by contacting your local utility company. For a nominal fee, many utility companies will analyze your energy-conserving improvements, taking into account current and projected energy costs, and will estimate your dollar savings per year.

In conclusion, before doing any energy conserving work such as home insulation, check with your local building department for the energy conservation construction code first to determine what are the requirements for you home. In addition, check with the local utility company to get an energy audit for your home to estimate how extent your home energy conservation is. With that being said, the initial cost for making your home energy efficient might be costly in the first place, but over time, the return on investment will surely pay back in terms of reduced utility bills.

Last but not least, we will all appreciate you for making our mother earth a cleaner and livable place!

Your attic may have a combination of vents, including soffit vents in the underside of the area where the roof overhangs the house walls, gable vents that are up in the peak of the house wall just under the roof, ridge vents that run along the peak of the roof, or roof vents cut into the roof itself. All of these vents should be kept clear. Insulation, for example shouldn’t cover soffit vents. You should also make sure these vents doesn’t pose an entry point for insects, birds and other animals.

As for ventilation, you need to make sure there is about 1 square foot of venting for every 300 square feet of attic floor space, assuming there is a vapor barrier in place. If there is no vapor barriers, aim for 1 square foot of ventilation for every 150 of square feet of attic space. Keep in mind that power or wind-assisted roof vents will reduce the ventilation square footage needed.

In cold climates, vapor barriers (usually sturdy 6-milimeter plastic films) should be placed against the warm side of the house, for example the attic floor. The insulation itself should be adequate for your climate . Check with your local building codes, but look for a total attic R-value of about R38 for most areas. It should also be dry and evenly distributed. Insulation should be kept at least 3 inches away from any heat-producing items such as electrical or light fixtures.

Although attics can seem like a great place to store unused items, they are not created for such purpose. If your attics are unfinished and unheated or uncooled, they are exposed to temperature extremes and to water damage from roof leaks. All of these can prematurely deteriorate paper and wood items. Stacks or boxes of paper and clothes are perfect homes for unwelcome guests such as mice. Flammable or explosive items such as pressurized cans or paint thinners may be a fire risk when exposed to extreme heat. They should never be stored in the attic.

If you have an attic that has sufficient overhead clearance to be turned into usable space, such as a playroom, talk to your county or municipal about your building codes. These will provide guidelines for insulating the attic and for providing safe access to and from it. This is essential to ensure that people especially children can evacuate the attic in case of fire. Get help from a qualified contractor for the renovation itself. Make sure the contractor has done attic work before to ensure that the renovation doesn’t create additional insulation or ventilation problems.

In short, attic insulation and ventilation go hands in hands. One will not work without the other. Therefore, inspecting both attic insulation and ventilation are necessary to prevent major problem from occurring which could potentially cost you thousand of dollars of repair cost, let alone the time to fix it.

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Attic insulation and ventilation inspection page1

Inspecting attic insulation and attic ventilation is an essential task. If you suspect there is a problem in the attic, for example a water leak coming from condensation or from roofs or chimney leaks, you should take no delay by going up to the attic to inspect it. Fixing it before it turns into a bigger problem can save you a lot of cleanup task, cost and time.

While some room-like attics have a proper stairway up to them, many attics have only an access panel. For the latter style, determine whether you have a safe way of climbing up through the panel. Some might incorporate a pull-down stairway. If this is the case, make sure the stairway is sturdy and the pull-down mechanism is working smoothly. If there is no pull-down stairway, then a ladder is your best option of climbing up to the attic. But make sure the ladder reaches all the way up to the access panel. A shorter ladder will force you to balance on its upper steps while reaching up to open or close an attic hatch panel. This is certainly not a good idea to practice.

Once you have reached the attic, check on its surrounding and structure. If your attic doesn’t have a floor surface, just joist for example, step only on the joists. Stepping between the joists puts your weight on the wallboard or plaster ceiling of the room below, which can easily give way. To make your work in the attic easier, some tips here which you can apply are you can lay a sheet of plywood over the joists. By doing this, you can step your feet on the sheet of plywood which offers you more flexibilities in moving around.

Some of the structures you may see in the attics are plumbing vent stacks, electrical wiring, chimney flues and exhaust ducts running through the attic. You should inspect them to make sure they are in good shape such as rust free, adequately supported and the right materials, for example electrical wiring shouldn’t rely on extension cords, it should be permanent.

Moreover, exhaust ducts from bathrooms and kitchen in cold-climate attics should be insulated to prevent condensation from forming inside the ducts and dripping back down into the bathroom or kitchen. It’s especially important that these ducts exhaust to the outside, rather than simply ending in the attic. They are designed to remove moist air from the house. Channeling that air into the attic will cause condensation problems.

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For page 2 of attic inspection, please visit the following link:

Attic insulation and ventilation inspection page2

Some of the major issues that an attic faces are insulation and ventilation. These two problems are interrelated which means one cannot work efficiently without fixing the other. For example, an ineffective ventilation in the attic can render attic insulation to a failure. Therefore, by having two system working efficiently, only then your attic will be in good shape which will eventually save your energy cost.

In cold climates, attics represent one of the biggest sources of heat loss, so adequately insulating the space is essential. In hot climates, insulating the attic properly can reduce the amount of heat transmitted into the house from the roof surface and will significantly reduce energy costs.

On the other hand, an inadequate attic ventilation can result in condensation, which will dampen insulation by making it less effective. Condensation also causes moisture to soak into wood causing rot and molds. In the summer, a poorly ventilated attic will allow heat to build up that can also damage wood surfaces. In short, having adequate attic ventilation is essential if you want attic insulation to work effectively.

The following are a couple of articles dealing with issues related to your attic. Read on to find out more.

Attic Insulation
Your energy bill is hitting the roof? Find out from this article if your attic is the culprit and what can be done to reduce the cost.

Attic Insulation - batt vs blown in
Having trouble in choosing the right insulation for your attic? Find out from this article which attic insulation (batt roll or blown in) is the right choice for you to install in your attic.

Attic Blown In Insulation
Do you know how attic blown-in insulation is being done and what are the materials used? If not, then find out more from this article.

Attic Ventilation
Is your attic collecting moisture which causes wood rot? Find out from this article what are the available ventilation methods that can be installed in the attic to solve this problem.