How to Pick Up the Right Attic Insulation for Your Home

It’s completely okay if you haven’t heard about attic insulation before. To put it into simple words, a proper insulation system can help you prevent heat loss in winter and keep the cool air around the house when the sun becomes unbearable outside.

There is a high probability that you are here because your house is unable to retain the desired temperature and upon seeing the unsealed attic, some expert or friend might have suggested you reach out to a home attic insulation service in San Francisco CA for the solution.  While replacing your attic insulation is indeed a better choice than filling previous holes, it still all comes down to how you choose the insulation according to your house.

Before everything else, know the R-Value

To select the right type of insulation, it is extremely important that you find the R-value - based upon insulating material’s resistance to heat flow. In case if the R-value is high, it ensures the effectiveness of the insulating material.

Typically R-values are around R-30 and R-49. However, it can also reach up to R-60 in cold climates. So let’s suppose if your R-value is three per inch for an overall value of R-36, the insulation material should then definitely be about 12 inches thick.

Blanket Insulation

This is one of the most commonly available DIY insulation material that comes up in the form of batts or rolls. You can also find this type of insulation in fiberglass, mineral wool, plastic fibers and natural fibers, depending upon your need.

So, while it is also considered to be the perfect choice for attics with standard  beams and joists, one needs to take extra care of batts while trimming it down to fit into the vents along with keeping the R-value effectiveness.

Loose – Fill Insulation

If you have an attic with a small headroom and multiple vents or cross beams, then loose-fill insulation will always be the ideal choice. One can easily it over the existing insulation in the form of fiberglass, cellulose, and mineral wool. However, cellulose remains the most effective with an R-value of 2.2 to 3.8 per inch, but with a disadvantage of catching up molds when exposed to moisture.

You can purchase the loose-fill installation from online stores or Home Depot and spread it yourself by renting out an easy-to-use machine for blowing. But it is always advisable that you should go for professional service to install new attic insulation as their expertise can help in safely putting out the attic insulation for a longer time period.

Foam Spray Insulation         

With one of the highest R-values at 3.5 per inch for open-cell and 6.5 for closed-cell, this is also the most expensive form of insulation in the list. The closed-cell foam cells expand as gas around the spaces while being an effective moisture barrier, whereas since open-end foam cells are filled with air, it provides a spongy texture to the insulation.  However, both are made up of polyurethane.