USA Homeowners Insulation Guide

In the photo above, the possible air leaks in a home are shown well

If you are residing in the United States Of America, then its more likely you face extreme climates at times. If you are put up in a place like Houston or Austin, TX then you have to be in a home which can be cool during the Houston heat wave and warm during the chilly winters. One possible solution can be insulation. Here is a basic guide for you to know about the insulation solutions to your Houston home.

1. What You Need?
   
2. What Your Home Needs?
3. What Your Home Has?
4. What Type of Insulation Your Home Needs?
5. Where & What to Insulate?
6. Identifying Old Insulation?
7. Who Should Do It?

What You Need?

The first and foremost mistake that most home owners make is to get captivated by lucrative ads or get carried away by word of mouth. It’s not necessary that what works for your neighbor will work for you.

So first chart your priorities- the most important factor will be the budget, just because some products are of high quality from a reputed company, it’s not necessary that you spend all your savings on it. Similarly since you get one of the insulation contractors who promise to get it done for you at a meager rate, don’t close in on it as you will be having it done with cheap quality. Don’t go for the extremes; instead consider the mediocre prices where you get decent quality at affordable prices. That’s what A Affordable Insulators & Services is all about we provide you with great quality at affordable rates.

Then, you got to consider other factors like the climate, material with which your home is built, energy bills and your personal priorities (look & feel of home etc).

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What Your Home Needs?

The next thing to consider is to know what your home needs. The U.S Department of Energy has a list specifying recommended insulation levels for various spaces in your homes from ceilings to basements. It’s essential that you have a look at it and also the recommended levels in your state.

It’s highly likely that the insulation contractors in Houston, Texas or the place you are residing in are aware of these energy codes. One of the initial steps to take before insulating your home will be to have an energy audit to know at your home need. At A Affordable Insulators & Services we provide you with free home energy consultation. Our energy auditors will suggest the best insulation solution for your home.

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What Your Home Has?

It’s highly likely that your home has some kind of insulation already installed, if it’s an old home. So you have to decipher what kind of insulation has already been installed and what type of insulation can be put over it. Also you must know whether to have insulation removal done or not.

There are also other details to be checked like condition of home, materials to use, side effects etc. Even though you may have read some books or content on the web guiding you to look after these things, always remember there is no substitute for experience. Make your first option as to calling one of the insulation contractors in your vicinity and have a healthy discussion with them based on their diagnosis of what your home has and what will suit it best.

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What Type of Insulation Your Home Needs?

There are number of insulation types to choose from, there are few things that homeowners must keep in mind before choosing a particular type of insulation. It’s not always necessary that your whole home will fit the bill for a particular type of insulation. Always try to analyze the various insulation options and after knowing their full details, based on what suits your home best go for it.

If you are in the process of building a new home get your insulation done too, as once your home is built there will be some parts where insulation cannot be done with ease like the sill plate (the joint between the top of the foundation and the bottom of the house frame). The homeowners should make an effort to know the R-values according to their locations.

There will be places in your home which may be inaccessible so blown insulation will be the right option. For instance your attics maybe a little inaccessible or May already have insulation on it, so in such a case blown insulation can be one of the option. A Affordable Insulators & Services is one of the best blown insulation Houston TX contractors.

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Where & What to Insulate?

This is also one of the main things to know. There are some places in your home which you must consider insulation.

They are

Ceilings

If it is an unheated attic, then one can add insulation easily. If there is no attic flooring blown in insulation or fiberglass can be installed. One needs to check whether the corners are insulated and there is enough ventilation. Attic insulation is one of the most primary needs for any home.

Walls

Wall insulation will increase the coziness of your home and also help you to have drastic changes in your energy bill. For the newly constructing homes, there will be a lot of insulation options to choose from like spray cellulose, batt, blown in insulation etc to install in the walls. For the constructed or old homes, one needs expertise of one of the insulation contractors to get the blown in insulation done aptly by drilling holes in the wall

Floors

Based on the suggestion of your energy auditor you can consider insulating under floors. It may require digging.

Then your insulation contractor would suggest the apt insulation for it, maybe rigid foam board, fiberglass or any other type of insulation.

Basements

While insulating your basement, you got to consider factors such as whether it’s an unheated basement, any pipes running on top of it. Basement insulation can help you prevent formation of mold and mildew. Also in cold conditions it can keep your pipes from freezing.

Crawlspaces

Consider insulating crawlspace, only if you don’t have the flooring above insulated and it’s dry all year. Insulating crawlspace will be a tough task, as one has to lie on his back and get the insulation done in the upward direction which will be very tiresome. One option to consider will be to ventilate the crawlspace and insulate the floor above.

Figure 1. Where to insulate in a home.

1. In unfinished attic spaces, insulate between the floor joists.
2. In finished attic rooms with or without dormer, insulate:
3. between the studs of "knee" walls
4. between the studs and the rafters
5. between the studs of "knee" walls
6. extend insulation into joist space to reduce air flows
7. Insulate all exterior walls, including:
8. walls between living spaces and unheated garages or storage areas
9. foundation walls above ground area
10. foundation walls in heated basements
11. Insulate floors above cold spaces, such as vented crawl spaces and unheated garages, and:
12. any portion of the floor in a room that is catilevered beyond the exterior wall below
13. slab floors built directly on the ground
14. foundation walls of crawl spaces and perimeter plates
15. Extend insulation into joist space to reduce air flows
16. Caulk and seal around all windows and doors

Table - Identifying Old Insulation

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Who Should Do It?

Now you know, what are the basic insulation steps that should be done, so the next part is getting it done practically, so who should do it? Yes you heard many say it ‘do it yourself’ there are hundreds of step by step manuals for each type of insulation.

If you are all dressed up with a protective gear, spare a thought- First thing it is possible to do it yourself; second you will probably get it wrong as you are not a pro and you would have your home in a mess.

The most important thing is you may get it done, but you will never see any after effects as you have done it in an half baked manner. So the best thing is give a reputed insulation contractor a call, if you are in Houston or Austin, TX then give us a call at (832)-236-4046 to get your free home energy consultation and let our experts guide and get your homes insulated in the best professional manner possible.

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