PEARLAND Blog

Installing Insulation In An Existing Home Without Damaging Your Space

How Insulation is Added to an Existing Home

1. Inspect & Evaluate The Material

In order to find cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions, it’s important to have a thorough inspection of your home’s insulation and air sealing. If you already have an understanding of calculating R-value needs and deterioration, you can make this a simple DIY project for your household. However, without this kind of handyman expertise, a free evaluation from Koala Insulation of Pearland can provide a detailed breakdown of the current condition of your home's material.

Our team starts by using industry practices such as thermal imaging to assess whether the material has been damaged, deteriorated, or poorly installed. From the results of our testing, we can provide you and your household with an accurate assessment of where old material needs to be replaced and new material may need to be installed for better coverage.

The R-value, also known as the resistance value, is the numerical measurement of how effective the insulation material can reduce heat transfer, which is the rate at which heat moves through a structure. A higher R-value typically means the insulation can slow the movement of heat through your walls, floors, and ceiling more efficiently. A professional evaluation can help to provide an estimated cost, which differs depending on the type of material you choose to have installed.

1. Find The Best Option

Insulation materials such as fiberglass batts, blown-in cellulose, and spray foam are commonly chosen for residential installations. Each option can provide various benefits to your home when applied in the right places. While you may already be aware of these advantages, you may not understand how they can apply to the specialized needs of your home, which are affected by everything from your climate zone to regular household habits.

One of the most common mistakes made by uninformed homeowners is the decision to reinstall the same kind of insulation. This doesn’t take the time to consider what kind of advantages other materials can provide. For example, if fiberglass batts were installed in between your ceiling joists before you purchased the home, a professional evaluation may reveal that a closed-cell spray foam could be a more effective replacement. This material is a strong vapor barrier and has a higher R-value per inch at an average of R-6.9 compared to an average of R-3.4 for fiberglass batts. Researching your home’s requirements and consulting local experts can significantly affect your choices and in turn, help you to save more on energy bills.

1. Starting With The Attic

Once you learn more about the needs of your home and what materials to install, it’s time to understand how insulation can be added to the house. Many people are already familiar with the insulation throughout their attic, even if they’ve only ever peeked around the space between storing holiday decorations and old boxes. The material covers the floor and can also be found installed in between beams and ceiling joists.

If the material on the floor is deteriorated or damaged from water and pests, the insulation can typically be vacuumed up. Our insulation team will then add new blown-in material to bring the R-value back up to the necessary depth per inch. For the ceiling and walls, batts are easier to remove since the material can just be pulled out from between the joists; when spray foam needs to be removed, it usually needs a scraping tool to take off damaged or improperly installed pieces.

Batts can be cut and reshaped for reinstallation in order to ensure there's a snug fit in between beams and joists. Spray foam can be reapplied by a certified technician, as the material needs to be properly mixed and applied with the industry-certified equipment.

1. Carefully Consider Basements & Crawl Spaces

Removing and reinstalling insulation in the basement and crawl space areas is similar to the process carried out in the attic. It’s important for the insulation team to take exposed wiring, pipes, and beams into consideration before tucking in batts or applying spray foam underneath the floor of the upper level or along exposed walls. It’s also crucial to check the basement and crawl spaces for air sealing needs in order to reduce air leaks and prevent moisture from the ground. Although caulk is a simple way to fix small cracks, gaps, and holes, industry air sealant could be more effective for significant damage and prevention.

About 10% of heat transfer can occur through the floor of a home, which makes underinsulated crawl spaces a common area for heat loss. The process to remove and reinstalling material between floor joists and around pipes can be tricky, depending on your home's access points. One of the easiest ways to reinsulate these areas is to cover the ground and crawl underneath the house to inspect the material. Regularly updating insulation is crucial here; crawl spaces need to have effective vapor barriers to prevent cold floors and mold growth.

1. Don’t Forget The Walls!

Finally, one of the most common areas homeowners are apprehensive about re-insulating is the walls. Luckily, you don't often need to remove significant sections of the drywall in order to remove and add insulation to the walls. A small hole can be cut into the exterior siding or along inconspicuous corner points in order to apply blown-in or spray foam insulation. These cut-outs can then be replaced, sealed, and repainted to restore the area. Adding insulation isn't a difficult job, but removing existing insulation can be a bit more tricky.

To remove the material, part of the wall sheathing or drywall may need to be removed to gain access to significantly deteriorated or damaged insulation. If you have blown-in insulation, a technician simply vacuums the material out of the wall. When you have batts installed within the walls, these can be pulled out while any remaining debris is vacuumed out. After this process is finished, the wall sheathing can be replaced and new material is installed.

Understanding Your Home’s Needs With Local Experts

At Koala Insulation of Pearland, our industry experts are dedicated to bringing our community cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions. We offer free evaluations in order to give our neighbors the opportunity to make informed decisions based on the current condition of the insulation and air sealing of their homes. Updating the material in the house can improve comfort, safety, and even monthly savings. Contact Koala Insulation of Pearland today to schedule your free evaluation and learn more about how insulation and air sealing can impact your environment.