Avoid Kansas City Attic Insulation Installation Mistakes!

Kansas City Attic Insulation Installation Mistakes To Avoid And Why You Should Hire The Pros

What exactly constitutes the comfort of your Kansas City home? There is a lot more to having a roof above your head and having areas where you can cook, shower, or watch TV. The answer is a consistently comfortable indoor temperature and air quality. It’s interesting how many people overlook the certain criteria of a cozy home and how an efficient attic insulation installation accounts for a cozier and more energy-efficient home.

While your pets may be good at adjusting to fluctuating temperatures, human beings are not. In fact, it’s an easy way to get sick. A constant fluctuation between hot and cold or low to high humidity level is not only unhealthy, but can also have a negative effect on your home’s interior materials and lead to early deterioration. In short, your indoor living space requires a consistent temperature in order to promote your health and comfort.

Over 90% of homes are urgently in need of new attic insulation installation. Kansas City property owners may not check their attics all that often, but as your local Kansas City insulation company, we are here to help raise awareness and improve your indoor living space. 

When it’s time for new materials in your attic space, there is a list of common mistakes that Kansas City homeowners make. Learn with Koala Insulation what those mistakes are and why you should hire your local professionals to get it done.   

Why Do You Need Attic Insulation in Kansas City?

When you step outside, you have to dress accordingly to adjust to the current weather. But inside your house, you are in charge of your indoor temperature, whether it’s t-shirt or sweater weather every day. 

Every home in Kansas City, no matter what type of material was used to build it, requires insulating materials to manage indoor temperatures and air quality. You may be aware of insulation materials used inside walls, ceilings, floors, and crawl spaces to ensure the room you’re in is the exact temperature set on your thermostat, but decent attic insulation is responsible for the overall temperature consistency inside your home. The reason for that is simple:

Hot air rises, whereas cold air sinks. By having an airtight barrier in your attic, heated furnace air that comes through the vents will remain in your living space for longer. Even better if you have a ceiling fan to help the heated air stay down for longer. In the summer, your attic insulation helps increase your AC’s cooling efficiency by keeping hot air out and circulating fresh air throughout your Kansas City home. By keeping hot air out, the cool air your AC produces won’t dissipate as fast.

Not only does attic insulation installation help increase your comfort, but it also helps you manage your heating and cooling costs, which contribute the most to your monthly utility bill. Are you ready for your Kansas City attic insulation installation? Learn more about the common types available and which may work best for you.

Common Types of Attic Insulation

Kansas City homes make use of a few different types of insulation. When choosing what’s right for you, it’s important to know what you want out of it. Each material has different characteristics and R-values. The R-value defines the material’s capacity of heat flow resistance, which means the higher the R-value, the less material you’ll need to insulate your attic.

• Batt: Batt insulation is one of the most common types used in homes across the United States. It’s a type of roll insulation that allows you to cut them into the required sizes you need to fit in attic rafters, ceiling joists or wall studs. Common types of batt include fiberglass and mineral wool. Once you have mineral wool or fiberglass batts installed, you can expect it to last up between 30 and 80 years. (Note: Koala Insulation offers a lifetime “workmanship warranty!”) Its R-value ranges between R-3.1 and R-3.4 per inch.
• Loose Fill: You may have heard of loose fill referred to as blown-in insulation. Though still very common and efficient, many homeowners dislike the messiness of it. It also requires a certain level of expertise to handle the blowing machine when you want to properly fill cavities and other small, tricky areas. Two common loose fill types include fiberglass and cellulose. While fiberglass (in blown-in form) has a lower R-value (from 2.2), cellulose boasts an R-value of 3.2 to 3.7.
• SPF: Spray foam insulation is by far the best material to use for Kansas City attic insulation installation. Unlike the others, it has a lifespan of up to 100 years and also creates one of the best airtight seals. Installation is straightforward, even with hard-to-reach areas. SPF has also proven to protect homeowners from air infiltration when used as an air sealing material around windows. Spray foam provides the highest R-value, starting at 6!

For the best results for your home, our team at Koala Insulation is happy to be of service with an in-house consultation and inspection. We’ll answer any questions that you may have about our products and how our installation and removal services work. 

Common Kansas City Attic Insulation Installation Mistakes

If it’s your first time replacing or removing old attic insulation, it’s easy to miss a few important steps, with the most important one being safety. You may believe that it’s merely a messy job that everyone has to go through, but it’s actually a lot more difficult than that. While booking an appointment at the city’s landfill is easy, you are still exposing yourself to a highly hazardous environment during your DIY removal, especially if you don’t know what exactly you are removing.

