Fresh Rockwool insulation installed in a Shady Shores attic by Koala Insulation of North Texas.

Jan knew from the start that buying an older home in Shady Shores meant repairs were coming. Years of neglect had left plenty to update, so remodeling was already underway. What shifted attention quickly was the cost of keeping the house comfortable, because within the first couple of months the electric bills were already coming in above $800.

In an older house, there are a lot of places where energy can disappear, but the attic is usually high on the list. Insulation gets disturbed, settles down, or simply stops doing what it was supposed to do years ago. Jan started searching online for answers and eventually found Koala Insulation of North Texas.

When Jody came out to take a look, the first conversation was about what Jan had already noticed inside the home. Some rooms were harder to keep comfortable than others, and with the remodel already exposing other age-related issues, the attic made sense as the next place to check. Once he got up there, it was pretty clear why the house had been struggling.

What Was Sitting in the Attic

The insulation had been there a long time and it showed. Some sections were thin enough to see the attic floor through them. Other areas looked disturbed, and there were obvious signs that rodents had been active up there in the past. It was not just old insulation. It had been compromised. That changes the recommendation right away.

Our team did not suggest covering it up with new material because that would leave the contamination underneath and do very little to improve how the attic performed long term. In older homes, once insulation reaches that point, starting fresh usually makes more sense than trying to work around it. The U.S. Department of Energy also points out that attic air leaks and aging insulation are two of the most common reasons homes lose efficiency, especially when materials have been in place for decades.

Why the First Step Was Removal

Before anything new could go in, the attic had to be cleared out. The old insulation was removed completely, and because of the rodent contamination, the attic was disinfected afterward so the space could be cleaned properly before new work started. Air sealing came next. Once the old insulation was out, those little openings were easier to spot. There were places around wiring and other attic penetrations where air had been moving freely, which is common in older homes. Closing those up first gave the new insulation a much better chance to perform the way it should. The ENERGY STAR attic air sealing guide explains why this usually needs to happen before insulation is added back.

Why Rockwool Ended Up Being the Better Fit

Once the attic was clean, Jody walked through insulation options with Jan.
Fiberglass was one possibility, but she kept coming back to Rockwool after hearing the differences. Her main concern was choosing something that felt like a better fit for a healthier living environment while the remodel moved forward. She also liked that Rockwool offered stronger sound control, which was useful in an older home where noise tends to travel more than expected. That combination made the decision easy.

Rockwool made sense for this job because Jan was looking for more than just replacing old insulation with another standard option. With so much else being updated in the home, she wanted the attic to be part of that improvement too.

The Attic Looked Completely Different by the End

By the time the job was finished, the attic no longer looked like the same space. The damaged insulation was gone. The attic had been sealed, cleaned, and rebuilt with new Rockwool installed evenly across the floor. More importantly, the house now had an attic that was working with the HVAC system instead of fighting against it. Jan was extremely happy with how the project turned out and with how the crew handled the work from start to finish. For many older homes in North Texas, attic problems stay hidden until energy bills start forcing attention upward.

If your home feels harder to cool, certain rooms stay warmer than they should, or utility costs keep climbing, Koala Insulation of North Texas can help you figure out what is happening above the ceiling. Call us or visit our website for a free estimate today.

About Koala Insulation of North Texas CEO Jody Harr

I help homeowners and businesses in North Texas improve comfort, reduce energy waste, and solve attic problems that most people don’t even realize are costing them money. I’m the CEO and owner of Koala Insulation of North Texas, where we specialize in improving building performance through attic system upgrades. Instead of treating insulation as a single product, we look at the attic as a complete system. When insulation, ventilation, and airflow work together properly, the entire home operates the way it was designed to.

Koala Insulation of North Texas has been serving the region for five years and has earned hundreds of five-star reviews from homeowners across the area. We are also proud to be the exclusive Lowe’s insulation partner serving North Texas, helping their customers solve real attic performance issues.

Before Koala, I spent 28 years in the home service industry building and operating service businesses. I’m also a partner in Full Circle Fitness in McKinney, where our philosophy is the same as our approach to homes: educate first, focus on fundamentals, and help people achieve lasting results.