Two Attic Insulation Projects in Ann Arbor, MI

We Ended Up Working in Two Different Attics on This Ann Arbor Home
When we first walked through this house in Ann Arbor, nothing looked unusual from inside.
The rooms felt…fine.
The homeowner wasn’t calling because one bedroom was freezing or because the furnace had stopped working.
It was more a collection of little things that had been bothering them for a while. The house never seemed to stay comfortable for very long, the HVAC system always felt like it was running, and they wanted to know if the attic had anything to do with it.
It did.
The insulation had been there a long time
This home had two separate attic spaces, and both still had insulation that dated back to around 1988.
That’s a pretty good run for insulation.
But building standards have changed a lot since then.
Once we started looking around, it wasn’t just the insulation depth that caught our attention. There were places where warm air could move into the attic, ventilation wasn’t doing the job it should, and a few other details had been overlooked over the years.
None of it was unusual for a home this age.
It was just time.
We didn’t only add insulation
People sometimes think attic projects are just blowing in more fiberglass and calling it a day.
This one wasn’t like that.
We upgraded the main attic to approximately R-49 with blown-in fiberglass insulation.
The garage attic was brought up to R-30.
While we were there, we air sealed penetrations through the attic floor, sealed and insulated the attic hatches, improved the soffit ventilation by installing new and extended baffles, and replaced and insulated three bathroom exhaust ducts.
There were quite a few moving pieces.
That’s usually the case when you’re trying to improve how the whole attic system works instead of only increasing insulation depth.
Everything works together
One thing I find myself explaining pretty often is that insulation can’t do every job by itself.
If outside air is leaking into the attic…
If warm air from the house is escaping through openings…
If the ventilation isn’t moving air the way it should…
Adding insulation alone won’t solve all of that.
That’s why this project included several different upgrades instead of focusing on just one.
The house should feel different now
Nobody walks into an attic because it’s fun.
They do it because they want the house below it to perform better.
The goal here wasn’t simply reaching R-49 or replacing a few ducts.
It was helping the home hold its temperature longer, reducing unnecessary energy loss, making moisture control more effective, and giving the HVAC system a little less work to do every day.
Sometimes that’s what an attic upgrade really is.
Not one big repair.
Just a series of improvements that all work together to make the house more comfortable than it was before.
If your home still has its original attic insulation, there’s a good chance today’s recommendations look a lot different than they did when your house was built.
Call Koala Insulation of Greater Ann Arbor or visit our website for a FREE evaluation!