The same applies to your new attic insulation installation. Kansas City homeowners may not be aware of existing damage that needs to be addressed first before they go ahead with a new installation.

Accidentally Blocking Air Flow During Air Sealing

The key of air sealing is to treat drafty spaces, such as window frames, door frames, or other interior trims. There is a huge difference between treating unwanted air movement and enabling air flow, but many homeowners miss this important detail which leads to many future problems.

The prime purpose of attic insulation installation is to serve as a thermal barrier, air barrier, and vapor barrier. In order to function that way, you’ll need to air seal around the windows and other areas with hidden air leaks.

That said, your attic will still need air flow, such as sufficient roof ventilation and clear soffit vents to keep your attic dry. You might have other passive roof vents which shouldn’t be blocked. In the event of moisture damage upstairs, your attic insulation installation can quickly deteriorate and become inefficient.

You Are Removing Old Insulation By Yourself

If you live in an older house and don’t know the history of its previous attic insulation, Kansas City KS technicians do not recommend that you do an attic insulation removal by yourself. Older homes that were built in the 1990s and before need to provide detailed documentation on any hazardous materials used during construction.

Back in the day, it was common to use asbestos insulation in the form of loose fill. It’s easy to confuse it with today’s cellulose insulation because it has a similar grayish color. Another toxic type of insulation that was used back then was vermiculite which is a naturally occurring mineral consisting of magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate. They are gray-brown in color, shaped like small pebbles and also contain asbestos. 

While these toxic materials are safe when left untouched, we highly recommend hiring professional Kansas City attic insulation installation experts for a safe removal service. As your experienced and fully insured team, we have helped multiple local homeowners remove and dispose of toxic materials from their home to keep them safe.

Overfilling or Underfilling

There is a “too much,” “not enough,” and “just right” when it comes to Kansas City attic insulation installation. Ultimately, it depends on the type you choose and how well you install because the overall R-value matters. Some people choose to stack their fiberglass batts to increase the density which is fine as long as the overall attic insulation installation is done properly by completely filling the cavities.

It’s important to keep in mind that it’s not the fiberglass material that reduces heat transfer but the air pockets within the fiber threads. However, when you compress the batts, those air pockets will become less effective.

Underfilling will also affect your home’s overall energy efficiency and lead to higher energy bills because you don’t have your transfer of heat under control. This could trigger your HVAC to overwork and even shorten its life expectancy. Therefore, it’s important to install your layers of insulation properly. Keep in mind that small, unfilled gaps in the ceiling joists or floor joists will enable heated furnace air to escape.

Why You Should Hire Professionals for Attic Insulation in Kansas City

Koala Insulation’s attic insulation services are there for a reason. As your knowledgeable insulation service providers, we have investigated many common problems that many local homeowners encountered on their properties. We find that a vast majority were cranking up their furnaces because they were still cold despite the unit being on and set at a steady temperature of 68 °F. They believed their monthly energy costs were normal until they hired our professional insulation pros for a detailed energy audit and attic insulation inspection.

The performance of your home’s HVAC system and your overall energy efficiency highly depend on the quality of your attic insulation installation, so you want to ensure that the installation is done properly. Remember that good-quality and well-installed attic insulation can last half a decade, during which you might go through two to three different HVAC units.

If you want the peace of mind knowing that no step is missed during the removal and installation service, our experienced team of professionals at Koala Insulation have you covered.

Our local customers have put their trust in us because we are transparent and care about their comfort. With our expertise and courtesy, we listen carefully to our friends and neighbors’ concerns, and conduct in-depth inspections to identify the root cause of any issues. Then, we communicate clearly the results of our findings and offer trusted solutions that will guarantee energy savings and increased comfort for many years to come.

Hire Koala Insulation for Efficient Attic Insulation Installation!

Kansas City homeowners, we have you covered! When purchasing high-quality materials, you’ll also need knowledgeable, trained attic insulation installers to get the job done properly. This way, you’ll get the peace of mind knowing that your insulation will last you for many decades to come!

Whether you’re in Kansas City or a nearby area, such as Blue Springs, Olathe, or Parkville, we invite you to call our friendly office team at 913-348-7789 to schedule a no-obligation consultation and in-house inspection. Ask us about our energy audit services, solar attic fans, and other home improvement projects we have up our sleeves to ensure American homes are safe and comfortable.

We look forward to helping you save money by creating a more energy efficient home that also helps protect your attic and HVAC system, not to mention, increases your overall indoor comfort.