Attic Insulation in Downers Grove, IL

We knew why they called before we even got upstairs

This one was over in Downers Grove, and honestly, after about thirty seconds inside the house I kind of knew where this was headed.

The homeowner was standing by the stairs and said, “Just wait until you get upstairs.”

We did.

The first floor felt pretty normal. Comfortable. Nothing that made me think there was a major problem. Then we got to the second floor and it was…different. Not miserable. Just warmer than it should’ve been. You could tell the air conditioner had been running because you could hear it kick on again while we were standing there.

That part wasn’t surprising. What surprised me was what we didn’t find.

I actually thought we’d find something obvious

Usually on jobs like this I’m expecting one thing that sticks out right away. Maybe a section with hardly any insulation. Maybe evidence somebody had been in the attic years ago and never put everything back.

Didn’t happen. We pulled the attic hatch down and started looking around. Nothing looked terrible.

For about five minutes I actually thought, “Maybe this isn’t going to be an insulation job.”
Then we started moving around a little more. That’s when it changed.

There were little openings everywhere. Around plumbing. Electrical runs. A few framing spots. Nothing huge. Just one after another after another.

It kind of reminded me of chasing little leaks in a garden hose. One isn’t a big deal. Twenty of them…

Different story. The attic was telling us plenty. It wasn’t even an especially hot afternoon, but attics have a way of making their own weather.

One of the guys crawled over toward the back corner and said he could actually feel warm air moving around one of the openings.
I went over there.
Yep. There it was.

Funny thing is, homeowners never see any of that. They just know one bedroom is always hotter than the others.
The homeowner came up to check on us for a minute and asked, “So…am I crazy, or has something been wrong up here all along?”
I laughed.
“No…you’re not crazy.”

There were a couple Christmas totes shoved off in one corner too. Looked like they hadn’t been touched in years. We always seem to work around somebody’s holiday decorations. Never fails.

Once we started sealing everything up
This part doesn’t take a lot of explaining because it’s really just work.

We sealed every opening we came across, then added enough insulation to bring the attic up to current code. Nothing fancy. We weren’t reinventing anything. We were just fixing the stuff that had slowly become a problem over time.
Sometimes people expect these jobs to be complicated.

Most aren’t. They’re just detailed.

You don’t skip little things because the little things usually end up being the reason somebody calls us in the first place.
Hopefully this summer feels a little different

Before we packed up, the homeowner walked upstairs one more time. We stood there talking for a few minutes, and even though the house hadn’t had hours to settle out yet, you could already tell it wasn’t holding that heavy warmth the same way it had earlier.
That’s always nice to see.

We do projects like this all over Downers Grove, Naperville, and the surrounding area. Every attic is a little different, but uncomfortable second floors seem to be something we hear about almost every week during the summer.

If you’re dealing with the same thing, take a look at our attic insulation services and see if it sounds familiar. Call Koala Insulation of Chicago-Western Suburbs or visit our website for a FREE evaluation today!