Upstairs too hot, floors too cold, or a power bill that keeps climbing? We seal the attic's gaps, then blow in an even layer.
Blown-in insulation is loose fill blown through a hose across your attic floor. In Seaside it's usually the most direct way to make an older house hold its temperature better, because many older homes have little or no insulation up there, and adding it slows the heat moving through your ceiling.
You might notice it as cold floors in the morning, a room over the garage that never feels right, or a power bill that creeps up every winter. The price mostly turns on how big the attic is, how easy it is to move around in, how many gaps need sealing and whether old insulation has to come out first. The schedule turns on the same things, plus anything that has to be fixed before the fill goes in, like a roof leak or old wiring. Your own number and timing come from the estimate, once we've actually seen your attic.
I come out myself to look at the attic and write the estimate, so the number is based on what's really up there and not a guess from your square footage. Our installers do the work, and when they're done I walk through it with you.
I spent years doing upkeep for a property management company, crawling through attics and under floors, before I started this business in 2023. That's where I learned that insulation laid over a leak or bad wiring only hides it, so I'll tell you to fix those first.
We're licensed and fully insured, so you aren't the one carrying the risk while our crew is working over your ceiling. Landlords and property managers call us for the same reason homeowners do. Call (831) 204-4546 to set up a look at your attic.
Send the form or call (831) 204-4546, and we'll reply within one business day to set a time for me to come look at your attic, with no obligation. If you can, have the attic's rough size handy and tell us about any roof leaks, old wiring or old insulation you've noticed. After I've seen it, I write the estimate myself.
Whether a blown-in job at your address needs a permit isn't something we assume either way. The city's building department asks owners to check with it before any building project or major repair to find out whether the work needs one. Before we start, we check with the city or county building office for your address, and where a permit is needed, we take care of the paperwork and set up the inspections. Seaside works from the current California codes, including the state Energy Code, with its own local changes, and the city publishes its own insulation requirements, which is one more reason that check comes first.
On the contract side, California's contractor licensing board doesn't let a contractor ask for more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the price up front on a home improvement job, whichever is less, and later payments have to follow work done or materials delivered. We're based in Seaside and work in cities across Monterey County, into Santa Cruz County and over to Gilroy, including Marina and Monterey, and if you're not sure we come out your way, just ask. A lot of the attics we open around here are in older houses with thin, settled insulation, and some have droppings or old wiring that has to be dealt with before any fill goes in.
Across the US, installing blown-in attic insulation usually costs about $4 to $7.50 per square foot. What pushes a job toward the high end is anything that has to happen first, like pulling out damaged insulation or sealing a lot of gaps. I'll give you your own number once I've seen the attic.
Blowing in the fill is usually the quick part. What adds time is everything before it, like heavy sealing, old insulation coming out, waiting on a roof or wiring repair, or a permit if your job needs one. You'll know the timing for your house once I've been up there.
Clear out anything stored on the attic floor, because the fill has to lie level and touch the floor everywhere. It's also worth looking for signs of a roof leak, since a leaking roof has to be fixed before insulation goes in. On my visit I also check for old knob and tube wiring, the kind strung on porcelain knobs, along with mold and pests, and any of those gets fixed or made safe first.
Leave it alone. The EPA's advice is not to disturb vermiculite, because moving it can put asbestos fibers in the air, and those are a health risk to breathe. If you decide to have it removed, the EPA says a trained, accredited asbestos abatement contractor should do it, separate from whoever looked at it. If I think I'm looking at vermiculite, I'll tell you, and we hold off on insulating until it's been made safe.
It should put air sealing first and insulation second, because the fill works best over a ceiling that's already sealed. It should also say how any problem in the attic gets handled before the fill goes in. Ours spells both out, so you know what's being done and in what order.
