Only 3.5 Inches of Insulation in This Ann Arbor Attic

We were at another home here in Ann Arbor where the attic was getting way too hot.

Once we got up there and started looking around, there were a couple things that stood out pretty quickly.

The existing insulation was only about 3.5 inches deep.

That’s not much.

But insulation wasn’t the only thing we needed to deal with.

The attic also wasn’t getting the airflow it should have been getting from the soffits up through the ridge vent.

So, this wasn’t going to be a job where we just showed up, blew a bunch of cellulose on top of everything and left.

We Needed to Get Some Air Moving First

There wasn’t proper baffling in the attic.

Without those baffles, air coming in through the soffits doesn’t have the clear path it needs to move up through the attic and out through the ridge vent.

We installed 36 baffle vents.

Yep, 36.

It took a little time.

But that’s the kind of thing we want to take care of before adding a whole lot of new insulation. Once everything is buried under cellulose, it’s not exactly the ideal time to decide you should’ve fixed the ventilation first.

So, Koala Insulation of Greater Ann Arbor handled the baffles and got the airflow situation straightened out.

Then we could move on.

Now We Could Bring the Insulation Up

With the baffling taken care of, we installed additional blown-in cellulose insulation and brought the attic up to R-49.

Quite a difference from the 3.5 inches we started with.

We also installed an insulated attic hatch cover.

Attic hatches are easy to forget about. It’s just a little opening in the ceiling, right?

Except that’s also a spot where conditioned air can escape into the attic if it isn’t insulated and sealed well.

Easy enough to address while we’re already up there.

We Checked the Crawl Space Too

This project was mainly about the attic, but we looked at the crawl space while we were there.

Didn’t need us.

It had already been fully encapsulated with a vapor barrier and the rim joists had been spray foamed.

Good.

We’re not going to find work just for the sake of finding work.

If an area of the house is already done right, leave it alone.

So, we did.

A Much Different Attic Than When We Started

The goal here wasn’t just piling more insulation into an attic.

We needed to deal with the low insulation and the poor ventilation.

That’s what we did.

Thirty-six baffles went in to help air move from the soffits toward the ridge vent. The attic hatch got an insulated cover. Then we added the cellulose and brought the attic to R-49.

That combination should help with the excessive heat that was building up in the attic, make indoor temperatures more consistent and take some unnecessary work off the HVAC system.

It also gives the roof a better setup when it comes to heat and moisture.

A lot got changed up there.

And thankfully, nothing needed changing underneath the house.

If you’re in Ann Arbor and your attic gets ridiculously hot or you’re looking up there and barely seeing any insulation, have us take a look before just adding more.

Sometimes there’s more to fix than the insulation.

Call Koala Insulation of Greater Ann Arbor or visit our website for a FREE evaluation!