Attic Insulation Upgrade in Wheaton, IL Improves Second Floor Comfort

A Warm Second Floor Led Us to This Wheaton Attic

We were in Wheaton working on a house where the second floor stayed warmer than the rest of the home. The homeowner had been dealing with it for a while and wanted to find out what was going on instead of just turning the thermostat down every summer.

After getting into the attic, it didn’t take long to see where we needed to start.

The existing insulation had seen better days, so this wasn’t a job where we were going to add another layer and call it finished.
Everything needed to come out first.

Cleaning Out the Old Insulation

We started by removing the existing attic insulation.

As the attic floor opened up, it gave us a chance to see everything that had been hidden underneath. Once the insulation was gone, we had access to the plumbing penetrations, wiring openings, top plates, and the other places that normally stay buried under insulation.

That’s when we switched over to air sealing.

Every opening we found was sealed before new insulation went back into the attic.

It takes more time to do it this way, but once the attic floor is covered again, you don’t want to be pulling insulation back just to reach those same areas.

Air Sealing Before the New Insulation

With the attic floor sealed, we were ready for the insulation.

We brought in new fiberglass and worked our way across the attic until everything reached R-49, which meets today’s recommended insulation level for homes in this area.

One section at a time, the attic started looking completely different than it had earlier in the day.

By the time we reached the last area, the old insulation was gone, the attic floor had been air sealed, and the new fiberglass was installed across the attic.

Ready for Another Illinois Summer

The biggest complaint on this house was the second floor getting too warm.
That was the reason we were there from the beginning.

Once the insulation work was finished, the attic was back in good shape and the homeowner could move on knowing the insulation had been brought up to current code. We cleaned up the work area, loaded the equipment back into the truck, and headed to the next job. Every house has a reason someone calls us.

For this one, it started with a second floor that never seemed to cool off. By the end of the day, the old insulation had been removed, the attic floor had been air sealed, and the home had new R-49 fiberglass insulation installed from one end of the attic to the other.

If your second floor always feels warmer than the rest of your home, contact Koala Insulation of Chicago-Western Suburbs today for a free evaluation and estimate.